My Tourniquet

|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~| CHAPTER 1 |~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|

Capital City, Orb, CE 70: Spring

"Kira! Over here!" Athrun called out. Entering the cafeteria, Kira looked over and found his friend waving. He quickly walked to where he sat and took a seat across from him.

"What's up?" Kira asked.

"Nothing new," Athrun replied before taking a bite of his sandwich. "Just long exhausting tests. You?"

"Same thing," Kira said, "except I got stuck helping Mr. La Flaga with some random project again."

"Wow, you're definitely teacher's pet, even on finals day," Athrun commented. He waved again and then stopped. A second later, Lacus sat down next to Kira.

"Hello," she smiled.

"Hi, Lacus," they said together. She giggled and looked around. They had gone through a lot together since third grade. Though until recently, their trio had been lacking quality time.

"Have you heard?" she asked. They looked at her, waiting for more. She continued, "They're going to close down Artemis next year. Apparently the funds are too low for them to continue supporting this school."

"I guess that means we're attending Orb Prep next year," Athrun said. "Most people in Artemis will be choosing between Orb Prep and East Star Private. It's really a toss up."

"I'm opting for Orb Prep myself," Lacus said. Overly loud screeches carried around the cafeteria to them. But none of the three turned to look at the ruckus.

"Uh…how's it going with Flay?" Athrun asked slowly. "You two seem to be…distant lately."

Kira sighed. "Yeah…actually, I broke up with her."

The two stared at him with mixed emotions flying across their faces. Most of them involved relief or joy. Lacus asked slowly, "Why? Did something happen?"

Kira winced but said, "Yeah, nothing good. I…don't really want to talk about it right now."

"Okay," Athrun didn't look convinced but accepted his friend's decision. Lacus smiled and finally opened her bag to pull out her lunch. Athrun wanted to state the obvious so badly. He knew how often they both walked around the same tree but never caught each other. An endless circle.

He remembered the day that Lacus and he told Kira about their engagement and the look in Kira's eyes. His amethyst eyes took on a wide, glassy gaze. When he turned his gaze away from them, Lacus's own eyes lowered. It made Athrun smile inside and outside when they told him the next part. That they broke that engagement off.

"It was a political deal between our parents," Athrun explained, "but we feel more like siblings than…well, you know, lovers."

"So if you broke it off, then why are you even telling me?"

"Because you're our best friend! You have the right to know."

The obnoxious ringing of the bell wrenched Athrun from his train of thought. He snapped to, noticing Kira and Lacus were happily chatting away about…their finals, right. Those two were probably among the few who would talk about school work during a break. While they talked on and on, it was Athrun who noticed a couple more mentally exhausted teens join them.

"Yo!" Tolle practically shouted.

Kira jumped, looking at his friend while Lacus giggled and greeted her female companion.

"How are everyone's finals going?" Miriallia asked.

Every teen face present suddenly turned fatigued or winced. Athrun sighed, "Math was all right, but I think I failed the second half of the language arts. The comprehension was just too much for once."

They laughed and agreed on that note. They all shared the same teacher and she taught one tough class. Suddenly, the growing silence around them alerted them to the little fact that class was about to start. The group of teens packed their things up and strode towards the cafeteria entrance. Before each student went their own way, Miriallia asked the newest leading question on most students' minds.

"What about next year?" she wondered aloud. "I suppose we won't do 9th grade at Artemis, right?"

"No," Tolle agreed. "My family got the notice a couple days ago. I was planning on East Star."

His girlfriend stuck her tongue out at him while Athrun shrugged. Athrun, Lacus and Miriallia all said, "Orb Prep."

Tolle laughed and wrapped an arm around Miriallia's shoulders. "I guess I better sign up for Orb Prep then! What about you, Kira?"

It took a moment before he snapped out of his quiet daze. "What?"

"What school are you planning on attending next year?" Tolle asked again.

"Probably Orb Prep as well," he replied rather quietly. They paused and peered at him for a moment.

Lacus was the first to speak. "Is something wrong? You seem kind of down today."

He shook his head. "Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so it hasn't been a great day. Add Flay in and it's a nightmare."

"So you did break up with her?" Tolle echoed with a grimace on his handsome features. Next to him Miriallia nodded. "We heard her whining earlier about it."

"Let her blow all the hot air she wants," Athrun said in a dismissive tone, waving a hand to punctuate his statement. The two nodded.

"But I'm curious," Miriallia began, "why did you two break up, Kira? Kira?" They turned from each other and noticed that Lacus and Kira had walked on.

"See you in class." Lacus giggled then added as an afterthought, "Which is in three minutes!"

In an instant, the dilly-dallying trio shot down through the halls to their next final. Soon, a couple of classrooms witnessed a student walking in calmly into the room then followed by a panicking one as the ringing bell commenced the next final.

The bell rang one final wail for the year, releasing the young crowd to their summer activities. Everyone was grouping up to say goodbye or gossip about their plans. By the gate, Lacus caught up with Kira before the others arrived. He stood leaning against the tall grey gates with his back to her, amethyst eyes staring off into the blue sky. For a moment she stood a short distance away. She had always loved, even envied, the color of his eyes. A moment later the small smile that had graced her lips slowly faded.

Lacus stepped closer and noticed an awful bruise on the nape of his neck. It didn't look too old as the colors were still dark and angry looking. How did they all miss that?

"Kira," she greeted him as she rounded the gate.

At first it seemed like he didn't hear her but then he snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, hi, Lacus." He gazed at her concerned face then added, "Is something wrong?"

"I just…it's…that bruise," Lacus stammered awkwardly. "On your neck. It's awful."

Kira stood and quickly blurted out his explanation. "I fell down this morning. It's nothing really."

Lacus nodded, not believing him, but didn't say anything more as they were joined by Athrun and the rest of their large group.

"Well, I guess this is it for the year," Miriallia said. "Most of us won't get to meet again until school starts again."

Half of the group nodded. Athrun had announced months earlier that his father, part of the national council, was going on a business trip this summer and would be taking Athrun with him. As for Lacus, her parents were sending her to Scandinavia for the summer to spend time with her aging grandmother. Miriallia, Tolle, Sai, and Kuzzey were enrolled in a summer class to keep busy. Between Shiho, Nicol, Yzak and Dearka, they would find something to occupy their summer. The pink haired girl turned her gaze back to Kira.

"Any plans for summer, Kira?" she asked. The question drew attention to the quiet member of the group.

"No, not really," he replied hesitantly.

"Maybe you hook up with us later," Shiho suggested then jerked a thumb behind her. "Those two morons make for lousy companions."

Dearka settled for pouting while Yzak glared and snapped back, "Oi! Like you're one to talk, Hahnenfuss!"

Kira finally gave a short chuckle. They stood for a moment while Yzak cooled his temper down enough to be civil. Meanwhile, a black car pulled up and honked once. Athrun peered over and saw the license plate.

"My ride," he said. "I have to pack for this trip tomorrow."

"So you're leaving already? I thought you weren't leaving for another week or so," Dearka said after he pushed Yzak back from a certain smug brunette.

"Since we're all going to Orb Prep next year, how about setting up a meeting time for the beginning of school?" Miriallia suggested, popping a fist in her palm. "Then we can compare schedules again."

"I agree," Lacus nodded. "Maybe a half hour before class at the entrance would do."

"Sounds good," they replied.

"Well, see you in August!" Athrun quickly said as the car impatiently honked again. He hurried to where the vehicle sat humming and ducked in the back seat. The rest of the friends said 'good-bye' or 'see you later' before going their own way. Lacus hovered around until Kira and she were the last two.

"So, I guess see you later," Lacus slowly said.

"Yeah," Kira replied softly. "Um, have a fun trip, okay?"

She nodded once. "I will. Well, um, take care!" Lacus smiled and quickly walked to the newly arrived car. Just before closing the door, she waved. Once he waved back, the car drove away.