Summary: Kira and Shinn are both attending Chairwoman Clyne's meeting. Athrun is distracted.

A/N: WTF. Haha, another drabbly for the Unity universe.

Warning:This is a one shot drabble-thing that is much like an extra scene from my other AU Unity (Unity is shounen-ai! So if you're not a fan of that, don't read it and don't say I didn't warn you.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Destiny.

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Fear

'What's wrong with Athrun?' stated the sticky note that was passed into his hand beneath the large conference table.

"Hmmm…" Kira glanced at the younger man's direction, the one in question, before writing back, 'Why do you ask, Shinn?'

The former pilot of Impulse returned the note a moment later. 'The muscles in his left hand are twitching…Not to mention, his face looks as if it's in a state of paralysis.'

The brilliant violet eyes scrutinized Athrun, carefully noting the way his lips were pressed firmly into a line. Clearly, Athrun seemed to be anxious over something that couldn't be seen from both Kira and Shinn's vantage point across the table.

Or maybe…Perhaps the stress was induced by the seating arrangements; after all, Yzak Joule is sitting beside him right now, shooting him impartial glares.

Kira sighed and wrote back privately, 'I don't know what's wrong. He's obviously not paying any attention to the meeting.'

After passing the note to Shinn, Kira sidled his gaze towards Lacus' direction after he felt her inquisitive stare; he could only smile apologetically before he discreetly analyzed Athrun again. However, his concentration broke when he felt a sharp jab to his ribs and another note pressed into his hand.

It read, 'I'm going to kick him – you know, to make him pay attention. It's quite disrespectful to Chairwoman Clyne if he's not listening.'

He could not decide whether to smile or frown at Shinn's bold declaration. So instead, he kept a neutral expression and wrote down, 'I don't think that would help. Doesn't he seem quite…unnerved?'

'Yes, a little bit.'

'A kick might send him over the edge.'

Kira could hear the snort of derision emitted beside him; obviously the black-haired pilot read what he wrote. There was a prompt response, 'That's ridiculous. Are you saying he might have a panic attack if I kick him?'

'Maybe…He's sweating, Shinn. He already seems to be panicking.'

'That's just…bullshit. What could he be panicking about? We're in a conference meeting, not in a life or death situation.'

The brown-haired man blinked at the message and then scanned the immediate office surrounding once more.

Nothing. There was nothing here that can pose as a horrible 'life or death situation' so Athrun really shouldn't look like he's ready to hyperventilate.

…

Wait a minute!

"Ahhh…So that's what's bothering him…"

Kira, with a rather curious expression on his face, wrote to Shinn, 'I think I know what the problem is.'

'And that is…?' came the impatient reply.

Crumpling the note in his hand, Kira rose up from his seat and gazed directly at Lacus. "If I may ask for a ten minute intermission…?"

Lacus did not question; instead, she smiled warmly, "Very well. I suppose we do need a short break."

With that, the informal meeting was temporarily paused by Chairwoman Clyne and Kira took that opportunity to approach Athrun while Shinn stayed seated. Everyone else conveniently shuffled out of the room.

"Athrun."

More than a bit skittish, Athrun literally jumped out of his seat to face him. "Uhh - Yes, Kira?"

Smiling kindly, Kira rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "How about I switch seats with you? Would that be better?"

"What?" Athrun turned a bit red around the collar. "Was I that…obvious?"

"Yes, as obvious as night and day." The older coordinator tilted his head. "You looked ready to have a panic attack."

Shinn muttered something unintelligible.

"I – no – It's alright, Kira." Athrun gave him a strained smile and attempted to joke. "No need to change seats or anything…Yzak might think I'm afraid of him or something."

Kira chuckled half-heartedly, "How about I 'save you' then?"

"What? I-" Athrun's mouth went dry when he saw what Kira meant. "Don't touch – Get away from - Kira!" He backed away quickly so that he was flat against the wall.

Ignoring the blue-haired man's behaviour, a bright smile easily lit Kira's face when he caught the spider, the 'tormentor', hanging above Athrun's seat. He even allowed the small arachnid to crawl up his index finger, much to his best friend's fear.

"Keep that thing away from me."

"I can't believe that you still have this irrational fear, Athrun…It's just a spider." The brown-haired coordinator walked towards the open window and gently transferred the spider to the wall of the building.

Shinn spoke up now after watching the scene incredulously, "You mean he was distracted by a spider?"

Kira shrugged, "I guess so. Isn't that right, Athrun?"

"'I guess so'? - That's just not fair, Kira, when you know why I'm afraid of spiders." Athrun frowned. "And it's not just a spider, Shinn."

Shinn, in turn, smiled teasingly, "Ahh…Seems like that to me."

"It's alright, Athrun. The spider is gone now." Kira walked back to his seat and sat down. "And besides, there's no shame in having a fear."

"Unless it's a fear of spiders, of all things," added Shinn. He rested a cheek on the desk. "Our occupation is to pilot giant robots, Athrun, and you're telling me you're afraid of-"

Grumpy, Athrun glowered at the pair. "There's going to be no more mention of this incident."

Kira nodded easily enough and Shinn followed the action, albeit more reluctantly.

…It was then did Athrun add a quick afterthought, "And absolutely no pranking with spiders, damn it."

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End

I was tempted to make Kira say, "Every Superman has his kryptonite". Heh, but then I though, C.E.-verse doesn't have Superman! Too bad.

Spyrit