Author's note: Hey there, back with the next chappie. I know, I know, this chapter has taken quite some time to write, and with the previous cliffhanger, everyone's hating me to the core right now. I'm real glad for the Internet now, because at least we're not face-to-face, or I might just dissolve under all your intense death glares… Anyways, I should stop holding you back from reading, before you guys track me down… Read on and enjoy!
Chapter 44:
Athrun didn't know what stopped him.
It could have been the muffled gasp that slipped from the intruder's lips. It could have been the smallness of the intruder's frame. Or the suppleness and softness of the body beneath his own. It could have been the familiar streak of blonde hair. Or the panicked amber eyes that gleamed in the dark. Either way, Athrun was utterly grateful and glad that he had frozen in the midst of his assault. Especially when he found himself facing Cagalli Yamato, his blade mere inches away from her throat.
The force of the collision had driven Cagalli backwards. She was on her back, winded, eyes wide and wild. Her limbs were trapped underneath Athrun's, who had his right knee jammed unceremoniously into her stomach.
Athrun lifted off the pressure in a hurry, falling back onto his heels, but he kept his fingers clamped tight over her mouth, for fear that she might scream and bring any unwanted neighbours running.
It took him a while to get his breath back. His veins were still pumped full of adrenalin; sweat matted his hair and slicked down his face, making his eyes sting and water. Just a second more. A second more, and he would have committed the biggest mistake of his life. He made a conscious effort to calm his heart, which was thudding painfully and incessantly against his ribs. He could almost hear the blood rushing in his ears. The shock, surprise, alarm, whatever it was, was taking ages to ebb away and he felt so consumed by it that he might shatter from within. Finally, he sucked in a breath and released it slowly, a soft, almost inaudible, hiss through his teeth. "Goddamn it!" He choked out, feeling as if his voice had fled his throat. "What in the goddamn world are you doing here?"
It seemed as if Cagalli too was dazed from the fall, because it took her a couple of seconds to respond with a weak toss of the head. Her amber eyes narrowed and shifted, almost glaring, as she glanced down at the fingers wrapped around her mouth. The old Cagalli. It made a smile crack across Athrun's lips despite the circumstances.
He drew back, withdrawing his left hand with him, and with his right, reversed the blade so that the cold steel lay snug against his palm, its blade tip against his wrist. "How in the goddamn world did you know about this place?" He repeated in a harsh whisper as he extended a hand towards her. Cagalli grasped it gratefully and hauled herself into an upright position.
The darkness made it difficult for Athrun to see her facial expressions, but he could hear her rough breathing and when she began to speak, he could pick out the wince in her voice. "I called Dearka."
"Right," he scoffed. He should have guessed it: Dearka was a blabbermouth. "But you shouldn't have come," Athrun continued, "I could have killed you. Goddamn it… I still can't believe… That was just plain foolish." His voice faded away as he tried to come to terms with the fact that Cagalli was still seated across from him, alive and well, just seconds after he had almost stabbed her with his own hands.
"Well, you started this whole mess. I told you we were going to deal with this together," Cagalli snapped out, emphasizing the last word with a hiss, "You promised – damn it. But you just turn up in Kira's apartment all by yourself. What part of 'together' do you not understand?"
"I told you, we don't know yet if this is the Kira we know-"
"Whatever," his blonde companion interrupted impatiently, "Kira Yamato, Kira Hibiki, doesn't matter for now. You promised you would let me help you, at least for Lacus' sake."
Athrun could sense the discussion coming to an end, and he knew he wasn't likely to emerge victorious. He was torn between bundling Cagalli out of the house, and continuing his exploration of the apartment. In the end, it was his glance at his watch that sealed his decision. He had less than nineteen hours to work out a plan. Time was running out. "Fine," he retorted, "let's keep going then. Or we're going to make an easy catch for the next intruder – you and me, here in the middle of the doorway, like sitting ducks." He scrambled to his feet and reached out a hand to pull Cagalli after him. "Ssh, this way."
They retraced their footsteps into the bedroom again, Athrun leading the way and Cagalli trailing after him, hanging on to the sleeve of his jacket like a child. The bedroom remained dark and empty as they stepped lightly through the gloom. "Be careful," whispered Athrun when he noticed that Cagalli had worn no gloves. He tugged off his left glove and handed it to her over his shoulder. "Don't leave any fingerprints behind."
As she pulled the leather glove over her left hand, they exchanged a nod and parted ways. Athrun headed towards the closet, which was a plain wooden cupboard, a heavy, solid cuboid with two doors that opened outwards. With his right thumb and index finger, Athrun cautiously teased the left one open. The interior of the closet was simple. A single steel bar ran across the top quarter, from which hung several neatly pressed shirts and trimly folded trousers. The bottom quarter was occupied by a set of drawers, which upon opening, revealed towels and underwear. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Athrun shut the closet and turned around. Cagalli too was done prying through the bedside drawers single-handedly. In the gloom, Athrun caught her shake of the head. "Nothing special in here," she said quietly, "just an alarm clock."
They approached the bed and Athrun swept his torch beam over the bedsheets. The sheets had been pressed and starched, so tightly tucked in, that the bed resembled those in hotels. The quilt was neatly squared away at the foot of the bed and the pillow nicely propped against the cushioned headboard. The light from his torch did not pick up any stray hairs or debris. Athrun straightened and shook his head at Cagalli, whose hunched shoulders indicated that disappointment was setting in.
They moved on to the adjoining bathroom and found a similar plainness in the layout. The glass-surrounded shower cubicle held only the basic necessities – shampoo and soap. The glass shelf above the ceramic sink held only a glass with a toothbrush and a half-used tube of toothpaste. "I've got a pair of scissors in my backpack," Athrun said to Cagalli. "Can you get it for me?" There was no reply, but he felt his backpack dip as she rummaged through the bag, then tipped the scissors at him, handle first. Easing the toothbrush out of its glass vessel with his gloved hand, Athrun produced a clean handkerchief from his trouser pocket. He snipped the bristles of the toothbrush and carefully wrapped the remnants in the cloth. Cagalli watched curiously as he pocketed the folded package and replaced the toothbrush.
Athrun checked his watch. 12:46 a.m. He had planned to give himself an hour, and he only had fourteen minutes left. He led the way out of the bathroom and headed for the entrance of the bedroom. At the door, he paused and cast another glance around the bedroom. The room was so bare that they couldn't have missed anything. With Cagalli by his side, he wandered back into the sitting room.
Working fast, they combed the sitting room but turned up empty-handed again. The couch was cream leather. It didn't look new, but not old either. When Athrun placed his gloved palm in the middle of the seat and pressed, it sank and rose smoothly, the sponge underneath the upholstery still functioning well. The seams remained in satisfying condition. And there was nothing to mar it neat, clean surface. No hairs, threads or traces. The coffee table, a marbled furniture, stood empty.
The kitchen didn't yield any results either. The waist-high oak cabinets were largely empty, stocked only with some packets of biscuits; the fridge contained several bottles of water; the stove was clean and grease-free.
Athrun checked his watch again. 12:57 a.m.
He found Cagalli peering into a wastepaper basket in the living room. She shook her head at his approach to indicate that there was nothing to be found. In response, Athrun nodded towards the door. They slipped out of the apartment quietly, Athrun taking care to wipe Cagalli's fingerprints off the doorknob. They paused on the porch for a second or two and gazed down both ends of the empty street, then trotted down the steps, took a right turn and walked on silently into the night, pacing together side by side.
When they reached the end of the street and the diner came into view, the time on Athrun's watch was 1:00 a.m.
Right on time.
Author's note: There it is. It's not really one of the best chapters, but it should be reasonable, I hope? And to all readers, of course, thank you always for the support!
To Ffionn: Aww, you guessed it. I was trying to do some paralleling with the 'downward stab'. It was after all, the first time Athrun and Cagalli met each other in the anime! So what do you think? Was it too obvious?
To animedoshia: You guessed it right! Aww, I was hoping it would be a secret. Kira and Lacus should be coming up soon, perhaps in the next few chapters. I'm looking forward to it too!
To hardcoreGSfan: Heheheh, I am looking forward to the meeting between Athrun and Kira too but not here though. I think it'll still a while before that happens, but when it happens, it's going to be explosive. I hope you'll keep enjoying the story until that happens!
To AAA: Don't hate me! Heheh, I hope this chapter makes it up a little for having left off with a cliffhanger in the previous chapter? It's not much of a surprise is it?
To BlackFlame004: So what do you think? It's not much of a surprise actually, right? Having Cagalli be the intruder? But still, hope this chapter is a reasonable surprise?
To Rai Rai Blue: Hello! Nice to hear from you! I'm glad you enjoy this fic. I wonder which author led you here; I ought to thank him or her too! And what's this about a sequel? I'm actually curious to read it, and see what else can be developed from this fic!
Anyways, thanks to one and all for reading and reviewing. I'm always, always glad to hear from you, so don't forget to review, review, review! Tell me, what do you think is going to happen next? Next chapter should be coming soon, sometime at the end of next week, perhaps?