Much later that night Dearka staggered up the walkway to the housing complex. He held a disposable camera in one hand and Miriallia's blue flower hair adornment in the other. A livid hand shaped bruise glowed on one cheek while his lips still stung with the force of Mir's last kiss. Behind him, Kira and Athrun inched their way along with hands raised to ward off any unseen obstacles. Both were blind drunk... though not on alcohol. After getting lost and stumbling into a euro-techno dance club, Miriallia and Dearka had gotten separated from the other couples. After catching up with them four hours later, Dearka noted how both Athrun and Kira had sorta dreamy and laid back looks on their faces, while Lacus and Cagalli couldn't stop looking at each other and the boys then laughing. Dearka himself had later acquired that same look when Miriallia had brought him to a dimly lit dancing club. Dearka hadn't been able to make out much in the darkness, but from some half seen glimpses of the other couples he had started to wonder if he hadn't walked into a free form porno studio.
It was at the dimly lit club that Dearka had acquired the handprint. He had been decidedly too fresh after observing the other couples and Mir had slapped him down for it, quite literally. It was later, when he bought her a bouquet of pale white roses and a box of Swiss chocolates that she had kissed him. He'd immediately bought the camera and managed to get most of the next hour on film. There were pictures of Kira and Athrun tripping and falling down some stairs when Cagalli's halter accidentally came off... though no picture of Cagalli. Other pictures included standing at the top of a gothic cathedral and throwing paper airplanes with wishes written on them off into the night, walking arm in arm in arm in arm, six abreast, through crowded midnight markets and bustling restaurants, rolling down a grassy hill side by side and Dearka with root beer foaming out of his nose because of being tickled by Miriallia. However, he still had a good ten pictures left. He wondered what he would use them for. It was really hard to get a picture of Mir and him kissing, since he generally forgot how to do something as simple as breathe at those times, much less take pictures.
The girls had split up with the guys a few minutes before, having been corralled by a high class jewelry store a few blocks away. Dead tired, Athrun, Kira and Dearka had kept going, anxious for some sleep, especially since school was starting... Dearka checked his watch... four hours from now. Dearka fumbled with the much too small key and opened the hallway door. Kira and Athrun crowded up behind him as he opened the door to their common room on his first try... a feat for which he was justly proud. Dearka stepped in and noted that the lights were still on. The instant after that the entire scene exploded into his mind.
Ysak was sitting on the couch, sans shirt. One of the two girls from earlier this morning had her head in his lap. The other had his arm around her while she played with his hair. Ysak was just saying "... Yes, I truly believe you are both the two most beautiful girls in the world." Ysak looked up. He saw Dearka. Dearka saw him. Athrun and Kira saw him. Nobody moved. A wide, wide, oh how so wide grin spread across Dearka's face. He brought the camera up and started taking pictures as fast as he could wind the camera.
"AAGGH!" Ysak screamed. Both girls started up so suddenly that they lost their balance and fell off the couch. Ysak shot to his feet and headed around the couch at Dearka. "Gimme that camera." he demanded. Dearka looked at him and then at the camera. Without more thought than that he tossed the camera to Kira.
"Run far, run fast. Get those developed ASAP." Dearka recommended. Kira looked doubtful but when Athrun added his endorsement he left at a quick walking pace. Ysak tried to follow him but Dearka caught him at the threshhold. "You're not going outside like that, are you, Mr. Bordello?"
"You can't leave yet, Ysak. You haven't fulfilled your promise yet." one of the girls complained. Ysak started to go outside anyway.
"You swore on your mother's council seat. You ARE going to keep your promise, right?" the other added. Ysak froze, trembling. He turned with glacial slowness.
"I'll keep my word. But you're leaving right now." he told them. Both nodded their heads.
"We wouldn't keep you from your friends." they chorused. Ysak walked up to the first of them, the one with blond hair with black stripes. He put his arms around her stiffly and leaned forward, kissing her full on the lips.
"Good night, Chanel." he whispered as he let her go. He then turned to the other one and repeated the process. "Good night, Katie." he released her and glared at them. They meekly nodded and filed out of the room and left the building.
"Damn, Ysak. DAAAMMNN." Dearka said lightly. "Not just one... but two girls eating out of your hand and meekly doing what you tell them too. How do you do it?" Dearka paused. "Or maybe the question should be... did you do it?"
Ysak just glared at Dearka and Athrun again. "I'm not going to talk to you. I'm going to go to sleep. Maybe, if I'm lucky, this will all turn out to be a bad dream." with those words, Ysak stalked up the stairs, pausing only to collect his shirt. As soon as he was safely upstairs Dearka turned to Athrun.
"I never thought I'd see something like this. Did you? In all seriousness."
Athrun only had to think for a moment. "No. I never... ever... thought I'd see Ysak in the company of two girls like that. Much less giving them a compliment and good night kisses. They MUST have coerced him. I just wanna know what they used for blackmail. If it'll work on Ysak, it'll work on anyone."
It was at this moment that Kira returned, still bearing the camera. "I just realized that every store is closed. You'll have to develop them tomorrow." he apologized.
"Not to worry, Kira. Thanks for just getting it out of sight. That's all I needed. Now, I think we should get some sleep or we're all going to be zombies tomorrow."
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"We've located a possible rogue sir." Captain Sark reported over the secure line.
"Oh? Who is it?" Mr. Zunnichi asked, picking up the picture of his sixteen year old daughter Vanai and looking at it fondly. He never got back to Switzerland often enough these days. The Swiss had some of the highest standards of education in the world, which was why many rich people, like him, sent their children there to go to school.
"Vladimir Valkavich. The Strangler Horrificus. Sir." Sark replied.
"Vlad the Strangler?" Mr. Zunnichi sat up straight. "Now that is surprising. I wouldn't have figured that a man who marks his kills like Vlad does would ever turn rogue. Where is he?"
"Switzerland. The Bern suburbs." Sark replied, wincing in anticipation. There was a deadly silence.
"You mean the same suburbs my daughter goes to school in? Are you telling me that my daughter goes to school in the same place that Vlad the Strangler, the most prolific and violent Blue Cosmos fanatic to date, lives?" Mr. Zunnichi's voice rose to a shriek. "Not only that, but the same Vlad the Strangler that is even now possibly working to destroy Blue Cosmos and myself? Good god man, he's probably planning to kill my daughter! I want something done! Now!" Zunnichi screamed.
"Yes, sir. I took the liberty of assigning Lieutenants Frost and Sihov to the task. They seem to get along with each other fairly well, having been lovers before their... upgrades." Sark replied. The line went dead silent again.
"You did take the proper precautions... didn't you captain? If you didn't, then you've placed my daughter in worse danger than she originally was. BCPU 6 Frost is a beast and BCPU 5 Sihov is only a little better." Zunnichi said quietly.
"I took the precaution's sir. They've both been given only enough painkillers to last a day, at least initially. They've also both been hypnotically prevented from harming your daughter. They'd have to overcome years of conditioning to even think of hurting her. As a final precaution I've assigned my son, Ray, to the mission. He has their detonation switch with him at all times. He'll masquerade as a senior student and make sure nothing goes wrong." Sark replied, wishing his son well silently.
"... I'm trusting you, Asmodeus. If my little girl gets so much as a scratch I'll see if the techs can't push themselves and make a BCPU 7. Using you as the subject. Understand?"
"Yes, Mr. Zunnichi. Perfectly." Sark replied and hung up. He rubbed his hands together. He so loved the pressure being under threat of death granted him. It made everything feel so vibrant and alive.
-------------------------------------------------
Kira yawned and groaned slightly. He hadn't got nearly enough sleep last night. Staying up all night partying wasn't usually what he considered fun. But last night... last night seemed to release all the tensions that had been weighing him down since the battle of Jachin Due. Partly it was Lacus. But partly it was also just having fun with five good friends, laughing and joking and fooling around like any other 16 year old kids. It had been so long since he'd had real fun like that that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to laugh until it hurt or smile so wide that his lips still felt loose. He yawned before he could catch himself. It was unfortunate, but he was the only one from the group of his friends in this class. It was Algebra Two class and for some unknown reason it started at seven in the morning every day. Not that Kira was really bothered. He could do Algebra two in his sleep.
"All right class, now, since we have some new faces today, we'll be delaying the lesson so we can get introduced." the teacher, who was named Blake Lorngime, announced. Mr. Lorngime sported a tweed coat, flannel trousers and granny spectacles. A lot of the students thought he was pretty funny looking. Kira didn't really care how the man looked. That he could teach was apparent and so was the fact that he was a very nice and understanding person. Mr. Lorngime was also a counselor for the 11th grade.
When Mr. Lorngime gestured at him, Kira stood up. "Why don't you also tell us a little about yourself as well. How old you are, what you like to do for fun, what you want to be when you grow up, that sort of thing." Mr. Lorngime suggested. Kira nodded, but wondered just what the heck he was going to say. I used to like to pilot giant nuclear powered mobile suits, but that wasn't exactly fun. He thought grimly.
"My name is Kira Yamato. I'm sixteen years old. I like solving math problems for fun, as well as computer programming. As for what I want to be when I grow up... I think a scientist would be fun." Kira said, realizing as he did so that he sounded like a total nerd. Mr. Lorngime looked slightly surprised but nodded quickly.
"That's very nice, Kira. Why don't you sit next to Vanai over there. She can get you oriented." Mr. Lorngime said, indicating a willowy girl with blazing red hair and fiery yellow eyes who gave a half hearted wave. Kira blushed slightly, noting the envious looks of the other guys in the classroom. Well, there was no harm in sitting next to a pretty girl, was there? It wasn't as if he was cheating on Lacus just by sitting next to someone.
"Hi." Kira said quietly as he reached the indicated seat.
"Hello." Vanai responded, looking bored. Kira sat down, feeling uncomfortable. For a brief moment the girl had reminded him of Flay. He tried to shake the image out of his head, knowing it would have nothing good come of it.
Kira looked up attentively as the next new student stepped to the fore of the class. "My name is Amy Sihov. I'm seventeen years old. I like to play European football and lacrosse for fun. I wish to be an Olympic athlete when I grow up." the girl said, unconsciously posing in a way that had every guy in the room except Mr. Lorngime and Kira salivitating. She was extremely tall, more than six and a quarter feet, but did not appear too thin or lanky. She had smiling green eyes and curly black hair. She certainly was built like an Olympic athlete, with no fat anywhere on here at all, that Kira could see. He caught himself staring and turned his eyes down in shame. He already had a beautiful girlfriend. He didn't need to stare at other girls.
"So... how long you been going to this school?" Kira asked as Amy Sihov was being seated. Vanai looked over at him and snorted before turning away again.
"Long enough to hear every conceivable pick up line. Your's sucks." she told him. Kira blinked, but before he could reply, the next new student stood up. This boy was small, not much taller than five feet. He had a stocky build that made Kira think of a fire hydrant. His hair was a green so dark it looked black in most lights and eyes that were, as far as Kira could see, pitch black. Kira sat up straighter. Green hair was generally a Coordinator trait. Could this be another Coordinator?
"My name is Zacharis Frost." the boy said in a resonant but somehow chilling voice. Kira felt a shiver run up his spine as he and the boy locked eyes for a brief moment. "I'm sixteen years old. I do wood and metal work for fun. When I grow up... I wish to be a King." the boy announced. A few people started laughing, but stopped almost instantly when Zacharis looked at them. Kira felt the room grow darker somehow. Before Zacharis could sit down, Vanai raised her head off her hand and asked a question.
"What sort of metal work do you do?"
Zacharis stopped and stared at her. His lips twisted into a rictus like smile. Slowly, he touched one side of his throat with a finger and drew it horizontally along his windpipe. "I make knives." he replied, having symbolically just cut his own throat. Nobody said anything at all. Mr. Lorngime looked like he was about to say something, but obviously thought better of it. Vanai's gaze followed Zacharis all the way to his seat and stayed there.
"Now... class, turn to page three hundred and thirty in your books. You new students, look at the books of those next to you. We'll be doing problems twenty one through sixty five..."
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"What a day!" Dearka groused as he set down his cafeteria platter next to Athrun and Cagalli. "Not only did I get next to no sleep last night, but all my classes have been pitifully boring! And the worst part is, I got detention for not paying attention in class! Can I help it if I learned the quadratic equation back when I was six?" he continued whining. Athrun raised an eyebrow.
"It's not a PLANT school. I would have thought you'd realize that. The trick is to act interested, even when you are bored out of your mind." Athrun replied. Dearka sighed.
"That's a pretty complex trick. Could you teach it to me?"
"If you find the work that easy, you can do my homework too." Cagalli suggested to Athrun. He glanced at her.
"That wouldn't be right. I could get in trouble for doing something like that." he told her. Cagalli started to pout. "Besides, eventually you'd have to do some work on your own, and by that time, the teacher would probably have you doing Chaos theory, which you wouldn't be able to comprehend."
Cagalli thought about that for a few moments. "I suppose you're right." she turned her attention to Dearka. "What's this I've been hearing about Ysak? Athrun let something slip about something happening with him last night, but he shut up about it and won't elaborate." Cagalli asked.
"Why do you want to know? You already have a boyfriend, what's with the interest in Ysak?" he joked. Cagalli brandished her cheap steel cafeteria knife threateningly. Dearka held up his hands defensively. "Woah, down girl. Athrun, control her before she kills me." Dearka pleaded.
"You reap what you sow." Athrun commented philosophically as he took a sip of milk and turned his eyes away. Dearka turned back to Cagalli.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Just put the knife down." He replied. His fear and hesitation were an act. Dearka dearly loved gossip, especially when he had something really juicy to tell, like he did.
"Put what knife down? Where you threatening Dearka, Cagalli?" Miriallia asked, sitting down next to him.
"Yes."
"Oh, okay. Just wondering." Miriallia replied. Dearka looked wounded.
"Aren't you going to protest?" he asked.
"No. I want to hear the story about Ysak too. You'd better get to telling, or I'll menace you myself." she answered. Dearka sighed, faking being put out. Soon, the entire story spilled out and the two girls were quickly laughing and covering their mouths in shock at the same time.
"He had his shirt off?" Miriallia asked in wonder.
"He told them that they were the two most beautiful girls in the world? Ysak did?" Cagalli said, as if she didn't believe him. By this time Athrun had rejoined the conversation and he backed Dearka up, word for word.
"God's own truth." Dearka swore.
"And you let him get away with saying that without protesting?" Cagalli asked sweetly. Athrun looked at her as if she had said something really stupid.
"Um... yes. Why should I have protested?" Athrun asked back. Cagalli shared a look of horror with Miriallia. Dearka and Athrun couldn't tell if it was real or feigned.
"You mean neither of you protested and refuted his claim that they were the two most beautiful girls in the world? Despite the fact that each of you dates one of the two most beautiful girls on the planet?" Miriallia asked, as if trying to set things straight. Dearka had a bad feeling about where this was going. "I think they deserve to be punished for their indiscretion, don't you, Cagalli?"
"Yes, I do. Let us adjourn to elsewhere. We'll eat with some other guys, who will hopefully be more sensitive and possessed of better manners." Cagalli agreed with a predatory gleam in her eye. "God knows I've had enough admiring stares this morning to last me all week." With that the two girls stood up and moved several tables away, where they started a conversation with the people already sitting there.
"Are they serious?" Athrun asked, bewildered.
"Don't ask me. I can't even understand Mir, much less your girlfriend." Dearka answered. He looked around the crowded cafeteria. Dearka half rose and waved his hand. "Hey, Kira! Lacus! Over here!" he called.
Within moments Kira and Lacus had hurried over and sat down, glad to be able to sit next to people they already knew. Athrun noticed that Lacus was clinging quite tightly to Kira's arm. "You should be careful, or he'll lose feeling in his arm." Athrun advised. Lacus blushed and loosed her grip slightly.
"Sorry." She apologized to Kira, who just shrugged it off with a noncommittal grunt. Athrun looked at him strangely.
"You're acting withdrawn again. What's the problem?" Athrun asked. Kira blinked at him and seemed to wake up.
"Just having a tough time adapting to school again." Kira explained.
"I'll say! I've never been stared at so much before!" Lacus said indignantly. "It's almost like there was something on my face for all my classes this morning. But there isn't, I just checked! I just don't get it." She complained. "And of course it doesn't help that I only have one class with Kira, and that's Current Events and History, the last class of the day."
"As if we didn't already have a more than sufficient grasp of current events." Kira added with a brief smile. "I missed you." he whispered to Lacus and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"I missed you too." Lacus replied and squeezed his hand.
"Allo there!" a new voice said from close by. Kira stiffened. He had been thinking about that voice, and the boy it belonged to, all day. Athrun and Dearka looked up to see who had spoken. Lacus noted Kira's odd expression and focused on him. She wondered to herself what was bothering her boyfriend.
"Hello." Athrun said politely.
"I said... Allo there!" Zacharis Frost repeated, ignoring Athrun completely, his voice losing its amiable tone. He dropped one thick fingered hand on Lacus's shoulder. Lacus jumped slightly, surprised by the sudden unwanted physical contact. Kira turned rapidly and stared up at the short and dark boy. Athrun cleared his throat and leaned forward.
"I said hello." Athrun informed Zacharis coolly. Zacharis continued to ignore him as if he wasn't even there.
"You listening to me, Pink?" Zacharis whispered, bending down so his lips brushed Lacus's ear. "I said... Allo!"
Lacus tried to pull away but his grip was like an iron vise. "Please, leave me alone. I don't know you." she pleaded. Kira stood indignantly.
"That's my girlfriend, Zacharis. Don't touch her unless she says so." Kira warned. Zacharis rotated his eyes ever so slightly to look at Kira, but did not move his head from next to Lacus's.
"Frost will speak to you when Frost is ready. For now... you can leave." Zacharis replied icily. Before anyone at the table could react, Zacharis lashed out with his left hand and caught Kira squarely in the jaw, sending him sprawling back over the table and onto the ground in a welter of spilling drinks and squashed food. Lacus gave a gasp of surprise. She pulled her head forcefully away from Zacharis and slapped him with all her might. The sound of the smack of flesh on flesh resounded throughout the cafeteria, turning scores of heads. Zacharis brought the hand that had formerly been on Lacus's shoulder to his cheek, which blazed red. "Going to make you regret that, Pink. Frost never forgives." he said evilly, reaching out for her with both hands. Before he could move more than a few inches Kira rose up from the other side of the table like a phoenix made of cafeteria food.
"I don't forgive you, either, Zacharis." Kira snarled and slammed his fist into Zacharis's forehead. There was a popping sound and Kira brought his fist back with a hiss of pain, cradling it and massaging his knuckles while looking at Zacharis in disbelief. The blow did have some effect though. Zacharis stood stiffly upright. For the briefest of moments he seemed like he was going to hurl himself onto Kira, but then some last reservoir of logic kicked in and he made a hasty retreat, upsetting several other people on his way out of the room.
"Are you okay, Kira?" Lacus cried fearfully. Kira shook his hand a few more times before sitting down, still covered in food.
"Just popped my knuckles. The pain is already fading." Kira said, but then proved himself a liar by wincing when he tried to pick up his drinking cup from the floor. Lacus immediately slipped her arm around his waist and used her other hand to gently prod his wounded knuckles. Kira winced and bit his lip.
"They look squashed." Lacus said worriedly. "You should see the school nurse. Come on, no arguing now." She continued, practically dragging Kira to his feet and out of the room. Athrun turned to Dearka.
"What the hell was that guy's problem? I've hung out with soldiers my entire life and never met anyone that rude. He acted like I didn't even exist!" Athrun said angrily. Dearka nodded wordlessly.
"What bothered me was that he took Kira out with a single punch. Sure, it was only temporary, but I don't think I could do that. And did you see how fast he moved? I could barely follow him. That guy was no Natural." Dearka mused.
"He couldn't have been a Coordinator. There's not a Coordinator our age alive who doesn't know who Lacus Clyne is. He kept referring to her as "Pink" though, like he'd never seen her before and invented a name for her on the spot." Athrun protested. Dearka gave a sudden dire chuckle. "What's so funny?" Athrun asked, seeing nothing humorous.
"I hope that Zacharis guy runs into Ysak. That'd be a fight to see." Dearka answered. Even Athrun managed a grin at that. He looked at his watch.
"Geez, look at the time. I'm going to be late for class. I'll catch up with you later, Dearka." Athrun said, standing up and moving quickly away, pausing only to collect Cagalli.
"Yeah... later."
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Ray Sark wiped the sweat from his brow. Damn, but that had been a close one. #13z... or Zacharis Frost, as he was known before he became a THING rather than a person had nearly flown out of control. Ray shuddered, barely able to conceive of the possible carnage that had just been averted. Frost raging loose in a crowd of civilian teenagers would have painted the walls red with blood and made the floor slippery with viscera. #13z was a killing machine without the slightest scrap of humanity or morality. Predicting what he would do next was nothing more than an educated guess based off the idea that Frost desired to live and could therefore be controlled by threatening to use the kill switch that would detonate all his implants, killing him. However, Ray wasn't entirely sure Frost WANTED to keep living. In the process of becoming a BCPU 6, a feat never before accomplished or even attempted, Frost had lost nearly everything that made him a human. He no longer conformed to thought patterns or rational thinking. He was like that one character that Ray had read about in one of his father's antique Batman comics when he was little. The Joker... that was the character's name. Madness for madnesses sake.
Luckily, his other charge, BCPU 5 Amy Sihov, was much easier to understand, if not control. She was demented too... but in the standard homicidal fashion. She'd kill you as soon as look at you, if her sedation drugs wore off. However, she really did fear death and loathed being in pain, two things which made her quite easy to manipulate. Ray only had to caress her kill switch for her to stop whatever incorrect action she was taking. Ray shook his head slightly. The whole BCPU project seemed crazy to him. Super-soldier's were nice, but these weren't quite what he'd had in mind.
A standard human was technically a BCPU 1, which meant they had the normal reflexes, strength and stamina of a Natural. A BCPU 2 was a low end Coordinator, being slightly above average in all categories. BCPU 3's, which were the minimum desired level for the project, were significantly faster, stronger and tougher than Naturals, but were also slightly unbalanced. They tended to be withdrawn and highly aggressive in stressful situations. A BCPU 3 was the equivalent of an average Coordinator, though a very aggressive one. At BCPU 4 the person's reflexes and stamina were far above even Olympic levels, but they started to become psychotic. Shani Andras, the last BCPU 4, had been prone to obsessive revenge driven behavior as well as withdrawing into fugue states out of combat.
Ray shook his head again. Rational people would have stopped there, having seen the obvious trend. However, the man his father worked for, Cervantes Zunnichi, CEO of Cosmos Weapon Manufacturers, the military contractor arm of the former Azrael Conglomerate, wasn't exactly what Ray considered rational. The number two man of Blue Cosmos, Cervantes Zunnichi had been responsible for the day to day operation and activities of Blue Cosmos, while Azrael Murata had done the recruiting and long term strategy work. Zunnichi had revised the BCPU project on Azrael's death, pressuring the scientists into continuing on despite objections. A BCPU 4 was supposed to be able to beat or equal any Coordinator ever created. However, this was proven to be wrong when Shani was killed in the battle of Jachin Due.
So a pair of BCPU 5's were created, at the cost of dozens of subjects suffering irreparable mental damage during the treatments. BCPU 5's were monsters. Ray had seen Amy kick a hole in a wooden wall six inches thick without breaking a sweat. Their reaction speed was so quick that they could duck a knife thrown at them from less than two feet away without the knife even getting close. They were also extremely resilient, being able to suffer nearly catastrophic blood loss and organ failure and still survive. At one point in time, Amy's right lung had collapsed and her left leg half severed below the knee in a "training accident". She had lain in a pool of her own blood, gasping for air for twelve hours before the technicians could get to her and administer medical treatments. Unfortunately, BCPU 5's were totally homicidal. If extreme precautions were not taken, they could and would kill anyone their whims told them to kill. They had to be sedated all the time out of direct combat and fitted with kill switch implants to ensure loyalty.
Of course, the really frightening one was Frost. Out of two hundred candidates, he was the only one to survive the upgrades. Frost could tear a grown man's head off with a single swipe of his hand, and had put his fist through a thin brick wall numerous times during testing. As far as Ray had ever seen, you could punch at Frost all day long and you'd hit nothing but air unless he wanted you too. And... as that unfortunate student with the brown hair had found out, Frost's body was as strong as iron. The poor kid had likely broken his hand or wrist. The downside to this superman was that he had lost every bit of the person he used to be, except for the instincts to hurt and kill, each magnified to proportions dozens of times greater than those found in Naturals. Even his seeming infatuation with the pink haired girl was not from love. Frost would lure her away from other people to an isolated spot and then slowly skin her alive and rape her afterwards, while she was still conscious and screaming. Frost called it "sharing his life", and it was one of his favorite activities. Frost was like the psycho murderers from horror films, except that Frost would eat those pitiful evils for breakfast.
"Excuse, me, but shouldn't you be in class?" an adult voice asked him. Ray started from his reverie. A teacher with a slightly suspicious look on her face was staring at him from the hallway door. While Ray had been thinking, lunch had ended and all the other students had left.
"No, ma'am. I'm a senior hall monitor. This is my watch period. I heard about a fight in the cafeteria, but by the time I got here, the miscreants were gone. I was just trying to figure out who it might have been." Ray replied respectfully, in the tones that always worked to reassure adults. The teacher sighed and leaned against the door.
"Another fight? We've been having a rash of them today. It seems that the latest group of new students aren't fitting in very well. I already sent one of them, a boy with the most unnerving scar across his face, to detention for his negative attitude. On his way to the office, he punched another boy and knocked out four of his teeth. Normally we'd suspend someone like that, but his personal file say's he's a war orphan. God only knows what he went through during that horrible war. We'll put him in counseling instead." she replied.
"That seems like a good idea." Ray said with real sympathy. There were too many war orphans. And all because of the damned space monsters, the Coordinators, didn't know their place. Ray felt a welling up of hate inside him and had to choke it off before the teacher noticed.
"Maybe you should check down at the nurses office? If one of your miscreants was injured during the fight, he might end up there with some other excuse. I can't tell you how many people I've seen try to explain a black eye and bloody nose as injuries from walking into a door." the teacher suggested. Ray nodded in seeming agreement. If nothing else, it would let him check up on the kid that Frost had injured. Hopefully the injury wasn't too severe, because of the possible consequences for Frost and the mission. If Frost was suspended from school, he'd not be able to watch Ms. Vanai Zunnichi's back. Ray frowned. That girl was a total bitch. She put on airs like she was the queen of fucking France. She held court in every class she went to, with a large crowd of admiring but not very intelligent boys on hand at all times to attend her every need. Even the teacher's treated her like she was someone special. And all because her daddy was one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, with a bank account balance probably higher than the national treasury of Switzerland itself. Ray excused himself and made his way down to the nurse's office.
"Are you sure you're okay, Kira? Your hand didn't look so good." a melodic girl's voice asked from behind the partially open door to the examination room. A boy, probably the one addressed as Kira, sighed.
"It was just some bruised knuckles and a badly sprained wrist. I'll be as good as new in a few days. The nurse taped it up so I can't hurt it any more unless I slam it into a wall or something." Kira replied.
"That's a relief. I don't like it when you get hurt, it's happened too often before. Though taking care of you was quite fun then. If only I could do that without you having to be hurt first." the girl hinted wistfully. There was a sudden sound of lips meeting ever so briefly.
"You can take care of me whenever you want, Lacus." Kira said, fumbling his way through a romantic line. Ray started. Lacus? Lacus? Why is that name so familiar? "However, we should really get back to class or we'll miss important work. I'll see you in Current Events and History. Then we'll go out and get some ice cream after school. How does that sound?" Kira continued. There was another sound indicating a public display of affection.
"Oh, Kira, that'd be wonderful! I haven't had ice cream... since last night." the girl said slowly, having caught up to her own thoughts.
"Oh... yeah. Right. How about a relaxing dinner then? I think we both need it after today." Kira replied instantly.
"It's a date." Lacus told him. "I always wanted to say that." she added in a voice so quiet only Kira could hear. Ray jumped back a step as the door swung open and Lacus stepped out. Ray couldn't help but stare. Suddenly his thoughts went into overdrive. Pink hair... blue eyes... dresses in purple, pink and white... named Lacus... it couldn't be. Why the hell would Lacus Clyne, the Coordinator daughter of the former chairman of the supreme Plant council be here on Earth? Hell, what are the odds of me running into her like this? This is like some gift sent by some higher power, though which I'm still not sure. Zunnichi would freak if he found out his daughter was going to the same school as a Coordinator. Ray thought. Suddenly a glowing idea popped into his head. I'd be well rewarded if I took her out! Lacus Clyne was one of our top five targets for a while, considering her pop culture icon status among Coordinators. If I could prove I killed her, or had a hand in her death, why... I'd probably get promoted to colonel on the spot! And Zacharis Frost has already selected her for his target! Things are going so well, and I didn't even have to do anything. Though of course the report won't say that.
"I'm tired of being stared at. I wish the boy's at this school would take a hint and realize I'm already involved with someone." Lacus complained as she looped her arm through the arm of the boy known as Kira. Ray quickly turned his head away, as if shamed. In truth, he had been so caught up in visualizing how his Colonel's uniform would look on him that he hadn't even been really looking at Lacus, just in her general direction. I'm going to be famous. And rich. And powerful. And all because my dad sent me on this stupid worthless mission in the first place, as a way of getting me out from underfoot. Thanks dad. You know what? I think I actually mean that. Maybe I'll toss him a few worthless missions once I'm his superior. Maybe he'll get lucky like I have. Though I doubt it. Ray mused before heading off at a brisk walk to the rendezvous point where he was meeting Zacharis and Amy after school. He was already thinking of a foolproof way to take Lacus Clyne out.