More Than Anything
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED or Gundam SEED Destiny.
Chapter Two
If Cagalli could only choose one thing she'd rather not deal with, it might be high school gossip.
ORB was big, but not big enough to escape the gossip vine; heck, she was next door neighbours with a couple of classmates who chose to live together.
She's heard many things, mostly about scandalous affairs and issues, the occasional drinking and/or gambling problem, and even the odd sexual deviancies. Truthfully, though? She didn't really mind the gossip so long it wasn't about her.
Standing at the grocery store after work, she found herself staring at the face of one of her former classmates, Heine Westenfluss, his hair as flamboyantly orange as ever.
"Cagalli!"
'Oh no, someone save me now please.' "Heine, it's been a while."
He flashed her an easy smile. "It really has been! I didn't see you at the reunion, were you there?"
Heine was a friend of her friends, but she never really got to know him very well. Fortunately, he seemed to be quite easy to talk to and didn't seem particularly fond of bringing up difficult topics for her. "No, I'm afraid not. Work duties, you know," she sighed, shaking her head. "How have you been?"
"I get you," he let out a sigh of his own, "been working awful 12 hours pretty much every day… and on top of that, I have to make sure Meer doesn't wreak havoc everywhere she goes…"
Cagalli winced. She knew that Heine and Meer were good friends in high school, and it seemed to her that there was definitely some interest on Heine's behalf… though she was pretty sure it was one-sided. "Are you two a thing now, then?"
Heine laughed at this, shaking his head no. "We're just good friends, as we have been, and we live next door to one another. I kind of have to check up on her every so often to make sure she hasn't gone off the deep end."
"But I guess there's still a little something-something there, eh?" Cagalli winked at him, not missing the faint blush that crossed his cheeks.
"Well… maybe," he confessed, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not sure, really, but I know at the very least she's very dear to me."
A sudden twinge of envy hit the blonde. 'At least you have someone to care for…' "That's… very sweet of you," she murmured, "I hope it goes well, whatever path it takes."
His lips twisted into a half sad, half hopeful smile. "Thank you… but enough about me! How are you? Love life going well?"
A laugh escaped her lips. "Me? I'm pretty much engaged to the hospital at this point, I don't know if I can break out of it."
Heine chuckled with her. "I feel that way between Meer and my job… but no special someone?" He asked, gazing at her intensely.
"Unfortunately, no," Cagalli looked down at her feet, avoiding his eyes. "Just a lot of matchmaking sessions set up by Kira. As a matter of fact, I have one with Shinn this weekend."
"Shinn?" That got a guffaw out of Heine. "So it's true! He broke up with maria, then?"
"According to my brother, 'single and already beginning to mingle'."
They both laughed at this, the atmosphere considerably lighter than it was before as they began talking about their other classmates.
When Heine glanced at his watch, he nearly jumped two feet. "Oh darn, I need to go. I have to go make some food for Meer or she might just decide not to eat."
Cagalli giggled. "Take care, Heine, it was really nice talking to you again." To her own surprise, she found it was true.
"See you around, Cagalli!" She watched him leave, reflecting on their interaction. She knew he was always a rather friendly guy, and she noted it was rather refreshing to talk to someone who didn't outright ask about her past relationships. 'Probably the lack of familiarity,' she mused.
It was just nice to talk to someone who didn't worry obsessively over her lack of a love life.
She made her way towards checkout, lost in her own thoughts.
Torii! Torii! Torii! Torii!
Lacus looked back at the living room table, where Kira's phone was ringing. "Kira, are you going to get that?"
There was no response from her lover, so she went ahead and picked it up. "Hello? Lacus Clyne speaking."
"Lacus? Not that I mind talking to you, but did I get the wrong number?"
"Oh! Miriallia!" She smiled at the sound of her friend's energetic voice. "He's disappeared somewhere, I'll look for him later."
"Probably buried under mountains of work," the brunette suggested, eliciting a laugh from the pink-haired songstress. "Hey, I wanted to ask, did you get the invitation?"
Lacus' laugh quickly turned into a cringe. "The wedding invitation? Meyrin delivered it yesterday. Why?"
"I didn't even know they were dating! Then I come home from work and I see 'Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke: WE'RE GETTING MARRIED' sitting amongst my mail." Lacus could practically hear Miriallia rolling her eyes. "I still can't believe I didn't even hear anything about this until now! Not even the slightest whisper!"
"I knew Meyrin was dating someone," the singer sat down on her couch, straightening her dress as she thought back to when Meyrin first mentioned dating someone. "It couldn't have been more than a year ago, I think."
"She doesn't strike me as the type to jump into marriage," Miriallia thought aloud, "and Athrun? I thought if he ever got engaged, it probably wouldn't be until he was like 50 or something."
Lacus suppressed a giggle at that. "He's old-fashioned – or, he was, at least. I wouldn't have thought he would get married so early either."
"You would know," agreed Miriallia. "I wonder if Kira knew."
"I don't think he did," Lacus recalled the fury on her lover's face. "He's been really upset since we got the invitation... though I don't think Meyrin's the one he's mad at."
"Meyrin's too sweet," Miriallia added.
The singer nodded her agreement. "I don't know what he's really mad about, though, but Kira hasn't seen Athrun in almost a year."
The last time they did meet, it ended rather awkwardly and Kira refused to mention what they had discussed. He came home, threw his jacket on the couch and went upstairs to sleep. Lacus knew pushing for answers wouldn't get anything out of her stubborn boyfriend, and so she kept quiet.
"Holy— Lacus, have you seen the date of their wedding?"
"Not yet," she admitted in response, wondering where on Earth Kira put the invitation. "When?"
"It's in one month. 30 days. What are they thinking?"
This drew a sigh from the star. "How am I going to break the news to Kira? And not to mention Cagalli…"
"Hold your horses. Cagalli's invited?"
"Meyrin asked me to pass the invitation along…"
Miriallia was silent for a while. "Not that Cagalli isn't positively smashing at weddings… fond memories of what happened at Ms. Ramius' wedding… but why would Meyrin agree to invite her fiancé's ex-girlfriend?"
"I don't know," Lacus replied simply. "I know she hasn't even talked to them since… well, they broke up…"
"His wedding sure isn't the best way for reconciliation," remarked her friend. "I'm all up for dragging her to the celebration and watching 'The Post Breakup Talk', though."
Kira suddenly walked in, his soft brown hair sticking up all over the place. "Is that my phone? Who is it?"
His girlfriend could hear Miriallia's snort. "Well, now you won't have to dig up his half-rotten body."
Lacus' soft laugh echoed throughout the room, and she mouthed 'Miriallia' at Kira, who nodded and sank into the sat Kira, who nodded and sank into the seat beside her. "Do you want to talk to him?"
"Nah, it's okay. I have to go now, anyways; Dearka's taking me out on a date to make up for our anniversary last week. I'll talk to you guys later!"
After Lacus had said "bye", Kira leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. "What did you two talk about?"
"Oh, just Athrun and Meyrin's wedding…" She watched his eyebrows furrow together, creating worry lines in his forehead, before he relaxed and sighed.
"I'll give Cagalli the invitation next week," he whispered, his eyes closing.
"Are you sure?" His girlfriend looked down at him, her mouth turned slightly downwards. "The wedding's in 4 weeks."
"I know." Kira sounded so exhausted. "It doesn't matter when she finds out. Knowing her, she'll go, one way or another."
"Most of the reporters will be asking about the testing phase and its success," Uzumi informed her, giving her a handful of papers. "The results are in there; as you can see, the several test groups have yielded quite optimal results."
"Mm," Cagalli gave a quiet noise of assent. The conference was in two days, and she was eager to announce the results. Her researchers had gone into a manic period, desperate for the treatment to cure diabetes. After nearly 2 years of research, and 4 years of testing, it was finally ready to be sent for approval.
The treatment, Insuliphax, was the earliest projects Cagalli had reviewed and approved, and one of the oldest. Having started 2 years after she began working in the hospital, she was glad that it had progressed as far as it did.
As she read over the results, Uzumi continued. "I've drawn up a list of potential questions; see if there are any you missed in your own list."
Cagalli couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude. Uzumi used to treat her like a child, until the day she went up to him and told him that unless he wanted a child to run the hospital, he'd better start treat her like an adult.
Since then, he treated her the way she wanted to treated, and operations ran much smoother.
"I'll go over it later. Thank you, Mr. Athha." Her gratitude was rewarded with a crinkly-eyed smile from the older man.
Half the time, she was tempted to call him 'father'. He had done so much for her, and took care of her when things got very difficult within the hospital. Uzumi was the one who made her want to stay, despite the long hours and constant stress.
"I'll be leaving now. Don't push yourself too hard, you should look fresh and rejuvenated for the conference."
Cagalli laughed, waving the fatherly figure off. "Take care, Mr. Athha!"
She glanced down at the results again, trying not to let her excitement take over. In two days' time, she was going to be announcing a cure for diabetes and she could not go up squealing like a little child.
Not that she would, anyways.
RING A DING DONG. RING A DING DONG. (1)
Absentmindedly picking up her mobile phone, she held it to her ear. "Cagalli Yula Hibiki speaking."
"Cagalli! Drinking at the bar in an hour?"
The blonde frowned, looking at the time. It was only 4 in the afternoon, who on Earth drinks on a week day and so early? "Of course you would be the one wanting to drink so early, Dearka. Who else is going?"
The other blonde hummed as he thought. "Miri, for sure, Kira, Shiho, and Yzak so far have confirmed. You up for it?"
"I can't, Dearka, sorry," she apologized, actually meaning it. She couldn't even remember the last time she went out for drinks with her friends; probably several months ago. "I have a press conference on Friday I need to prepare for."
"Exactly, it's on Friday! Please, Cags? It's been almost half a year!"
She shook her head, forgetting he couldn't see. "No, Dee, not this time. If it were Friday night, I'd be down…"
"Next time I'll call you first, then," he declared, and Cagalli could picture him with a determined expression on his tanned face. "I'll make sure you can come first before inviting everyone!"
"Why haven't you done that already?" She asked, jokingly mad.
"Sorry! Good luck with that press conference, though, I'm sure you'll ace it." The lawyer hung up, leaving Cagalli with the sound of the dialing tone.
"Of course I will," she muttered, rolling her eyes playfully before turning her attention back to the charts and papers. "Another date night with my work."
"Hibiki Hospital is very proud to announce the progress of the Insuliphax drug, which will now move forward for approval." The room broke out into applause, and Cagalli was rather proud of herself for managing to get through her speech without breaking down.
As reporters bombarded her with questions, she smiled at Uzumi and Kisaka, before turning back to her audience.
Just as the hands were settling down, she noticed a flash of blue hair. 'Wha— why is he here?'
As his hand went up, she felt her heart sink. "Yes, Mr. Zala?"
She watched him stand, feeling herself shake a little in anticipation, yet fear. 'Why is he here? What reason could he possibly have…?'
"Miss. Hibiki, are you aware of the several patients who, during the testing phase, suffered dire consequences? "
"What—" Cagalli glanced back at the researchers, who suddenly froze. "What do you mean, Mr. Zala?"
"One patient, whose name I shall not disclose here, unfortunately died from complications that arose after the usage of the test drug." Athrun's emerald eyes were cold, and his voice harsh. "Several others, not a small number, have also suffered from side effects… yet they were forcibly removed and their results do not show on the charts you have released."
Cagalli whirled around, about to attack her own employees when the blue-haired lawyer continued.
"My clients will be suing Hibiki Hospital for the damages incurred, and I will be representing them."
(1) From the song by Kimura Kaela, Ring a ding dong! :)
Lame ending to this chapter, I'm sorry. D: But it should be moving along now, now that I've gotten to the meat of the story.
Let me know if it's moving too fast or anything! Or too slow!
Lavellia.