Hi folks! I am back! Sorry for making everyone wait and thanks for all your reviews! I'll try to be less confusing and the idea of the entire festival in chapter nine of course belonged to trulyanimelover06!
Since I was away for so long, I decided to write a quick summary on the previous chapters just in case some of you have forgotten. If it's still fresh in your memory, you can skip it and scroll down to read chapter ten. I hope I'm not too bad at the summary. Enjoy!
Dedications: .CriMsonxLadY., Alice, Byron Lancaster, cagallifangurl, Dhevz, eternalasucaga, Fii aka Ficchan, hellopanda23, Jodeist, Joker Oak, Katina Uchiha, KazumiSakura, Litari Hatake, Miyu Nanami, mokonamodoki93, mrs. zala, patzie24, sakurayamato1, SaKuRaYukIe, The Blue Mask-cara, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, trulyanimelover06.
Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed.
… … …
Previously on High School Drama…
Cagalli transferred to Archangel Academy which was the school of her twin brother Kira. She immediately became friends with her brother's friends namely Lacus, Miriallia, Shiho, Dearka and Yzac. On her first day in school, she met the infamous Athrun Zala who was nicknamed 'the ice prince' for his cold and aloof personality. She took an instant disliking to him. It was also revealed that Kira was one of Athrun's very few friends.
Things changed along the way for Athrun and Cagalli. She was partnered with him for the baby project and Athrun slowly warmed up to her. She was one of the very few people that Athrun actually conversed with. There were numerous times when Athrun helped Cagalli. One of which was saving her when she was harassed by Yuna. The other time was when Cagalli fell into the drain and injured herself when she collided onto Meer and Athrun carried her home.
Meer was a 'Lacus-copy-cat' and she could not get Athrun's attention no matter how hard she tried. She was jealous of Cagalli's popularity and Cagalli's closeness to Athrun. Meer was also responsible for locking Cagalli inside the chiller room earlier on. Cagalli was joined by Athrun in the chiller room not long after. It was Kira who finally found and saved them afterwards.
Feeling indebted for the countless number of times he helped her, Cagalli gave a pair of carnival tickets to Athrun. Of course Athrun rejected the tickets and the two ended up serving detention where they discovered an abandoned music room. Cagalli played the piano for Athrun and he promised to play the violin for her another time. In the end, Cagalli went with Athrun to the carnival as he had no one else to go with. Athrun won for her a giant stuffed lion.
Athrun actually noticed his feelings for Cagalli but he tried to suppress them as he was still thinking of waiting for his childhood friend. Athrun only met her once when he was younger and he didn't know her full name. That girl left behind a Haumea stone necklace and since then, the necklace always hung around Athrun's neck.
Finally, Cagalli was blackmailed into being a prize for the Archangel Festival's race. Athrun, Kira, Cagalli and Yuna signed up for the race and Athrun won. Though Athrun told her that she doesn't have to kiss him, Cagalli kissed him in the end because of her pride.
… … …
Chapter 9…
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss" the students suddenly started chanting.
Cagalli immediately stiffened. She almost forgot about the last part of the prize. She had to kiss Athrun!
"It's alright, you don't have to," Athrun assured Cagalli. She merely looked back at him with wide eyes unsure of what to do.
"Kiss! Kiss!" the others were still chanting.
Cagalli looked around and saw everyone's expecting faces. She really had no choice but to go along with it. Her pride forced her to do it. Looking at her face, Athrun noticed that she was blushing.
"Close your eyes!" Cagalli hissed at Athrun. She did not look at him in the eye.
"What?" Athrun asked confused.
"I said close your eyes!" Cagalli replied in a hush whisper. "And keep it closed until I tell you to!"
"Alright," Athrun whispered back. He obeyed her and closed his eyes.
Finally looking up to make sure Athrun's eyes were really closed, she wound her arms around his neck as she tiptoed to peck Athrun on the lips.
… … …
Chapter 10
Athrun stood very still. He lost his breath and his heart seemed to have missed a beat. Cagalli had actually kissed him! The kiss was short. It was just a simple peck on the lips. Before Athrun knew it, Cagalli pulled away from him. His eyes were wide open in shock. "She kissed me! Gosh! She just kissed me!" Athrun was screaming in his mind. He was still staring incredulously at Cagalli. "Am I dreaming? Please no! I don't want this to be a dream!" Athrun's face flushed athe thought about Cagalli and the kiss.
Cagalli pulled away right after their lips briefly touched. She was so embarrassed. Athrun was staring right at her and she felt that her cheeks were so hot that she could fry an egg on it. Cagalli turned away. She couldn't look at Athrun now. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She touched her lips. There goes her first kiss. Just what was she thinking? The truth was that she didn't feel as though she regretted kissing Athrun. Her only regret was not making the kiss last longer. She mentally scolded herself. How could she think that way?
The crowd was erupting into applause. They were all smiling at Cagalli and Athrun. As Cagalli turned to the side, she noticed her brother's scowl. Of course he won't be too happy about it. She figured that she would receive a long lecture from him later. Cagalli looked back at Athrun. He seemed to be in a daze.
"Ok! Fun part is over! Go mind your own business now!" Kira said hushing the crowd as he jumped in between Cagalli and Athrun to break them apart.
"You've got to trust Kira to come into the right time," Dearka chuckled.
"He looks really pissed off!" Mir said.
"Yea, unlike the other two! They both looked love-struck!" Shihi laughed.
"Oh don't let Kira hear you! He'll skin you alive!" Mir told Shiho laughing as well.
... ... ...
It has been a few days since the Archangel Festival. School went on as usual. Athrun and Cagalli pretended that nothing had happened and the gang were smart enough not to mention anything about 'the kiss'. But every time Athrun thought about it, his hands would automatically touch his lips. He would blush furiously too. It was their first kiss, his first kiss too for that matter.
With Cagalli's insistence, Athrun now sat with the usual gang during breaks. Of course, that did not come without threats and violence. Cagalli practically dragged Athrun to their table. Everyone including Kira welcomed Athrun into the gang. Kira was after all grateful that Athrun had saved Cagalli even though he personally found 'the kiss' distasteful. But Kira never mentioned that to his sister as something told him that it was more prudent to do so.
So now Athrun was part of their gang. He never talked much but the gang didn't mind. They just accepted him. Athrun was overwhelmed by their friendliness. He truly felt one of them and enjoyed their company. Even Yzac, the grouchy one who seemed to be always mad at the world, gave Athrun a helping hand.
A junior had accidentally dirtied Athrun's gym clothes right before gym class and Athrun did not have a spare. It was Yzac who lent Athrun his extra attire right before he threatened Athrun not to tell anyone about it.
"Athrun? Hello? Earth to Athrun?" Mir called out to Athrun. The gang with the exception of the twins were seated at their table at the cafeteria. The twins were forced to run an errand for Mr La Flaga and they would join the gang shortly after.
"Umm, yea?" Athrun snapped out of his thoughts. He was thinking about his new found friends and they had noticed that he was spacing out.
"Were you listening to us?" Mir asked him.
"Umm sorry, no," Athrun replied truthfully.
Miriallia sighed. "Kira's and Cagalli's birthday is coming. We're thinking of giving them a surprise party," she told him.
Athrun merely nodded.
"So what are you going to give Cagalli?" Lacus interrupted. "Have you thought of something special?"
Everyone suddenly snapped their heads to Athrun. They looked at him curiously only to be disappointed with his response.
"No, am I supposed to?" he asked honestly.
"What kind of a question is that?" Dearka burst out laughing. "Seriously? And I thought Yzac had it bad!"
"SHUT UP ELSMAN!" Yzac roared at Dearka and gave him one of those deathly glares. Everyone else giggled.
"Is this your first time or what?" Shiho asked Athrun directly.
"Huh?" Athrun was bewildered. Somehow along the conversation, he had lost them.
"She asked you if Cagalli's your first love," Yzac said more bluntly.
Athrun felt his cheeks burn. He wondered how the topic shifted to him. They were talking about the birthday party one moment and the next it was him.
"I don't think he even realises that he likes her," Mir said not so softly.
"Gosh, he sure is slow. We knew it before he did," Dearka agreed.
"Anyway, back to our first topic, Kira's and Cagalli's surprise party..." Shiho said.
"I think we should wrap it up guys, the twins are back," Lacus cut in pointing to the flustered siblings walking down the cafeteria. They looked as if they had been tortured by La Flaga.
... ... ...
Athrun reached home that day after a tiring baseball practise. The house was cold and empty as usual. Though the servants were there, Athrun barely saw them. Athrun trudged up the stairs and into his bedroom.
Kira's and Cagalli's birthday was a few days away. He already bought a present for Kira. It was a new tennis racket, an expensive one made of titanium. He wondered what to get for Kira's blonde twin. She wasn't like normal girls. He sighed. "Chocolates? Teddy bears? No, those are too common and typical. Besides, her house is practically a chocolate factory and I just won her a stuffed lion," Athrun thought.
After taking a shower, Athrun lied down on his bed to think some more. He had already finished his homework. All he had to do now was to find a present for Cagalli. "Hmm... maybe I can take her out tomorrow and see if there's anything that will interest her. Will that be too obvious? What are you thinking Athrun! Of course it'll be obvious!"
Athrun glanced at the red stone hanging around his neck. It was glowing even in the dim light. He sighed. "I guess I shouldn't hold on to this anymore..." He stood up, took the necklace off and placed it on his bedside table.
"Should I get her a tennis racket like Kira? No, that won't do either. Her racket is rather new. Sigh... This is hard!" Athrun grabbed fistfuls of his midnight blue hair in frustration. "Think Athrun think! How hard can it be to buy a girl a birthday present? It doesn't have to be anything special... No. Screw that thought. It HAS to be special." Athrun was talking to himself. Suddenly, an idea struck him. A wide smile was plastered on his face. "Perfect!"
... ... ...
A few days had passed and it was now Kira's and Cagalli's birthday.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Cagalli exclaimed as she placed bags full of gifts on her desk not too gently.
"Morning Cagalli! Happy Birthday!" Athrun greeted her with a smile. "Wow, you sure received a lot of presents," Athrun said gesturing to the bags of chocolates, candies, and stuffed toys. "Phew! I'm so glad I didn't get her any of those," Athrun thought.
"A lot is an understatement. There's more," Cagalli pointed to door where Mir and Shiho came stumbling in with many other bags full of presents.
Cagalli was not very pleased. She had come to school with Kira and suddenly mobs full of students came throwing presents at them. She actually thought that it was some kind of joke being pulled by her friends. But the presents never stopped coming. Boys and girls she never knew walked up to her and dumped their presents on her. She couldn't even reject them, the students all ran away right after they gave her their presents and well wishes. There were so many that she needed both Mir and Shiho's help to bring them to class. Lacus was helping Kira manage his own presents too.
"You don't look too happy about this," Athrun pointed out.
"Of course I'm not happy! How do you expect me to deal with this madness! Hell, I don't even dare open my locker because I know I'll be drowned with all the cards it was stuffed with! Just look at my locker from a far! It looks like a stuffed turkey!" Cagalli wailed.
Athrun figured that now was not the best time to give Cagalli his present. She was already overwhelmed by the presents random strangers had given her and was sure that she will not appreciate one more. Athrun sighed; all his efforts were for nothing if he was not going to give it to her.
"Wow! Is there a Santa Claus in our class today?" Mr Andrew Waltfield joked when he saw the mountain pile of presents on Cagalli's desk.
"No, it's just Cagalli Hibiki," Dearka chuckled which earned him a glare from Cagalli.
... ... ...
It was now break time and since Athrun and Cagalli just had a class together, the two were now walking side by side to the cafeteria.
"Cagalli," Athrun started to say but he was panicking all of a sudden. "No Athrun! Don't give it to her! She won't like it! You'll only embarrass yourself!" Athrun was screaming in his head.
"Yes Athrun?" Cagalli looked at the bluenette bewildered. He looked like he was in agony. It was as if he wanted to say something but he somehow couldn't. "What is it Athrun? You know you can tell me..." Cagalli said.
"I... I err... Umm..." Athrun was stuttering. He couldn't seem to find his words. "What the heck is wrong with you? You are making a fool out if yourself!" Athrun was scolding himself.
"Athrun?" Cagalli called out again. Athrun was acting weirdly.
"Ok Athrun, just calm yourself down. Breathe! You don't have to say anything anymore. You'll just make it worse. Just take the present out and give it to her. You don't have to talk. Yea that's it," Athrun was assuring himself. "Alright, just do it! It's now or never!"
Athrun was about to hand Cagalli his present when suddenly a tenor voice rang in the air, "CAGALLI DARLINGGG!"
Cagalli and Athrun both turned around. "No this can't be happening..." both of them thought together. Apparently, the two of them had recognised that irksome voice. Athrun then quickly shoved his present back into his bag. Now was not the time to give it to Cagalli.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING!" Yuna screamed as he lunged at Cagalli, attempting to give her a kiss.
Luckily, Yuna was stopped. Someone had appeared and jumped in front of him, blocking his way. "Stay away from my sister if you know what's best for you!" Kira warned. He seemed to be really annoyed.
"Aww... Don't be like this Kira! We'll be family soon and I just wanted to give my present and wish Cagalli a happy birthday!" Yuna said.
"First of all Yuna, we'll never be family unless I'm dead. And even if I was buried ten feet under, Cagalli will never be with you. So you can just perish that thought. And secondly, Cagalli doesn't want your present. So you can just burn it or keep it for yourself," Kira told Yuna.
"But how do you know that Cagalli doesn't want my present?" Yuna countered.
"Because we're twins!" Cagalli finally spoke up. "Haven't you heard of twin telepathy? But then again with that pea size brain of yours, you probably wouldn't know anything. So make things easier for all of us and go away now."
"That's not a very nice thing to say to me you know darling," Yuna said.
"She asked you to go away. You heard her. So SCRAM!" Kira yelled at Yuna.
Kira looked absolutely terrorising that Yuna scurried away in fright.
"Thanks Kira," Cagalli said to her brother.
"No problem sis," Kira replied.
"The others are waiting for us," Athrun suddenly said. He was quiet the whole time during the confrontation with Yuna. Without waiting for either twin to reply, Athrun ushered the twins to the cafeteria.
"Hello Kira, Athrun and Cagalli!" the others greeted them as they entered the cafeteria.
"No presents for us?" Kira joked as he saw their friends empty handed.
"Of course we do!" Lacus giggled. "But we figured that both of you will have your hands full with your other presents and so we have decided to make our presents extra special by having them delivered to your house! You'll receive them later when you reach home!"
"Thanks guys but you shouldn't have! Kira was just joking you know..." Cagalli smiled.
"Heh Heh! Yea, I'm joking guys!" Kira laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.
The break passed just like any other normal breaks. The teens talked about school and the latest gossips. As usual, Athrun was quiet. He was still not used to talking a lot. But there was still one thing on Athrun's mind: Cagalli's present. He was having cold feet. He did not feel like giving his present to Cagalli anymore.
... ... ...
It was finally after school. The twins were now walking home together. It also seemed that the whole school had gotten presents for the twins. Kira and Cagalli had so many presents that they couldn't bring all of them home in one round. Luckily, their friends offered to take home their presents and the twins could just stop by their house to collect the presents the next day.
"Oh my gosh! Kira look! A pig!" Cagalli pointed to the green bushes.
"What? Are you sure sis? I think you're seeing things. There is no farm here. What would a pig be doing..." Kira replied.
"It's over there now! And no, I am not seeing things! I know what I saw!" Cagalli said.
"Where? Honestly Cagalli, I can't see anything. You aren't pulling my leg are you?" Kira asked.
"It's there again!" Cagalli exclaimed as she ran to the park to chase after the 'pig'.
"Hey sis! Wait up! Don't leave me behind!" Kira called out as he rushed to catch up with his sister.
"Hurry up slow poke!" Cagalli replied. And the twins started to run after the 'pig'.
It was already late by the time the twins arrived home. They were drenched in sweat and were panting. The 'pig' had disappeared halfway and the twins decided to abandon the search as it was dark already.
"Chase after the pig! Yea! What a great idea! I didn't even see it!" Kira complained as the twins walked up their front porch.
"I never asked you to come with me! You decided to tag along! And I know what I saw! It was this tall," Cagalli said as she gestured with her hands that the pig was nearly two metres tall. "And I could have sworn it was telling us to follow it!"
"Shall I take you to see the doctor sis? You must be hallucinating! I can't believe I wasted my time and went along with your craziness. How can a pig be two metres tall in the first place?" Kira said as he unlocked the door.
"How would I..." Cagalli didn't finish.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRA AND CAGALLI!"
The lights suddenly turned on when Kira and Cagalli entered the house and their friends suddenly jumped out and popped confetti into the air. Their friends threw them a surprise party. The house was decorated with balloons and a banner which said 'happy birthday'. Obviously the surprise party worked as the twins didn't know what hit them.
"Is that the pig you saw?" Kira asked Cagalli in disbelieve as he pointed to the pink mascot.
"Of course it is!" Cagalli exclaimed. "What did you expect? A real live little pig that goes oink oink? There is no such thing as a real pig that's that tall you know."
"You could have been more specific you know..." Kira mumbled.
"Wait, there's two of them here," Cagalli stated.
As if on cue, the two mascots took of their head pieces and revealed a smirking Dearka and a grumpy Yzac.
"Happy birthday you two!" Dearka laughed.
Yzac merely grunted. It looked as if he had been forced to do it.
"Of course! There were two of you! That's why you were so fast!" Kira said. "I don't suppose you guys were willing volunteers?"
"The credit goes to us of course!" Mir and Shiho said together.
"And I must say Dearka and Yzac, you both did a great job of stalling them. We never would have finished in time if it wasn't for you two," Lacus smiled.
"Of course, I'll do anything for my Mir!" Dearka chuckled.
Yzac merely granted. "Remember your promise woman!" Yzac told Shiho.
Shiho rolled her eyes and said, "Yea yea I know! You don't have to keep reminding me, I'm not senile!"
"What did you promise him?" Cagalli asked.
Shiho laughed, "Well, his mother showed me some of his baby photos and she gave me one of them to keep. You should know the rest. You know how blackmail works right?"
"Yea, tell me about it... I totally understand how he feels... Been there and done it before..." Cagalli replied.
"Ok everyone! Presents time!" Lacus chirped as she ushered everyone into the dining room where all the presents lay.
"Open mine and Dearka's first Cagalli! Oh Kira, this is for you." Mir said as she gave hers and Dearka's presents to the twins.
"This is mine and Yzac's," Shiho said as she handed a nicely wrapped box to the twins each.
"Don't forget about me!" Lacus giggled. "This is mine!" Lacus said as she handed two pink boxes to the twins."
"Thanks guys! But you shouldn't have troubled yourselves!" Kira and Cagalli said in unison.
While everyone was giving their presents to the twins, Athrun stood by the side frowning. He didn't want to give his present to Cagalli as he thought it was not good enough. Being Athrun, he decided to walk away and sulk by himself.
Kira noticed that and he followed his friend to the living room.
"Where's my present Athrun?" Kira demanded. "Everyone has given me theirs except you."
Athrun looked at his friend and smiled. He then pointed to the table where he placed Kira's present. Just like a kid, Kira rushed over and ripped open his present, he already knew what it was by its shape.
"Wow! It's titanium! This must be expensive! Thank you Athrun! This is too much but I'll accept it anyway! It's rude to reject presents you know!" Kira said excitedly as he examined his new tennis racket.
"Glad you like it Kira," Athrun replied.
"So Athrun, have you given Cagalli your present yet?" Kira suddenly asked his friend.
"What? No, I haven't. No! I mean I didn't prepare one!" Athrun said. He decided not to give his present to Cagalli anymore.
"Liar! I know you got something for her! I saw it!" Kira told Athrun.
Athrun gave Kira a pleading look. "No! Please don't! I..."
"CAGALLIIIIIIII! ATHRUN HAS A PRESENT FOR YOOOOUUUUUUUU!" Kira shouted to his sister before Athrun finished his sentence. He looked over to Athrun and saw that his friend had turned white. Athrun's naturally pale and when he lost his colour, he turned white literally.
"Kira no! Why did you do it? No! I don't want her to see my pathetic present!" Athrun was screaming inside his head. "Cagalli please don't come here! Please God! Don't let her hear Kira! Don't let her hear him!" But Athrun's prayers were unanswered.
"Really?" Cagalli said excitedly as she jumped in front of Athrun. She had a palm face out demanding the present. "So where is it?"
Before Athrun could reply, Kira reached into Athrun's bag and pulled out a white box. "Here it is!" Kira said as he handed Athrun's present to Cagalli.
Athrun was very stiff. Part of him wanted to snatch the present back while the other part wanted him to dig a hole in the ground and bury his head in it like an ostrich.
"Can I open it now?" Cagalli asked Athrun.
"No! Don't open it! Never open it! Just throw it away!" Athrun wanted to tell her. Instead, he said, "Sure."
"No! Now you're dooming yourself!" Athrun was telling himself in his mind.
"Happy birthday! Happy birthday!" said a mechanical voice. Cagalli got a shock as a small yellowish golden kitten slightly smaller than the size of her hand jumped out of the box and started talking.
"I'm Koneko! How are you? Happy birthday!" the robot said in its mechanical voice as it jumped into Cagalli's palms.
Cagalli's expression was a very shocked one. Athrun walked over to Cagalli as he attempted to snatch the robotic kitten that called itself 'Koneko' just now. "It's alright if you don't like it, I'll just take it back now," Athrun said to Cagalli.
"No! Don't be silly! I love it! This is way better than Kira's Tori!" Cagalli told him. "Thank you so much Athrun! It's the best present ever!"
(Tori is a mechanical pet bird made by Athrun and given to Kira quite a long time ago)
Cagalli then gave Athrun a hug which made him turn scarlet again. Cagalli really liked Koneko and Athrun didn't really expect that.
"No, Tori is better! He can fly!" Kira argued with his sister as he successfully managed to break his sister's and friend's embrace.
"No! Koneko can talk! Koneko is better!" Cagalli pulled out from Athrun and retorted as she stuck her tongue out childishly.
"Oh yea?" Kira said to his sister before turning to Athrun. "Athrun! You made Tori, make him talk!" Kira demanded.
To be continued…
PLEASE REVIEW!
I hope you like this chapter!
The kiss had to be short! After all, Cagalli can't kiss Athrun passionately in public when she was kind of forced into it right? But of course there will be more kissing scenes later!
Koneko is kitten in Japanese. Am I right? I went to an online translator. It should be correct.
To those who read the summary, was it too long and too draggy? Did you find it useful or a waste of space?
And just some spoilers for the next chapter, a certain childhood friend of Cagalli is joining Archangel Academy! Can you guess who the person is? Till next time folks!