English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.
Season of Farewell
Chapter 4: Sport Festival I
The second her ears caught the sound of a gunshot, Cagalli took off. But she didn't run for long. Running lanes were soon blocked by the first obstacle: a wide net laid out over the ground across the lanes with several students holding it down from the side. Reaching the net first, she lifted its edge to crawl under it on her hands and knees.
It wasn't easy. Her head sometimes got stuck with the net and the net was pulled to left and right as her opponents pushed their ways through. Feeling her head band—which was white, indicating which team she belonged to—almost falling off her head, she hurriedly pressed a hand over the band. The band seemed to have gotten caught by the net.
Finally reaching the other edge of the net, she let out a sigh of relief. Being able to stand up again felt good, but she resumed running without busking in the feeling. One of her opponents—a small girl who belonged to the Yellow Team—had left the net before her and she couldn't waste any second. Moving her feet, she pulled down her head band so that it dangled from her neck. This way, she didn't have to worry about its falling.
She overcame one obstacle after another: jumping over three hurdles, walking on stilts, jumping over a vaulting box, and walking on a balance beam. The final obstacle was a large hemp sack. She had to jump into it and hop toward the goal.
The Yellow Team girl was still several steps ahead of her as Cagalli put her sack on. Her fighting spirit flaring up even more fiercely, Cagalli kicked the ground with her feet, which of course didn't carry her forward as much as she had expected. It was the point of wearing the sack. Pressing her lips together, she bounced forward. The distance between her and the top runner closed a little. It still seemed almost impossible for her to catch up with the girl, but Cagalli wasn't going to give up. Never.
Suddenly, the Yellow Team girl lost her balance and, with a yelp, fell to the ground. Gasps and murmurs came from the crowd. Cagalli nearly stopped in surprise, but quickly refocused on the race. Careful not to bump into her or step on her, Cagalli passed the girl who was struggling to stand up in her sack and then, after several more hops, the goal line.
Smiling with satisfaction, she shed her sack. Handing it to one of the student staff, she turned around to see the Yellow Team girl. The girl was just about to resume her hopping. Two other students had passed her after Cagalli had, and there was only one student behind her. The two hoppers reached the goal line almost at the same time, and the crowd clapped and cheered.
Cagalli kept clapping her hands until an announcement came and said the next race was about to begin. Then, wiping sweat from her forehead, she walked over to the Yellow Team girl who was talking with other students; the others seemed to be consoling the girl. Most of them, including the girl, seemed like freshmen, judging from their conversation.
"Hey, are your injuries okay? Do you need to go see the school nurse?" Cagalli asked.
The girl appeared to have been moving fine, but sometimes, you didn't feel your injuries during a game or right after it because of adrenaline. She had experienced and seen it before.
The girl blinked, then shook her head. "I'm fine. I just got some scratches on my palms when I broke the fall."
Cagalli nodded. "That's good. But you may start feeling pain after the adrenaline wears off. You know the school nurse is in that tent, right?" She pointed a finger at one of the white tents circling the field.
"Yes, thank you, Hibiki-senpai."
"No problem." It was after all a part of her job as a member of the Sport Festival Planning Committee to take care of other students during the festival. "And it was a good race. I admire you didn't give up after you fell. You have such a fighting spirit," Cagalli added with a smile.
Her cheeks pink, the girl repeated a thank-you.
The Obstacle Races was over after a few more races and the participants left the field in lines. Following the other students, Cagalli stretched a bit, looking up at the blue sky. As with the past two years, the weather was good on the day of the sport festival. She had heard somewhere that many schools, SEED High included, had their sport festivals in the beginning of October since the weather was almost always good around the time. Whether it was true or not, there were few clouds, the air a good mixture of warmth and coolness.
As the other participants of the Obstacle Races scattered, Cagalli recalled her schedule. She wasn't going to have a game to join either as a participant or a student staff for a while. She could go back to the tent for her class, or go to the tent for the committee members to see whether there were some irregular jobs.
"Hey, Cagalli! Over here!"
Pulled out of her thoughts, she turned around at the familiar voice. "Ahmed, you—" she broke off, finding her friend walking toward her with her mother.
She trotted toward them. "I didn't know you were coming together."
"It just occurred to me this morning. 'Hey! Mrs. Via can give me a ride and I can save some money!'" Ahmed grinned.
"That's a good idea. I should've thought it," Cagalli agreed.
Via smiled. "And he was helpful. He assisted me in making lunch, and bringing it." She motioned toward a large bag Ahmed was carrying which apparently contained lunchboxes. "The bag became heavier than I thought and it would've been tough to carry it without Ahmed-kun."
"Thanks for helping Mom, and for my lunch." Cagalli patted Ahmed's shoulder. "By the way, did you guys see my obstacle race? Or did you just arrive?" She had looked around and searched for them through the crowd before her race, but had not seen them.
"We arrived around the middle of your race, when you were getting onto the stilts. It took us a while to find a parking space," Via explained. "Sorry, honey."
"But we saw you winning," Ahmed assured Cagalli. "Good job." He gave a few pats to her back.
"Thanks." Cagalli smiled at him.
"Congratulations, Cagalli. And I took a photo of you crossing the finish line," Via followed, then added with concern, "But was that girl who fell all right?"
"Yeah, she said her injuries weren't serious enough to see the school nurse," Cagalli assured her mother.
"That's good." With a smile, Via stroked Cagalli's hair which was disheveled. Then she touched the band dangling from Cagalli's neck. "Aren't you going to put it back on your head?"
"Ah, right. I forgot."
Retying the band up around her head, Cagalli turned to Ahmed.
"So you're going to stay to have lunch with us, right? Then go to Ajib's school?"
Ajib was their mutual friend from elementary school whose high school, which wasn't far from her school, also had their sport festival today. Ahmed had told her he was planning to go there as well; today was Sunday and he was free all day.
"Nope. I'll stick around until the Folk Dance. It's right after lunchtime, right?"
She blinked. "Yeah. You want to watch it?" Although she had sent a picture of the program at his request, she had not known Ahmed was interested in the dance. Come to think of it, though, he had asked her some questions concerning the dance.
"Of course. So many girls in yukata at once? I can't wait!" In SEED High's sport festivals, seniors performed a folk dance in yukata, a light summer kimono. "My eyes need some colors, you know. My school's, like, so gray. Guys everywhere and girls nowhere," he lamented. His high school was an all-boys school.
She raised her eyebrows. "Did you come here to cheer for me? Or to watch girls?"
"I can do both," he replied with a grin. "I'm good at multi-tasking. Trust me."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure you are. Just don't cause any troubles with girls, okay?"
She had gone to his sport festival last weekend with Kira and Miriallia, and clearly remembered most boys there ogling her and Miriallia as if they were some kind of strange creature; some of the boys had tried to talk to them almost hungrily, most of which got intercepted by Kira. She had not exactly felt uncomfortable, but felt weird about being stared at with such fervor and being treated almost like a celebrity when she talked to them.
She didn't really suspect Ahmed would act like that, but it wouldn't hurt to warn him.
He placed his right hand over his heart, with a mock solemn face. "I swear I'll behave."
With a similar face, she returned, "I hold you to your word."
She then told them which tents were for guests and parted with them, having come up with an idea. The tent she headed for was neither of the two she had considered before seeing her mother and friend. Luckily for her, she didn't have to go all the way there to find the person she was looking for.
"Athrun!"
He seemed to have been walking back to his tent with his teammates. Telling his companions to go ahead, he turned to her with a smile.
"Hey. Congratulations for winning your obstacle race."
She gave him a bright smile. "Thanks. And it's okay if you want to cry over the anticipation of loss," she added teasingly. She had glanced at the score board on her way; her White Team was currently on top, his Red Team twenty-two points behind and in the third place.
He raised an eyebrow. "You remember we just got started, right?"
"Getting a good start is important in a race," she pointed out.
"The result is far more important than what kind of start you got," he retorted.
"You have to work harder to catch up with us while all we have to do is protect the lead."
"That's exactly how you lose. Because the lead causes you to drop your guard and be sloppy."
She made a face. "I won't do something like that."
"You may not," he agreed in a somewhat pacifying tone. "But your teammates are likely to do it."
She silently admitted he had a point and made a mental note to warn her teammates about it, then decided it was time to bring up the reason why she had come to talk to him. Otherwise, she might become too engrossed in her banter with him and forget about it.
"Well, anyway, do you have time now? I just met Mom and Ahmed, and thought we might have some chat together. You can know Ahmed better, you know. You haven't talked with him much, yeah?"
His face turned tense as if he didn't like the idea. She slightly tilted her head.
"I don't think I have time now," he said curtly.
"Okay." She nodded without much disappointment. This had been a sudden request after all. "We just have to wait until lunchtime then."
A small frown appeared on his brow. "Lunchtime?"
"Yeah. Ahmed said he was going to stay until the Folk Dance. So we can have lunch with him."
"Actually..." he slowly said, "I forgot to tell you, but I might not have time to join you for lunch. There is some stuff I want to discuss with my teammates. I'll probably just buy something at the school store."
She was taken aback, partly by what he had said and partly by his attitude which seemed somewhat distant now. "Can't you at least eat lunch with us? You don't have to stay long. Mom must've made cabbage rolls with sausage. I'm sure you'll like them," she cajoled.
Athrun and Ahmed barely knew each other. Athrun had never joined her when she went out with her friends from middle school or childhood. Although she invited him sometimes, she had not tried to make him come; she knew he was rather shy with new people. The boys had still met a few times when both her older friends and newer friends gathered like at her and Kira's birthday parties, but there were usually many people in those occasions. As far as she knew, Athrun and Ahmed had not had much chance to talk.
The boys might have been able to know each other better when she and Kira had invited both of them to their grandfather's villa during summer break in their first year of high school though Athrun wasn't her boyfriend yet. But Ahmed had not been able to come due to a family affair. And last weekend, Athrun had not been able to come to Ahmed's sport festival, busy between preparing for their own sport festival and studying for a practice test in his cram school.
She wanted to change the situation, wanted them to properly know each other and hopefully become friends.
But Athrun shook his head. "Sorry. I don't think I can." He looked in his tent's direction. "I'd better go back to my tent now. Say hello and sorry to your mother."
Before she responded, he turned his back to her and hurried away. She stared at his retreating form with disappointment.
She didn't want Athrun to get to know Ahmed just because Ahmed was a good friend of hers. She hoped that knowing Ahmed would lessen Athrun's worry about her life in Tassil. She knew her boyfriend would keep worrying anyway no matter how much she tried to reassure him. That was how he was. But if he learned how good a person and a friend Ahmed was, then he could probably feel more relaxed, knowing Ahmed was likely to be in Tassil with her to help each other.
She would also introduce the Ashmans to Athrun if she had a chance, but since the family lived far away, it wasn't as easy as with Ahmed.
She considered trying to persuade Athrun again, but soon discarded the idea. He was a responsible person who put his duties before his personal affairs. He had some work to do either as the president of his class or a member of the Red Team and apparently believed he should spend all of his time for it. He wouldn't change his mind and throw away his responsibility. Plus, she understood his devotion and didn't want to get in the way of his fulfilling his duties.
There would be another chance for Athrun and Ahmed to become friends, and it might be best to wait since Athrun, who had looked somewhat stressed recently, would be surely at more ease once the sport festival was over. Then he would probably be more open to making new friends.
Hoping so, she started walking toward the tent for the committee members. She had her own duties to fulfill.
His eyes wandered through the crowd, through guys and girls wearing yukata. Seniors were gathering for the Folk Dance and Athrun was looking for his girlfriend. Naturally, guys and girls changed in different places and he had not seen her in yukata yet. And he had not talked to her since he had refused to join the lunch.
He regretted the way he had acted toward her earlier. But he had been caught off guard. Although he had known Ahmed was coming, he had not known the guy was joining them for lunch. He actually should have guessed it, but he had been trying hard to think about the guy as little as possible, especially since Cagalli talked more about the guy recently. Thus, he had not been able to mask his reaction well. She had looked confused, and might be somewhat annoyed.
Still, he didn't want to spend any time with Ahmed and so, had not gone to apologize to Cagalli before lunch break lest she insisted he have lunch with them again. But now that lunchtime—which he had spent with his teammates as he had told her, though they didn't have much important stuff to discuss—was nearly over and Ahmed must be leaving soon, Athrun was ready to talk to Cagalli.
He hoped he could settle the things between them before the Folk Dance began so that when they danced together, they could have a good time instead of awkwardly sharing a dance. The problem was that he still couldn't find her. Seniors were divided into two groups and the other group gathered on the other side of the field. But he and she belonged to the same group and most of the group seemed to have already arrived, which made it difficult for him to search around.
"Zala-kun." He turned his face to a girl with light blue hair who was smiling up at him. "You look good in that yukata."
"Ah, thanks," he said politely and a little unsurely. The girl looked like one of his classmates—one of the girls who had nominated him for the Three-legged Races, which he declined for he didn't want to plaster himself against some girl he didn't feel comfortable with, though he used the excuse of not wanting to participate in too many games—but he wasn't completely sure. Most girls seemed to have decided to change their hairstyles along with their clothes; some of them even appeared to wear makeup, which was actually not allowed in school. To be honest, they all looked like strangers to him.
"Miri-senpai! Look this way!"
A voice reached his ears and he turned around. The person seemed to be calling out to Miriallia who must be with Cagalli.
Their backs facing Athrun, two girls were posing in front of a student holding a camera, probably a member of the photography club: a brunette and a blonde. He stared at the blonde who seemed like his girlfriend. Although the brunette had the familiar hairstyle, the blonde had one he had never seen before, not on her anyway.
Cagalli, whose profile he could see now, had her hair tied up at the back of her head, the edges of which were pointing in different directions as if showing her liveliness. Her neck which was usually hidden behind the hair was mostly revealed. The upper part of it anyway, since the lower part was covered with her yukata, for which he somehow felt thankful. Her forehead was revealed as well for most of her front hair was pinned up.
Her yukata was white one with large yellow sunflowers all over it, a red sash around her waist. He had seen a photo of it from when she had gone shopping with Miriallia and Fllay, but she wasn't wearing it in the photo. The yukata looked a lot better on her. And it reminded him of the first time he had seen her—the first time he remembered anyway. She had been inside a photograph, wearing a red tank top and surrounded by sunflowers.
Her golden hair and white yukata reflected the sunshine and she almost looked like she was made of light, radiating.
As he continued gazing, she turned his way. Her face lit up as their eyes met and his heartbeat sped up even further.
She came running to him, though not as fast as usual since she was wearing a pair of getas, wooden sandals. "Hey, I was looking for you."
"Hey. Your hair is...different."
She frowned a little and touched her hair. "Fllay did it. You think it's weird?"
"No. No, it's not weird. It's just...you look good," he said a little shyly. It almost felt like he had seen her—how cute she was—for the first time. It made him somewhat nervous, but not in a bad way.
"Thanks. You look good, too." She looked as shy as he was feeling.
His eyes moved over her up and down as he was half-consciously trying to etch the image of her, including the shy smile and pink cheeks, into his memory. Her eyes seemed to be wandering over his body as well, which he liked.
Someone cleared her throat. "Earth to Cagalli and Athrun."
They both blinked and looked at Miriallia who was standing a little behind Cagalli and pointed out, "Sorry for interrupting your...moment. But we should get in lines."
"Oh." He shared a glance with Cagalli, both of them blushing.
"Ah..." Cagalli flapped her hands before pointing them in a seemingly random direction. "I'll see you later then."
He nodded. "Yeah, see you later."
As he stood at the head of the line of his classmates—which was a designated place for the class president—he realized he had missed a chance to apologize to Cagalli. But then, she had looked far from angry. So he probably didn't have to.
The announcement came along with the music, and he held a hand of the girl next to him—the vice-president of his class. The seniors at this side walked into the field—his class on the tail—to join the other group and form a large ellipse around the field. Guys stood inside and girls outside, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands.
The music stopped, and after a few moments, another music, one for the dance, began. They started dancing, and then, at the end of each turn, changed partners to repeat the sequence. Athrun knew he was going to have a turn with Cagalli from the time they had practiced, but still felt a little relieved as she came to him and their hands joined, right ones over her right shoulder and left ones before his stomach.
He would probably have another chance to dance with her. He could even have one while she wore this yukata, if he really wanted. But it wouldn't be in a high school sport festival. And suddenly, it somehow felt quite important that they shared a dance at this time and place.
Whether feeling the same or not, Cagalli kept smiling up at him, her cheeks rosy, as they danced forward; he smiled back, his eyes not leaving her. The exchange might distract her too much, though. She stumbled in the middle of a step. But he smoothly supported her so that she wouldn't fall and led her into turning around as other girls started doing it, with their right hands still holding each other over their heads.
"Thanks," she said as she stopped and faced him.
"No problem. I'm used to your clumsiness," he teased as they bowed.
She pouted. "It's these getas' fault, not mine," she insisted as she let go of his hand and stepped toward her next partner.
He just gave her a knowing look, hiding his disappointment at the fact that their turn was over. It had been much too short.
He couldn't help glancing back at her as the dance went on and the distance between them grew. Watching her dance away from him wasn't as fun as watching her come dancing toward him. To his satisfaction, though, she was doing the same. Their eyes often met and each time, they exchanged a smile.
After some time, the music stopped and he bowed to the clapping audience, holding hands with his last partner.
As soon as they left the field, he released the girl's hand with a polite nod, and started searching for his girlfriend again. Cagalli had left earlier than he did and he hoped she had not gone to change clothes yet.
She seemed to have found him before he found her. He noticed her scurrying toward him, which made him smile, and met her halfway.
"I was hoping to catch you before you took off that yukata," she said, smiling.
His face softening with affection even more, he took her hand. "Glad to see you, too." With the other hand, he softly brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, and studied her face closely.
"Are you wearing makeup?" he asked with mild surprise. He had belatedly realized her lips looked orange and glossier than usual. She rarely put on makeup and this was the first time he had seen her having one with his own eyes.
The color of her cheeks deepened. "Fllay and Miri said I should, and since it's kind of a special occasion and for just a short time, I thought, 'Why not?'"
"I see." His eyes returned to her tempting lips. It was such a pity that they were in public, surrounded by their schoolmates and teachers and parents.
"Cagalli!"
Her face turned at the voice and she raised a hand that wasn't holding Athrun's. "Ahmed!"
The name pulled Athrun out of his fantasy and he looked at a guy weaving through the crowd toward them, whose face he remembered.
"I'm leaving and I thought I should say bye to you," Ahmed explained, stopping in front of them.
"Okay. Say hi to Ajib for me," Cagalli said, then teasingly added, "Did you enjoy watching our dance?"
Ahmed grinned. "It was super! I wish I were one of the guys." He made a show of looking around, apparently at seniors still around. His grin became wider. "And I behaved as I promised, huh?"
"Yeah, it seems like you were a good boy." She reached out to tousle his hair. "And maybe you'll have a chance to perform a folk dance in college," she suggested before looking at Athrun. "This is Athrun, by the way. In case you don't remember him."
"How can I forget your boyfriend?" Ahmed said to her, then gave Athrun an appraising look, which Athrun remembered from the few times they had met. But Ahmed's face soon turned into a friendly smile. "Call me Ahmed. We didn't really talk when we met before, but I've heard a lot about you."
Athrun gave back a polite nod. "I hear about you, too." That he always pushed the information on Ahmed he had heard to the far back of his mind didn't need to be known.
He didn't offer anything more, like returning the favor and telling Ahmed to call him by his first name, and might come off as aloof, but not rude. Rudeness wasn't his way with a stranger, even a possible rival in love, to begin with. And Cagalli's hand in his and the happy feeling he had felt since right before the dance until a few moments ago kept his mood friendly enough. Neither Ahmed nor Cagalli seemed to find his attitude odd.
"I'd like to stay and have some chat with you, but I have to go now." Ahmed glanced at his phone in his hand. "Or I'll miss the bus."
"Yeah, you better hurry. It's not easy to go through this many people." Cagalli pointed a finger to her right. "The front gate is this way. You remember the way to the bus stop, right?"
"Go out of the front gate, turn left, and go down the road," Ahmed chanted. "Don't worry. I'm sure I'll get there safe. Oh, and before I leave, you look pretty, almost like a different girl."
She raised an eyebrow. "I suppose it's a compliment."
"It sure is. What else did you think it was?" Ahmed playfully flipped her side hair. The gesture, in addition to Ahmed calling Cagalli pretty, caused Athrun's face to tighten, but the other two didn't seem to notice.
"Anyway, bye. Enjoy the rest of the games." Waving a hand, Ahmed headed toward the front gate.
"Bye!" Waving back, Cagalli followed his back with her eyes.
Athrun tugged at her hand he was holding and made her look at him. "We'd better hurry, too. We have to change back into our gym clothes before the Team Relay."
There was only one game, the 100 Meters Hurdles only freshmen participated in, between the Folk Dance and the Team Relay, and the 100 Meters Hurdles had already begun. It would take a while since all freshmen were required to take part in it, but there wasn't much time to waste.
Cagalli's eyes widened. "You're right. I have to go." She let go of his hand and took a couple of steps away from him.
"Don't run. You might fall," he warned.
"I'm fine," she replied, looking over her shoulder, then fully turned around. "And we are going to beat you in the Team Relay!"
"Or you are going to lose in the overall score too," he coolly returned.
The Red Team had caught up with the Blue Team which had held the second place in the beginning; now the Red Team was in the second place with only eight points behind the White Team. The winner of the Team Relay gained fifty points; the second place twenty-five points. Although the gap between their teams could widen depending on the result of the 100 Meters Hurdles, if the Red Team won the Team Relay, they would likely beat the White Team.
"We are not losing," she firmly said before turning her back to him and scurrying away.
He kept his eyes on her back in case she actually fell down until she completely disappeared into the crowd, then started for the room where he changed clothes.
As he moved his feet briskly, his mind wandered to the memory of their first kiss—which was his first kiss and he was sure was her first as well. He had begun thinking about kissing Cagalli in the end of January since according to his research, about a month after becoming a couple was the most common timing for the first kiss. But at that time, he had been feeling rather down with his mother's death anniversary coming closer, and it had not felt like an appropriate time.
In the end of February, the idea had started to keep returning to his mind as he recovered from the low mood. However, his first couple attempts had been failures.
He had first tried to kiss her on the last Sunday of February. He had gone to the Hibiki residence to study with the twins, or rather tutor them, since the finals were just a few days ahead. During a break between studying, Kira had gone out to buy snacks, having lost at rock-paper-scissors; Cagalli and Athrun had been just chatting, sitting on the living room floor, when he realized it might be a good opportunity. They had been alone in a place where they had no risk of being seen.
His pulse quickening, he had moved closer to her, debating in his head whether he should hold her hand or place an arm around her shoulders. Absentmindedly nodding to her chatter, he had decided for her shoulders and stretched out his arm toward her who was oblivious to his intention.
Before his hand reached his destination, however, Kira had called out from the entrance that he was home. Cagalli had let out a cheer and climbed onto the sofa to see the snacks her brother had gotten, leaving Athrun frozen on the floor with his arm still in the air. Looking into the plastic bag Kira had brought, neither twin had noticed the disbelieving look, then an annoyed one, Athrun sent in Kira's direction.
Later, he had consoled himself that it had not been a good timing after all since they had to focus on the finals now, and decided to wait until the exams were over.
On the last day of the finals, school had been over a little after noon and thus, her volleyball practice had finished earlier than usual. He and Cagalli had agreed they should go on a date, have some fun, before they went home. On their way to a bowling alley, she suggested stopping by at a gathering site for cats. They had entered a small parking area where only few cars were parked; at its far corner, there was a space not covered by concrete where grass was growing and some lumbers and plastic sheets were abandoned for some reason. A few cats had been hanging around there as Cagalli had hoped.
The sun had been going down, but it had not been dark yet. Watching her trying to lure the cats by a plastic bottle with small stones in it, he had thought this might be another chance he had been looking for. There had been no one else in the parking area and on the street beside the area. And even if someone came down the street, it would be fine, he had concluded. Cagalli and he had not been able to be seen from the street if they were crouching down, thanks to a car next to them. There had been the cats of course, but he had not really minded being watched by them.
He had made up his mind and crouched down next to her, put an arm around her shoulders to pull her a little closer, then called her name. Her face had turned to him. His face had just begun leaning toward hers when a meow came from right behind them.
Promptly, her attention had shifted from him to a newcomer cat before he could do anything. The cat had seemed friendlier than the other cats, and Cagalli had started playing with it while he was again frozen on the spot, only making noncommittal sounds as she talked to him. Fortunately—or unfortunately, he wasn't sure—she had taken it as a sign that he was bored and suggested heading for the bowling alley, which he agreed with. He had not been able to gather enough courage to make another attempt that day.
After that, he had figured that the reason for his failures was the lack of plan. He needed to make opportunity instead of just waiting for one to come his way, he had decided.
The next Thursday, exactly a week after his second attempt, volleyball clubs had had only a meeting, not practice. He had also found out that her mother wouldn't be at home that night and that therefore, Cagalli wouldn't have to go home for dinner. Trying to act casually, he had invited her to his house with an offer to cook dinner for her. She had easily accepted the invitation though she insisted on helping him cook.
It had actually been the first time they had cooked together. They, and Kira, had eaten meals together before, both at his house and hers, but had ordered out at most of those times. She had cooked for him and Kira once, but he had not yet cooked for her. And he had enjoyed it, and cooking together with her, despite being busy looking for a chance to put his plan into action.
After they had washed the dishes, he had quickly wiped his hands and called her name. As she turned to him, he had stepped closer to her and cupped her face with his hands so that her eyes, and attention, wouldn't leave him. She had looked confused, but before she could say anything, he had covered her lips with his.
A surge of triumph, and relief, had shot through him. Then, warmth and joy had filled him. Kissing her had felt even more wonderful than he had imagined. He had been so concentrated on his lips—or rather, her lips—that he could feel everything: the softness of her lips, small chaps on them, their slight movement as if they didn't know what to do, her disordered breathing as if she didn't remember how or when to breathe.
Her mouth had been a little open, perhaps with surprise, and he had been able to kiss deeply if he wanted. But he had stopped himself for he didn't want to scare her. His decision seemed to have been right. Tentatively, she had put her hands on his back and he had felt her lips pressed against his. They had been kissing each other, not just his kissing her, which made him elated.
After several heartbeats, he had pulled back to take deep breaths. He had wanted to keep kissing, but been feeling dizzy, whether because he had not been properly breathing or because of the excitement of the kiss. He had decided it was better to break the kiss than to embarrass himself like losing his balance during a kiss, their first kiss at that.
As she had opened her eyes and met his gaze, her blush had deepened. She had shyly lowered her gaze and pressed her forehead against his shoulder as if hiding her face. His own face warm, he had held her, and they had stayed that way for a while.
The kiss had made him feel strongly that he and Cagalli were really a couple. A kiss on lips was a special gesture which happened only between boyfriend and girlfriend, not between friends. Not that he had doubted her feelings, or their dating status. But it had felt good to be reassured.
Entering a room where many guys were taking off their yukatas, Athrun let out a small sigh. The memory had strengthened his regret over having been unable to kiss her earlier. He wanted to hold her body wrapped in yukata in his arms and taste the orange lips. He wanted to loosen a band and pins tying up her hair and feel her hair cascade down over his hand. He had undressed her before, but it would surely feel different when her clothes and hair were different.
Well, he couldn't possibly have taken her clothes off in school. But he wished he had had at least a chance to steal a kiss. It would probably have made him feel a little more peaceful. It was, after all, one of the things she let only him do it to her. Not Ahmed. Not any other guy.
After a little, he gave his head a shake and tied up his head band. He couldn't afford daydreaming right now. He had a place to be at and a thing to do. His team was counting on him and the other relay members.
A/N: The sport festival was supposed to be just one chapter. But it got quite long, and I decided to divide it into two chapters and upload both at the same time. Don't forget to read the next chapter!
···
Below are replies to reviews.
To Fuyu Aki:
Thank you for another review!
I have to admit Athrun being allergic to fish isn't my idea. From what I've heard from other fans, some official source seems to have revealed that Athrun has the allergy even though he was a Coordinator, though I don't know what the source was. I just used the information.
How Kira and Lacus met is actually revealed in the next chapter. Athrun also will reflect on his relationship with Lacus in a later chapter, which includes little information on Kira and Lacus's relationship. Though I have to warn you that it won't be much.
And you will have to wait some more until Athrun discusses his situation with someone. I didn't say he is the type to hide his feelings for nothing!
To PegasusInCage:
Thank you for another review! I'm glad you are still reading this fic.
It's not easy to say whether Ulen loves Cagalli, or Kira for that matter. Love means different things to different people. In one sense, he loves both of his children. In another sense, he loves neither. But you are right about Ulen paying extra attention to his son.
Sorry for such a vague answer...but it's a difficult question.
I haven't watched many Korean TV shows and I don't think I've watched that one. But I understand your worry. I would be worrying if I were a reader. Well, I still can't reveal how this fic ends. All I can say is that although this is an AU fic, it's not so different from my other fics. I'm still the same person and I try to keep the characters in this fic as close to how I think they are in the original series as I can.
*posted 02/10/19*
*edited 02/09/21*