A/N: You all hate me, don't you?! I'm sorry! I've been away for so long! I feel terrible... If anyone remembers how long ago it was I update, feel free to mention that and call me a stupid little shunner. But honestly, I REPENT! ...to be honest even more, I'm updating this from a school computer while I'm supposed to be doing boring typing leasons... But... screw that... this is more important. I realized I hadn't been on in ages when I had a daydream in boring Science class today... that's why this is here. Yeah, and teahcers tell us not to daydream, "IT ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING!!!" ...I beg to differ... Well, you might like to know that this is a WEIRD chaper. I might lose you. Who knows... Currently, I plan on finishing Shuffle 2, but I have no Shuffle 3 planned. HOWEVER- that may and probably will change- thank the fact that YTV (Pretty much the only station you can watch Anime finally brought back Gundam Seed- now it's Destiny:) :D I'm so happy! Anyway, read and enjoy!!!!
CHAPTER IX EMOTION, BLOOD AND PAIN
12:30, Lunch Break At SDAT High School…
Athrun muttered angrily to himself as he struggled through some over-due algebra homework. This was especially pissing him off because he knew how to do algebra recordly well (next to Yzak and Kira- on a smart day, of course.) He was starting to think that his love life was depressing him so much that he couldn't think straight. "Damn…" He muttered, slamming his math textbook closed and putting his hands on his forehead.
He was currently in an empty math classroom but it was about to get a much-needed uplift. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Kira walked inside. He sat down beside Athrun who chose to ignore him. "Hey Athrun, hey Athrun, hey Athrun, hey Athrun, hey Athrun, hey Athrun, hey Athrun," He said over and over again. "Kira! How many times do I gotta say it! "HEY" is for HORSES!" Athrun screamed, completely losing his patients. The only reason he hated the word "hey" so much was because Kira seemed to have the habit of saying it a lot and sticking "Athrun" at the end. A LOT. "Geez, sorry. I just wanted to show you what I got on my IQ test," Kira said handing him a piece of paper. "This should be good…" He thought smirking. "Have you seen it yet, Kira?" Athrun asked, already knowing the answer. "No. I'll just look at it after you," He replied. Shrugging, Athrun set eyes on the piece of paper and when he saw the results, he almost laughed. "Kira… according to this… you're mentally retarded."
"What-? Let me see that!" He snatched it out of his hands and looked over it. "Aw, man…"
"I strongly suggest you tell you mother about this. She can get you a retest. –You know, on a better day," Athrun said smirking. Kira looked blankly at him for a moment before asking: "What was your name again?"
Athrun sighed, annoyed. "God, I'm not in the mood for this." With that, he got up and left the classroom.
Out in the hallway Athrun met up with a depressed-looking Nicol. "What's the matter, Nicol?" He asked. "Nothing worth talking about. The way I feel is never important," Was the trained response. Athrun frowned. "What the hell have Dearka and Yzak been driving through you skull? You've really got to start standing up for yourself or they'll destroy you- mentally… and physically somewhat- now that I see you have a black eye. Who did it?"
"Yzak…" He said quietly. "But Dearka isn't like that. He's my brother now. He said he'd watch out for me… and take care of me… it was so wonderful… I actually felt like someone wanted me…"
"That's sad, Nicol," Athrun said simply. He sighed. "Dearka had to go home a few minutes ago. He said he wasn't feeling very well- his nerves were acting up."
"That's odd…" Athrun muttered. "I'll see you later, Nicol." Athrun continued on his way down the hallway. So, Nicol was replacing Yzak now… that was unbelievable. Dearka and Yzak were always thought to be inseparable in his eyes. This was definitely strange…
Not far down the hallway, Athrun noticed the school's whore, Fllay Allster, with her new boyfriend pinned up against the wall. And man, were they ever making out. "Hold the phone…" Athrun muttered to himself, looking back at Fllay's boyfriend.
"-Oh, God… it's Yzak…"
He just stared in disbelief while Fllay kissed him deeply. "Geez Yzak. I thought you were with Cagalli!" Athrun finally shouted to him. Fllay broke away from him. "I was…" He said darkly. "But then she dumped me… on a text message…"
"On a text message? Oh, that's so cold!" Fllay cried. "My poor baby… that bitchy Cagalli… don't worry, I'll make you feel better…" She gently wrapped her arms around him.
Athrun could tell that Yzak was genuinely hurt. "So… Cagalli's single again?" Athrun asked. "-Then you don't mind if I-"
Yzak interrupted him. "Sure, go for it. But I doubt she'll want a geek like you…"
"I'll drain your pain right away, Yzak… don't worry…" Fllay whispered softy, pressing her lips back to his. Athrun continued on, resisting the urge to stick his finger down his throat.
At The Elsman Residence, 1:30…
Dearka walked though the front door and carelessly threw his backpack to the ground. After doing so, he proceeded to march up the stairs.
"Dearka! What're you doing so early? Mom'll kill you!" Came the extremely irritating voice of his little sister, Mablu, from the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah, well- what're you doing home so early?" Dearka asked. "My school is still closed because of the Coordinator plague. Sucker. And by the way, you're really dumb," Mablu said smirking. "Okay, cool. Now when Mom comes home from work you better not say a word," Said Dearka, ignoring her attempt to piss him off. "But I will," She said, her smirk growing wider. "No you wont," He said calmly, "'Cause if you do, I'll tell your "BOYFRIEND" you still wet the bed."
Mablu blushed. "Don't say ANYTHING to Yzak!"
"But I will," He said, copying her line and devilish smirk. "NO YOU WONT!" She screamed.
"Yes I will."
"NO YOU WONT!"
"Yeah."
"NO!"
"Yeah!"
"I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU! LA LA LA LA!" She screamed. "Hey! Don't do the LA LA thing to me!" He shouted over her screaming. "Okay, fine, the choice is yours bed wetter!"
"Dearka!" She whined. He didn't respond but continued up to his room.
After slamming the door, he sat down at his desk and put his hands on his head. He'd come home because he couldn't stop thinking about Miriallia. He'd never done anything intentionally to break up with her… it was all Shiho's fault. Poor Miriallia… she was really upset… It made him feel sick.
"HEY DEARKA! I GOT THE LAST CAN OF 7 UP! HA HA! IN YOUR FACE!" Mablu laughed from downstairs. "Yeah, okay! Enjoy it!" He shouted back to her then muttered to himself: "But something tells me you wont…" Yesterday, he'd spent four hours shaking that last can. That was mainly why it was the last one. A few seconds later, he heard Mablu scream. "Well… that usually cheers me up… but not today…" He sighed. More thoughts about Miriallia came to his mind. It was seriously making him feel unwell.
After about five more minutes of thinking, he felt the room temperature drop a few degrees. Dearka jumped to his feet in shock. Tolle was coming… "Dearka… I warned you to stay away from her… but you didn't listen to me… and for that, there will be hell to pay…" Came Tolle's cold voice. But he, however, wasn't in view. Dearka stood there, tense for a moment, before a sudden invisible force slashed him across the back of his head.
Crying out in pain and shock, he nearly lost his footing. "Let's just think of this… as an endurance test. I'll slash you 20 times in twenty different places, and we'll just see how long and how much of it you can take," The invisible Tolle deadpanned. Dearka groaned, feeling the back of his bleeding head. The gash was fairly deep and there was blood already running down the back of his neck. "Brace yourself…" Tolle said quietly, "here comes another one."
Dearka did get his 20 slashes, but on the 19th one, it became increasingly obvious that his consciousness was slipping steadily away. As he fell to his hands and knees, shaking, with blood all around him, he got the last painful slash right across his already bloodied face. Whimpering weakly, his last bit of consciousness slipped away, leaving him for dead.
Tolle then finally appeared, right next to Dearka. Leaning over the unconscious boy, he smirked. "Don't worry, you'll fit right in with everyone where you're going."
With that, he was gone. The room was still and all was quiet.
Two minutes later, the door flew open and Mablu walked in. "Dearka! You-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence when she realized what laid before her. This is, of course, something no eight-year-old should honestly have to see. In shock, she ran to where her brother laid dying. "Dearka! Dearka! What's wrong? What happened? Please tell me!" Mablu cried, dropping to her knees by him, while tears streamed down her cheeks. She'd gone into shock. Therefore, she was too upset to take life-saving action.
Suddenly, like something was controlling him, Dearka's eyes snapped open. There was no presence there. Slowly, he turned his head towards his hysteric sister. "Mablu…" He whispered softly. "I need you to dial 9-1-1… can you do that for me?"
Her tears stopped, and she nodded shakily. Dearka smiled gently and weakly at her, then his eyes closed and his consciousness left him again. As fast as she could, Mablu ran for the phone and did exactly what her brother told her to do.
The Next Day At School, 8:20…
Word spread quickly about the strange and unexplained injuries Dearka Elsman had obtained while home from school due to nerves. One rumor was he'd done it himself, which hardly made sense to anyone who knew the real Dearka. Another rumor was he'd died from his injuries. That was an even worse rumor. And yet, one unanswered question still remained; where had those injuries come from?
Miriallia, who had decided to stay home for the rest of the week, was going to be supremely shocked on Monday. That was for sure.
When the first bell rang, Athrun went of to his advisory. The classroom was surprisingly quiet today. Sighing, he sat down beside Kira. "Have you heard, Athrun?" Kira asked quietly. "About Dearka? Yes… unbelievable…" He muttered, assuming it was one of Kira's smart days.
After about a minute more of silence, their advisory teacher walked up to the front of the classroom. With a sad, sad tone, she told them about what had happened to Dearka. Almost no one was surprised. It just went to show you, rumors spread like wild fires.
At lunch hour, Athrun searched for Nicol. He'd need some support now more than ever. But he was proving difficult to be found. Athrun finally tracked him down, all the way on the other side of the soccer field, which was almost completely deserted. He was sitting under a lone tree, his eyes closed and his head resting on the palm of his hand. Athrun paused in walking towards him when he realized he was wearing headphones. So, his was listening to music… Probably classical piano…
Athrun walked up to the unsuspecting Nicol and snatched the headphones away. "Hey! Don't!" Nicol cried, jumping up. "Wait," Athrun said simply, taking a minute to listen to the music. "No! Please don't do that!" He pleaded. Athrun was shocked to hear punk rock music with lyrics screaming "Somewhere I Belong."
He quickly handed them back to him. "God, Nicol; you never told me you listened to Linkin Park… That's so not like you…"
"I've always liked Linkin Park… But that doesn't mean I can't like peaceful music too!" Nicol argued. "I find nothing wrong with that," Athrun said understandingly. Nicol looked away. "I can only take so much emotional pain… and I need something to help drain it all away…"
"You don't need to explain, Nicol. I understand; everything's fine," Athrun said smiling. "Please don't tell anyone…" He said quietly. "Secrets go in, but never come out," He promised him reassuringly. "Thank you," Nicol said with a sigh. "So… have you heard about… Dearka?" Athrun asked, bringing the subject up rather cautiously. "Yes…" Nicol whispered. "But I believe he'll recover."
"You okay?" He asked gently. There were tears in Nicol's eyes. "Hai… genki desu…" He answered. Athrun nodded. "If you ever need some company, I'm here."
"Thank you, Athrun," Nicol said politely. Suddenly, the bell rang, indicating the end of the lunch hour. Athrun groaned.
"Great… I've got damn band next…" He began walking towards the school. Nicol followed. "So do I."
"Yeah, but you intentionally sighed up for band, where as Yzak rewrote my registration saying I wanted to be in band… he did the same thing to Kira…" Athrun said dully. "Well, since it's our first class today, we have to pick an instrument. I know I'm going with piano," Nicol said smiling. "I could care less about what I have to play…" Athrun muttered bitterly.
In Band Class…
"Welcome to band class everyone," said the band teacher, Ms. Mazzies. Her voice sounded annoyed as usual. "Now, since it's the first RAGULAR day of band class, we'll just simply be choosing the instruments we're going to be playing for the year. Then to kill time, we'll just have people who already know how to play instruments perform for us. Kira… you first. What instrument are you planning on playing?"
"Kira yawned. "The guitar…"
"Do you have any prior training for that? Because I don't give lessons…" Ms. Mazzies said darkly. "No I haven't had any prior training. But it can't be that hard," He said, getting up and grabbing a guitar from the back of the classroom. "Watch this."
Before anyone had a chance to say anything, he began playing "Time Of Your Life" by Green Day, perfectly. Everyone stared in awe. When he was finished playing, not a word was uttered. "What?" Kira asked. "Go and stand outside, Kira," Ms. Mazzies said finally. Sighing, he did as he was told, muttering angrily to himself... certain... stuff...
"All right then; Nicol, why don't you play something for us on the piano?" Ms. Mazzies asked. She absolutely loved Nicol's music. He nodded, stood up and when over to the piano across the room.
The song he played was so mournful, that it brought tears to some of his classmates' eyes. When the song ended, he whispered softly, but just loud enough so everyone could hear: "It has words to it as well, and it sounds astonishingly beautiful when a lady sings it."
"Thank you, Nicol," Ms. Mazzies said wiping a tear from her eye. "That was beautiful."
A/N: Hahaha, Nicol listening to Linkin Park, I just have to laugh. If anyone even cares, I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN IN COMPUTERS! Slacking off is da bomb. XD Act like an idiot and everyone will be your friend:) Seriously, it hurts from laughing!!! Yay! I love this kind of pain! Well, before we get terrible off topic... well, it's too late, so review if you don't hate me and what I do:D
MPK