A/N The "---"(three dash line) means it's from another person's point of view.
Interesting Fact About This Story/Chapter : Some parts are based on real life things! Some aren't. You can fish out the ones that are and aren't by yourself...
Chapter 4 : Sit-ups Just Aren't My Thing Part 1
"Hey Cagalli? Are you going to bring your MP3 player for the mile run?" Lacus asked as she changed into her gym shorts. "Nope, we can't do the mile...it's pouring!" Cagalli said as she looked out the window and pointed out the obvious. Lacus looked down in disappointment.
She covered her ears and cringed. A loud whistle had blared and echoed down the hallway. Mir, Cagalli, and Lacus popped their heads out the door of the girl's locker room. "All right! Due to the lack of rooms and heavy rain, our boys' and girls' P.E. classes will merge together! Everybody! In the hallway, pronto!!!" Their P.E. teacher, Ms. Kaeda yelled. She was a tall, husky, brown-haired woman who was just plain ugly. The three girls walked out of the locker room and towards the hallway where Ms. Kaeda was standing with her arms rested on her hips and her hands balled into angry fists.
There were blue mats carefully laid out against the wall and sticking out towards the smaller wall perpendicular to the other wall. Lacus bit her lip, I hope we don't do..., she gulped. Mir was too busy talking to Chihiro about the recent gossip incident, and Cagalli was stretching out her legs and abs. Lacus saw from the corner of her eye something that encouraged her to do better. I...I want to impress him, I don't want to look weak in front of him...
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Kira changed into his gym shorts and was about to walk out the door to join Dearka and Athrun who were waiting outside until he heard a loudly annoying whistle coming from right outside the door. It was the gym teacher, Ms. Kaeda yelling for them. Kira slowly creaked the door opened, it stopped. It had hit a blue mat, and Ms. Kaeda gave him an evil glare. He quickly jumped to the side next to Athrun in embarassment. He looked up and saw Lacus in the corner of his eye. Kira smiled in delight.
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"All right! Boys to the left and stay put! Keep the chatter down!! Girls, on the mats! Find a partner!!!!! SIT-UPS!!!!" Ms. Kaeda yelled as she motioned for the boys to move to the side. Lacus jolted, for she was startled at the sound of...sit-ups... She slowly walked to the first mat with Cagalli by her side. Her arms were dangling hopelessly at her sides. Lacus slowly laid down and bent her knees in the sit-up position. The mat was freezing cold and her warm, soft face had turned cold to the touch. Cagalli put her hands and knees on Lacus' feet to hold her down, and she smiled. "You'll do fine." Cagalli said in a nice, reassuring voice. Lacus looked in the corner of her eye again, Kira was watching, and she was at the first mat at the front where the boys were standing! She took a deep breath.
"Okay, get ready...GO!" Ms. Kaeda screamed out as she started the timer. They had one minute to do forty-seven sit-ups, not crunches, sit-ups...Lacus started out at a good pace, her abdomen was only minorly aching so far. She grunted. "Ouch!!!!" Her pace slowed down to two sit-ups every three seconds. By now, her feet felt like miles upon miles of bricks were pounding on her feet, her abdomen began feeling like a hard rock pulling her figure down to the mat. Lacus looked in the corner of her eye once more, He's watching...
She cringed and her pace went three sit-ups every six seconds. "Thirty seconds left!" Ms. Kaeda yelled as she concentrated on the timer. Lacus grunted embarassingly loud. Her face turned a bright red. A few people laughed, she looked in the corner of her eye one last time, Kira had heard her. Now he thinks that I'm just a freak and a weakling...I'm no good for him...He's better off with...that Mai Saitou...
"And...TIME!!!!" Ms. Kaeda finished as she clicked the timer and got her notebook out. Lacus rubbed her abdomen. "How many did I do?" She asked as she anxiously awaited her answer. Cagalli bit her lip, "Um...thirty-five." She said in an somber voice. Lacus looked down in disappointment once more, I really am...weak...
"How many?" Ms. Kaeda asked she leaned closer to Lacus, holding her notebook and pencil. "Thirty-five." Cagalli answered as she worriedly looked at Lacus. Lacus slowly got up off the mat as Cagalli helped her up. Mir rushed up to Lacus, "So how'd you do?" She asked with a smile on her face. Lacus mouthed the words so nobody would hear her number. Mir's smile was wiped off her face, it had transformed into an "are you okay" face. "All right boys! On the mats now!" Ms. Kaeda yelled after she got all the sit-up datum from the girls.
Lacus looked up and saw Kira get on the last mat. "And...GO!" Ms. Kaeda said as she started the timer. Most of the guys were going at a good pace, but Kira was surprisingly...
doing extremely well.
He was going at a rate of about three times faster than Lacus when she started, six sit-ups every four seconds! Now...I really am a weakling in his eyes...He's so strong... Cagalli and Mir looked at each other, they had no idea what was going on in Lacus' mind, but what they did know was that she was upset. Her usual sweet, gentle, and kind expression was now a depressed face. Cagalli placed her hand on Lacus' shoulder and gave her a gentle smile. Just then, Lacus thought back to a poem she wrote during a lonely and stormy night alone at her house.
Moonbeams provided light,
As she walked once again through the corridor...
Alone.
Tears streamed down her face,
No hand to dry her tears...
Not a soul she could talk to,
to...
cherish.
She opened up a photo album,
Pictures of her...alone. Tears formed small puddles at her feet, a memory held in each of them.
She turned to the last page, a bright picture. No, it wasn't necessarily glowing like the sun...
The people were...happy, smiling, laughing. Friendly arms hugged a figure in the middle.
Her tears had turned into tears of joy as she laughed and remembered.
That figure...was her.
She was not alone...
"And...TIME!" Ms. Kaeda yelled. Lacus shook her head as she snapped out of her daydream. Lacus listened in carefully as Ms. Kaeda bent down to Kira and asked for his sit-up count.
"Seventy." Kira said as he wiped the sweat off and got up off the mat. All the girls were squealing in delight and in awe of him. Lacus looked down in embarassment. Though she knew that she really didn't have an excuse to be embarassed now, she kept thinking that she was no good for him.
"All right get changed and get your stuff from your lockers! You have fifteen minutes until the bell rings." Ms. Kaeda yelled as she began collecting the mats.
Lacus quickly ran into the locker room to change and when she came out, Kira, Athrun, Dearka, and a couple of their other friends were sitting on the wall praising Kira for his amazing count.
They suddenly stopped and turned to Lacus, who blushed and looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry..." Lacus quietly said as she ran off to her locker to catch up with Cagalli and Mir. She could hear people snickering and whispering behind her. She tried to block out the sound as her face became hot. A single teardrop gleamed as she turned the corner to the back of the building.
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Kira sat down with Athrun, Dearka, and three of his other friends. Their names were Ryouichi, Akashi, and Sei. He didn't normally hang around with them because they were complete jerks. They were only "friends" because they had almost all classes together.
"Wow Kira, I'm impressed. You got more than me! But...I did do one hundred this morning as soon as I woke up! So I'm a little worn out. Hey, I technically did about one hundred and fifty so I beat you! Heh." Sei arrogantly boasted. "Well, I don't really care what I get or not." Kira calmly added. Then they all started arguing about who was better, while Athrun, Dearka, and Kira started silently complaining to each other about the noisy three beside them.
They all heard the door open. Kira smiled, it was Lacus. He heard her apologize quietly and then she ran off. Ryouichi, Akashi, and Sei began laughing and snickering hysterically. Just then, Kira's heart tore a little. He saw a teardrop shine as it broke away from Lacus' soft face.
Kira quickly by instinct and without thinking jumped up and ran after her. He turned the corner and saw her sitting in the rain with her head drooped. He walked towards her.
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Athrun and Dearka were startled with Kira's sudden movement. Come on Kira...don't mess this up now... Athrun thought as he smiled at his best friend. The heavy downpour had made puddles and even floods where the car lanes were.
---
He could hear a quiet, shaky murmur and sniffling. "E-Excuse me? Miss Lacus?" Kira said as he bent down to her level and pushed her soft, pink locks back behind her ears. She looked up. He could see the tears resting on her cheekbones.
Lacus looked up and noticed him smiling at her. It was the kindest smile she had ever seen. For a moment she gazed into his eyes. Then she looked down and blushed. "Does it hurt?" Kira asked. "It...hurts really bad...my heart." Lacus quietly murmured. Kira pulled back in shock. "Why...does your heart hurt?" Kira asked as he sat down next to Lacus.
"Heartbreak..." She said as she sighed and pulled herself together. Tears stopped streaming down her face, and she smiled.
"Kira...Would you find it wierd if I told you about something...someone so important to me?" Lacus sweetly asked as the rain continued pouring heavily on them.
"Hm? Not at all..." Kira answered back.
Lacus happily smiled. "All right..." She took a deep breath.
"That person that's important to me...
is you."
-To Be Continued...-