The Ironic Things in Life
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy...but I do own this story...so good for me!
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Irvine Kinneas hurried towards the apartment that Xu had given him the address to. If Seifer wasn't there then there was no telling where else he'd be. And he had to get to Seifer and ask him exactly why Squall's nose was tilted at a 30 degree angle.
Irvine hurried up the front steps and pressed the doorbell of the old fashioned townhouse which apparently belonged to Seifer's two friends.
A minute later, the door opened and a woman with short grey hair and an eye patch over her eye, appeared at the door.
"WHAT?"
Irvine jumped back in surprise and almost fell down the steps that he had just clambered up. He quickly straightened himself up and swallowed as the woman's single eye followed his movements.
"Uh…"
"She said what do you want, ya know? Not hard to understand, ya know? You aren't the postman are ya?"
A young man had appeared behind the woman. He had black hair, brown skin and was very muscular. The young woman turned around and kicked the man, who leapt back in pain.
"Ya, sorry, ya know? 'Course he's not the postman."
Irvine raised an eyebrow at the strange pair and cleared his throat.
"I'm looking for Seifer Almasy. Is he here…?"
"NO."
Irvine flinched and tried again.
"Are you sure? Because the people who live here are supposed to be his…"
"NO."
Irvine's eardrums pounded at her raised voice.
"She said no, ya know? Not hard to understand, ya know? We don't know any Seifer, ya know?"
Irvine rolled his eyes.
"Well, if Seifer isn't here then I'm looking for Fujin and Raijin."
"We're Fujin and Rai…"
The woman turned around and kicked the man again.
"OW! What was that for? Oh, right. We don't know any Fujin and Raijin."
The man folded his arms across his chest as if to challenge Irvine to disagree.
"But you just said…"
"Slip of the tongue, ya know? Happens, ya know?"
"Who are you idiots talking to…?"
Another voice came from between the man and woman, and Seifer sneered his way past them to be met with the sight of Irvine.
"Why if it isn't Kinneas. What do you want…?"
Irvine took off his hat and fixed his indigo eyes onto Seifer.
"I need to talk."
"Come in, then," Seifer said, turning on Fujin and Raijin, "And why the hell didn't you idiots let him in?"
Fujin hung her head as Raijin fumbled around for an apology.
"S-sorry, boss….ya know…"
"SHUT UP!"
-----
Rinoa simply stared as one of the young men ran a hand through his brown hair. Both of the men were wearing Galbadian body guard uniforms which meant that they worked for an important member of the Galbadian military.
Rinoa bit her lip, in an attempt to stop a flow of tears falling down her face.
"What do you two want?"
"Well we were sent by…"
"I know very well who sent you! Get to the point!" Rinoa interrupted.
The man swallowed and jammed a hand through his hair again, as the second man turned red.
"We heard you'd gotten yourself into a spot of trouble…"
Rinoa scowled and placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh, yeah? What kind of trouble?"
"Well, apart from getting embarrassed in the papers and all…" the second man blurted out.
Rinoa glared at him.
"Oh, so you've been following the papers, have you?" she accused.
The first man shook his head furiously.
"N-no, nothing like that. But it's been giving you a bad name. It's lucky that they haven't found out who your parents are."
"You mean who my parents were. My parents are dead."
The second man shook his head.
"No, according to my information, your mother died 15 years ago but your father is still…"
Rinoa glared at him again.
"We all know that you idiot! God! Especially you traitors!"
The first man nervously clutched his stomach.
"Well, we've been sent to ask you if you need help."
Rinoa stared at the both of them stubbornly.
"And why didn't he come himself?"
The second man fidgeted with his collar uneasily.
"Well, maybe because you've announced him as dead."
Rinoa made a little noise to let them know that she was getting irritated.
"How did you find out? Oh, I get it! You're having me followed, aren't you?"
The first man shook his head again.
"No one's been following you from our side. Someone phoned up and told us about it. He wouldn't say who he was, but he said you're in big trouble."
Rinoa's brow wrinkled. Who else would know about the letter…?
-----
Irvine sat nervously on a chair, and waited for Seifer to come back downstairs. Raijin sat opposite Irvine, and carefully watched him just in case he turned out to be a threat after all.
"TEA?"
Irvine really did hurt himself this time, as he tried to jump up but ended up overturning his chair.
Fujin stared down at where he lay on the floor.
"FREAK."
"She thinks you're a freak, ya know? No offense or anything but I agree, ya know?"
Irvine groaned and slowly rose to his feet, his head pounding.
"How long is Seifer gonna take?"
Raijin shrugged.
"Come with me, I'll take you upstairs to his room."
Irvine happily agreed to this and followed Raijin up the stairs and down the hall to where Seifer's room was.
"Seifer?" Raijin called, knocking on the door.
"What?" Seifer asked, opening the door, "Oh, Irvine. I was just about to come downstairs. Well, maybe it'd be better if we talked in private."
Seifer glanced pointedly at Raijin who finally got the idea and headed back downstairs to Fujin.
"WHERE, SEIFER?"
"He stayed upstairs with that Irvine guy, ya know? Said something about talking in private."
"PRIVATE?"
Raijin shrugged.
"I don't know everything, ya know?"
-----
"Something's going on."
Selphie looked over to where Quistis was perched on the sofa, looking extremely tense. Rinoa and Zell had both gone out this time, and these two were left on their own.
"What do you mean?" Selphie asked.
Quistis shook her head and then rubbed the side of her neck.
"Did Zell ever give you a memorabilia…?"
Selphie paused thoughtfully and then shook her head.
"Nope, not as far as I can remember. A memorabilia as in what exactly…?"
"You know, a bunch of photos of us."
Selphie shook her head again.
"No, he didn't."
"Then where did all the photos go…? He said he was going to give them to you for a birthday present." Quistis wondered.
"What photos?"
"Zell was in Rinoa's room one night and when he came out, he had a camera in his hand."
Selphie tapped her fingers against the side of her face.
"Maybe he forgot…"
"I really don't see how he could possibly forget. He even took my photo."
Selphie's eyebrows shot up as an insane idea wormed itself into her head.
"Maybe he's a secret investigator out to spy on us!"
Quistis sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I really doubt that, Sef. But I wonder why he was taking photos of Rinoa? And where did they all go?"
"Maybe they turned out really bad and he threw them out."
"Maybe…" Quistis repeated, a faraway look entering her sky blue eyes.
If only the two women knew how close Selphie's guess had been, they would've started searching Zell's room right away.
-----
Zell gulped as his cell phone rang, and he hurriedly answered it.
"Hello?"
"It's me. I fired Seifer."
"What? Why?"
"He found out about you. What else was I supposed to do?"
Zell anxiously glanced around, making sure that there was no one around that he knew.
"I tipped them off about the letter…"
"I know. They came over this morning and left with Rinoa."
"Good. Now Zell, I want you to keep the girls in the dark for as long as you can. Make sure that none of them know what you're really doing there."
Zell took a deep breath.
"Squall, I don't know how much longer I can do this for."
"What?"
"It's just that those girls are so nice and…"
"Zell, we've been friends for ages. Make sure you know where your loyalty lies."
"Why don't you just tell Rinoa the truth?" Zell demanded.
"We've gotten in too deep to back out now. What would she think when she found out…"
Zell gulped and realised that Squall was right. It didn't matter that Seifer had figured out their plan. The important thing was that they got it over and done with.
"I have to go now. Irvine should be back soon."
Zell hung up and walked down the straight path of the local park, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his baggy jeans. It had been almost three months ago that Squall had come to Balamb and approached him with a business deal that he couldn't refuse.
"Zell Dincht?"
Zell turned around and stared at the young man standing in front of him donned in black.
"Yo, Squall! How's it going?"
Squall nodded in reply.
"Remember how I told you that your investigating skills would come in handy one day?"
Zell nodded as he paid for his Balamb fish roll and took a huge bite.
"Well, this is it. I need you to investigate someone in Galbadia."
"Who?" Zell inquired.
"Her name's Julia Caraway and she's married to General Caraway. Find out how she's connected to my father. And here's a photo."
Squall handed Zell a photo of a woman with short dark brown hair who is standing next to a laughing Laguna. Also in the photo, is a much younger version of Squall who isstanding next to a dark haired girl about the same age as him.
Zell downed his fish roll.
"Don't worry, Squall. I'll find out everything."
-----
"Seifer…"
"What?"
"Why did Squall kick you out?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the line, as Seifer Almasy wished he had never given Quistis his cell number.
"It doesn't matter why. He just did."
Quistis massaged her forehead as Selphie pressed her ear closer to the phone.
"When can I meet up with you?"
"Tomorrow…6 pm at the new Esthar restaurant that opened in the shopping district."
"Ok, bye Seifer."
Quistis hung up and rested the phone against her chin.
"You know Rin's gonna freak when she finds out you've been talking to Seifer…?" Selphie asked, resuming her seat opposite Quistis.
"I think Rin needs to grow up," Quistis stated, just as Rinoa walked into the lounge room.
Selphie quickly jumped up.
"Hey, Rin!"
Rinoa smiled weakly.
"Guys, I've got something important to tell you," she said, wringing her hands together.
"What it is, Rinoa?" Quistis asked, noticing Rinoa's anxiety.
"I'm leaving this weekend. I'm going to stay at my father's place for a while."
-----
"Alright, I'll see you soon, Seifer," Irvine said, walking down the stairs of Raijin and Fujin's townhouse.
"See ya, Kinneas. Fujin, see him outside. It's only polite that you entertain your guests properly," Seifer said with a sneer, heading back up to his room.
Irvine stared in alarm at the grey haired woman and waited as she opened the door and waited for him to step outside. Irvine wondered if he should say something to her or just leave out of fear. Deciding that it'd be rude to go away quietly, he turned to face her just as she slammed the door in his face. Irvine blinked and could vaguely hear Fujin's voice.
"RAGE!"
Shaking his head at the oddity of the woman, he hurried down the front steps and almost collided with a young woman. The woman stared at him for several seconds, before hurrying into the townhouse next door.
"God, strange people live in this neighbourhood," he muttered.
A/N: Thanks for your reviews, guys. It really helps me decide what to put into each chapter and also gives me an idea on what parts of the story you like. I know a lot of you like the humour so there'll be more humour coing up sooner or later. I sort of need to get into the pace of things and think of something particularly funny to put in.
Now, before I forget, thanks again to my reviewers. You guys review so fast! Thankies! I hope you all continue reviewing. :)
Luis
ElvenHorse
Windsiren
Squallsgurlygurl