Title: Pillow Talk
Author: Teno HikariFandom: Gundam Seed Destiny
Pairing: Kira Yamato / Shinn Asuka
Side Story: First Meeting
Two years ago, death had robbed Shinn of his family when Orb had been attacked. When he enlisted in ZAFT, he had vowed never to let anyone get so close to him again, not even his friends at the academy who later became his fellow crew mates on The Minerva. The teen didn't mind if pushing people away would make him a loner, it was better not to have anything to lose.
He had been content with the soldier life style. Shinn took pride of his Ace pilot status, and although they weren't very close, he had friends who admired him. So other than to move up in rank in ZAFT's military, he neither needed nor wanted anything more.
One day had lead to a change that would send his isolated world spinning out of orbit. It was the day the armory had been attacked on PLANT and the theft of three stolen mobile suits, the same day he met Athrun Zala and that Atha woman. It was these events that landed him back in that God forsaken country where his family died for two long weeks. He decided to pay a visit to the sea side memorial for the first (and last) time before eagerly putting it all behind him. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be the only one there that afternoon.
When a mechanical chirp brought him out of his mourning, Shinn had looked up to see a lone figure dressed in black, standing at the memorial site. He should have run away, mortified to be crying in public. There just wasn't enough time, not when the other mourner turned, and held Shinn down under a violet gaze.
Although they stood a few feet apart, the distance did not prevent him from seeing his grief mirrored on the brunet's handsome face. The other teen hadn't been crying like him, but those violet eyes just looked exhausted, as if they had no more tears left to shed.
They continued to stare at one another for what seemed like an eternity until the brunet broke the silence. An awkward conversation about flowers came up and Shinn could have walked away at any time, but didn't – at least not until a girl who looked like Lacus Clyne had interrupted. He bowed and left, wanting to put as much distance between him and the memorial site as possible, but had an odd feeling that those eyes were still on him.
~*~
The nights in Orb were hard, even on the ship. Whenever Shinn would attempt to lay down and sleep, the faces of his parents and little sister came back to haunt him. It could have been dreams of them still living or worse, the moment of their death. Either dream had Shinn up, sobbing quietly into a pillow soaked with his tears.
He couldn't stay on the ship anymore. Rey never said anything, but he knew the sudden outbursts and sobbing was probably getting on his roommate's nerves. So whenever insomnia struck, he would leave and find himself back at the memorial site. Only there, in the middle of the cold night, he could vent out as much as he wanted in privacy and return before sunrise. This routine continued for days, until one night, his body couldn't take any more and he ended up sleeping on the cold concrete with the harsh sea breeze chilling him to the bone.
Upon waking, he could hear the gentle crashing of waves from an open window where pale sun light filtered in through semi-transparent curtains. As he forced himself to sit up, Shinn took a few moments to collect his thoughts before he realized he was in someone's home, curled up in a stranger's bedding and even wearing their clothes.
"Good morning," a soft masculine voice called from the door way.
Shinn found himself assaulted by those familiar yet strange purple orbs once more as they regarded him. He continued to stare, as the other teenager entered, carrying a tray with contents that made his stomach growl hunger. The brunet sat the tray down before him and then sat down at the foot of the bed.
"Did you sleep well?"
He croaked in response, before swallowing and nodding his head, staring down at the meal laid out before him. Shinn couldn't believe that a complete stranger had gone through such lengths to help him. He began to eat to appease his hunger and buy enough time to think of some kind of explanation.
The hospitable stranger didn't ask for one though, as if rescuing some mentally disturbed homeless teens in ungodly hours of the night was something he did all the time. Shinn ate quietly and listened as the older boy talked about little things like the weather forecast when he informed Shinn that he was at the beach home retreat for an orphanage.
"You can rest quietly now. The others have gone camping and won't be back until the end of the week. It'll be a lot of fun for them."
Something occurred to Shinn as he listened to the stranger talk about campsite activity and asked the question that was on his mind without thinking. "Why didn't you go with them?"
He regretted his words the moment he saw the brunet stiffen and was about to apologize when the other boy just sighed and smiled tiredly.
"I'm sort of a kill joy to them."
~*~
They spent the first afternoon, sitting on the porch and staring at the ocean. Although they traded a few brief words every once and awhile, Shinn didn't feel as alone as he normally did being surrounded by his crew mates. It was nice, and he felt at peace just watching the waves roll upon the shore line. He could understand how someone could get lost in thought and just sit there for hours upon end.
"My name is Kira," the brunet told him after a long silence, "Kira Yamato."
The garnet-eyed boy blinked in surprise as he tore his gaze from the sea towards the other who continued to stare at it. Shinn wondered if he was just waiting patiently for him to volunteer information if he wanted. For some reason he wanted to test Kira's patience, to see if he'd break down with all sorts of questions like the others did before he gave them the cold shoulder. But as the silence dragged on, he realized that Kira just didn't want to say anything, it was as if he had his own battles to fight.
The sun was beginning to set in the horizon, bathing the land in its hellish fiery glow, yet for some reason the previous nightmares hadn't assaulted him. Kira got up and disappeared for a short time and returned when most of the sun had disappeared, carrying a tray of sandwiches – cut into wedges – and a pitcher of ice tea with two glasses.
"Th-thanks," he manages to utter out before quickly sinking his teeth in, piercing a tomato which almost spills out between the bread. He hastily wipes in clean and hides a groan to see that he's got a few spots on his borrowed shirt. "S-Sorry."
Kira only smiles as he chews slowly. "No worries. I live with children, so we have a ton of stain- remover."
They ate in silence, watching the stars come out to light up the evening sky. Out door dinner picnics with his family came back to him, and he remembered eating under a sky filled with stars until it was illuminated by fire works. Mayu would gasp and excitement as she curled up tighter in one of their blankets. As her older brother, he would hold her close and they would fall asleep together until their parents work them up when it was time to go home.
Shinn wasn't aware that he was shaking, didn't hear the sound of the ice cubes in his glass rattling, until he felt warm fingers gently still his hand. Startled, he dropped the glass and expected to hear it shatter into hundreds of tiny pieces. Unexpectedly, Kira had caught it with his free hand without even looking away from him.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, setting the glass down.
Shin's pale lips trembled, almost ready to break down, and spill out his entire past right there and then. But he didn't. He wouldn't inconvenience Kira like that.
"I-I have to get going."
He was on his feet on an instant, ready to bolt, but a strong grip on his shoulder caused him from running straight into the sea. Kira turned him around, but didn't say anything when he saw a few tears escape his eyes. Instead, he handed him a clean napkin while digging into his pants pocket, fishing out his car keys.
"Are you heading to the city? At least let me drive you."
Shinn didn't trust his voice to argue, only nodded. After all, he didn't exactly know where he was at other than near the shore. He could probably call Vino or Youlan up for a ride back to the ship. He would have to return to the memorial site and get his rented car the following day.
He dressed quickly in his own clothes (that had been washed, dried, and folded nearly for him) and hurried down to meet Kira sitting in the driver's seat of an SUV he vaguely remembered seeing in an advertisement – one that hadn't even been released to the public yet.
"Nice ride," Shinn commented as he strapped himself in.
Kira flushed a little in embarrassment. "It's actually my sister's. She has all the connections and lets me borrow it from time to time when I'm here in Orb. It's her way of telling me to get out of the house and stop brooding."
"Your sister sounds awesome."
"She thinks she is."
Shinn actually cracked a smile as Kira drove them – and nearly breaking the speed limit – towards the city. The brunette attempted to hum a Lacus Clyne song and without thinking, Shinn switched on the radio. He was about to apologize and switch it off, when the other boy only chuckled in amusement and told him it was all right.
He hadn't even been listening to the music as his mind replayed the scene from seconds ago. Kira looked good when he smiled, looked even better when he laughed. Shinn suddenly wondered when he started thinking that way about someone of the same gender.
~*~
"Want me to wait with you until your ride shows up?"
Shinn shook his head as he climbed out of the vehicle. "No, it's all right. I called a friend up, and they happened to be close by… but thank you, for everything, Kira-san."
The older boy nodded his head and began to write something down on a slip of paper before offering it to him. To Shinn's surprise it was a pair of phone numbers. One had an Orb area code and a cell phone number.
"It's just Kira. Call me, if you plan on spending the night at the Memorial again. I'll come and get you before you get sick."
He frowned, but pocketed the number and closes the door, which had its window rolled down. "Coordinators don't get common colds…" Shinn instantly regretted the words as he spoke them. This wasn't PLANT after all. What if Kira was a Natural? What if Kira was a Natural who hated Coordinators?
Kira's stared in surprise but only a small smile tugged at his lips. "Perhaps, but we still get sick."
'We?' Shinn mouthed, eyes becoming wide as saucers. 'Kira was also…?' He then recalled Kira's quick reflexes when he caught the glass in a blink of an eye. Would a Natural be able to do that?
"Take care of yourself, then."
"W-Wait!"
Kira was startled by the outburst but leaned forward as the younger boy began to stutter something incoherent. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Sure it was a little late for the introductions but better late than never.
"Shinn," the boy managed to say finally. "My name is Shinn Asuka."
The smile on the brunet's face only widened and it made him melt. "I'll see you around then, Shinn."
"Y-Yeah."
He watched as the SUV vanished from sigh before retrieving the piece of paper again, Shinn took a minute to memorize the numbers, before folding it nearly into a square and then tucking it securely into his sister's folded cell phone.
Another week in Orb didn't seem so bad after all.
Author's Note:
I know I'm really, really, really late with the whole updating. I've had a half-finished draft of Chapter 8 on my old computer but haven't had time to retrieve it. I surprised myself by writing this little ficlet after watching the English version of Final Plus a couple hours ago …which was just weird. I never watched Gundam Seed in English and so I wasn't used to Matt Hill as Kira, and Shinn just sounded too old for sixteen. Ah well.
There will probably be a few more side stories until I start posting new chapters, and figure out if I want to continue with my original planned ending or not.
