samaqi: I love plot twists! No matter how short a story is, I swear there will be a few of them here and there. Which means this chapter and the next will set up for the pending surprises. Please keep reading ;).

"Raddie?" Acma was dumbfounded as she looked through the window. "What on earth? Are there monsters in his car?"

They both rushed out to the front yard for better view.

"Help! I don't know how to brake!" Raddie screamed from inside. "And Thundaga please!"

"Use the hand brake!" Zyma shouted.

"How to make it move?" Raddie asked as he took another U-turn to avoid crashing Master Miyagi's bamboo house.

"It's very easy!" Zyma continued to shout. "Keep your foot on the accelerator pedal, maintain a steady speed for 5 seconds, then press your foot down 2 inches. Wrap your right hand around the handbrake handle, rotate it 180 degrees counter-clockwise. Hang on there until you hear a click, then slowly pull up the handbrake by a few millimeters. Finally, release your foot completely from the accelerator pedal for a second. Repeat the whole process twice…"

Acma interrupted him with a pat, her voice trembled. "He's gone. You can wait for him to U-turn, but I don't think Raddie'd have much headspace for that."

"Right," Zyma was in accord. "Raddie is no Timeth. He can't learn all of that in a month. Why the hell did he jump on a Tempest? Hold on, is that Aki's car?"

"What?" Acma narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better view at the oddly familiar car. "Oh, no! Are you positive that it's Instructor Aki's car?"

"Yes, believe it or not? I know this car inside out, more than I know you," Zyma replied.

"Yeah, I believe you," Acma facepalmed. "Lucky I'm in disguise..."

"What's wrong?"

"Um... Nothing," Acma brushed it off, trying to hide the fact that she had hit and run Aki earlier. "I can't cast Thundaga if he moves at that speed. I'm gonna slow down the car first with my lasso connecting to that tree. Do you approve?"

"Go for it, pupil!" Zyma signaled her to move. "I'll back you up."

Acma latched one end of her lasso around a big tree. When Raddie passed by once more, she tossed the other end to the left rear wheel, causing the car to move in circle.

"Drink some potion!" Zyma tossed some items through the car window and Raddie quickly recovered his HP before Acma's spells.

"Thundaga!"

A blinding light crushed on the car, instantly frying the jumpy fish inside. Zyma hopped in the car and applied the handbrake to bring it to a complete stop.

"My Good Hyne! Thank you Senior Zyma!" Raddie finally could catch his breath. "And thank you..."

Raddie seemed confused looking at Acma in disguise.

"Don't you recognize me?" Acma smiled, but her friend still couldn't connect the dots. "It's me, Acma. This is for a mission."

"Oh Hyne!" Raddie exclaimed. "I couldn't tell. I was trying to think who else could max out Thundaga damage like that."

Seeing Acma's ego was inflated, her mentor immediately gave a feedback.

"Ten out of ten for quick thinking, Cadet Mirin," Zyma spoke to Acma through the car window, "But next time, try to latch on the door instead of the wheels. You got lucky that this bad boy was born in the 70s and is five times heavier than modern cars. Otherwise, Raddie would have been tossed in the air like a sausage."

"Oh, thanks. I didn't know that," Acma murmured.

Then Zyma turned to Raddie who was full of sweat and terror. "Geez... You're quite a tanker. How could you survive that long with 5 monsters in the car, let alone driving?''

"Yeah. What happened?" Acma asked as she helped her giant friend get out of the car.

It turned out that only half way after Raddie left Balamb town did he realize Instructor Aki's car had no normal brake. He panicked and hit another car on the way. The chest got loose, and the monsters set free.

"How could you revive cooked fish?" Zyma asked as he looked at the open chest.

Raddie scratched his head and smiled nervously. "It's a long story. But basically, it's a miscommunication between me and Big Bad Rascal."

"Right," Zyma squinted his eyes at the notoriously clumsy boy who had not changed one bit after one decade of training at Garden. The perfectionist Trepie #23 gave him one simple order in two A4 pages of how the fish should be made, and the boy managed to mess it up.

But his attention quickly materialized into the fragments of what used to be a familiar piece garment in the chest.

"That… looks oddly familiar. My GF briefs?"

"Oh Hyne!" Acma exclaimed in disgust. "Is that the same garment that you threw at me when we first met?"

"Well, I hope not," Zyma held on the dark red garment now looking like a rag and stared at Raddie. "Care to explain?"

"Oops!" The clumsy boy grinned nervously. "Do you like pink?"

"Xu," Quistis shook her head in disbelief, "what do you mean?"

'Breaking up with Nida' sounded confusing to Quistis because, as one of Xu's best friends, she was under the impression that the couple had never labeled their relationship.

"Like... I don't want to see him again," Xu explained.

"How? We have Garden Committee meetings every week at a minimum. He's the head instructor and a SeeD rank A. He's basically your secretary in a nutshell without the title or extra stipend…"

"Quis," Xu said, trying to clarify. She knew that despite Quistis's charm, she had almost zero experience in dating. "I mean I don't want to continue anything more than a work relationship with him. I don't want to see him, you know, at night."

"I see," Quistis blushed.

Silence hung in the air longer than Xu had hoped.

"What do you think?" Xu asked.

"Well," Quistis hesitated.

"Say it. I need to hear it. Don't hold back."

"Okay, first off," Quistis said, adjusting her glasses hastily, "if you don't have any feelings for him, why do you keep giving him false hopes?"

"False hopes?"

"Don't pretend! That guy makes you bento boxes and miso soup every day..."

"They're so bland!"

"Because he knows you have a sensitive stomach due to spicy traditional food."

"For the record, I never ask him to do that!"

"Then why did you keep receiving his care for three years?"

"…"

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair to Nida?"

"I know…" Xu sighed.

"And?"

"I was lonely…" Xu trailed off, and this time Quistis didn't interrupt, allowing her friend to open up. "You know, after Yizi's death, it was tough for me. I was in denial. Nida… he just happened to be there. I needed a replacement, and he's not the type to talk about us unless I bring it up. I call him, and he's always available. It's convenient, low-risk."

"Yizi, that's right…" Quistis gasped and reached out for a hug. Born a prodigy and raised in a military institution, she had long believed she couldn't sympathize with emotions—something that, to some extent, was true in many situations. Yet in this moment, she felt tears welling up involuntarily.

But Xu, ever the strong-willed woman, did not shed a tear.

"What makes you want to end it now, especially if you might have his child?" Quistis asked, knowing that Xu's reasons would likely be flimsy. Nida was a nice guy, and "nice" often meant boring in Xu's dictionary.

"He's nice, but spending the rest of my life—24/7—with him? I don't know, Quis. I can't," Xu explained.

Quistis wasn't sure how to respond.

"That was... um..."

"Am I an asshole?" Xu filled in the blank.

"Well," Quistis carefully chose her words. "Feelings can't be forced. I get it. No couple is the same. But yeah, you could have told him sooner."

"Yeah…"

Silence filled the air again.

"If... this is happening..." Quistis waved her hand toward Xu's abdomen. "What do you expect his reaction to be?"

Xu sighed and covered her face with both hands. "Can't you tell? He'll buy a crib first thing in the morning. Worse, he'll watch over every step I take. He won't let me work late or run half-marathons. My Hyne! Please, don't let this happen to me!"

Then the headmaster rose, her expression serious. "He must not know about this..." She looked at Quistis for confirmation.

"What?!" Quistis frowned.

"I'll run away," Xu continued.

"Where? And more importantly, how does that help?" Quistis asked, confused.

"That's right... I'll send him away then." Xu's eyes lit up. "One year in Trabia as a visiting instructor, and when he's back, I'll hide the baby..."

"Xu!" Quistis interrupted her friend's frantic waving. "Normal people don't have a child together and then run around like that. I think you need to calm down and process this news. We're all here for you, alright? You've always been the wisest among us. Keep an objective view. Maybe write down the pros and cons of each approach. How does that sound?"

"Like... write down strategies for battles?" Xu asked.

"Eh... sure!" Quistis immediately agreed, then took out a piece of paper from her notebook. "Write down everything on your mind. What's it like to be with Nida? To be without him? Can you handle, you know, work and…?"

"Gotcha, gotcha..." Xu quickly snatched the paper from Quistis and began writing.

Quistis rolled her eyes as the page filled with Nida's "cons."

"Drooling?" Quistis frowned.

"That's why I never let him stay," Xu scoffed. "He'd flood my bedroom by morning."

"And what's that word?" Quistis squinted at Xu's scribbles.

"Fart."

"Oh, dear!" Quistis exclaimed, feeling unprepared to hear about Nida's personal hygiene. "You work on that. I'll run your blood sample in the lab. The results will be sent to our inbox when they're ready."

Garden festival meeting. Balamb Garden 1F.

Selphie summarized the rules to the whole group of thirty volunteers for the next Garden Festival with enthusiasm.

"Is everyone clear on the assignment? We only have four months to prepare for this double event—the Garden Festival and S20-S21 SeeD inauguration. Most seniors are supposed to graduate this year since they couldn't graduate two years ago due to the war. It's extra work for us, as the Seniors won't be able to volunteer much to prepare for the SeeD exam. This year is also the first year that we welcome students and staff from Trabia Garden and Galbadia Garden. I hope we can pull this off!"

No one said a word.

"Eh... does anyone have any questions?" Irvine asked the room.

Sensing that no one wanted to ask anything, most had already started to cut and glue materials to fix the stage that had been hastily set up during the Commander's promotion, the couple slowly left the room.

"Oh, Selphie!" Lina called out just before they stepped in the elevator. "Can you help give Acma this gift when you get to Miyagi's?"

"Sure!" Selphie accepted the gray box, stuffing it into her already full backpack. "It's not her birthday yet, is it?"

"Yes, it's for different occasion," Lina replied. "She's becoming an associated research instructor to teach Introductory Biochemistry Lab in the coming term."

"Already? Time flies! I still remember the day she came to Trabia heavily wounded!" Selphie exclaimed. "The gift box looks familiar... Did you get it from Trabia's fashion store?"

"Yes!" Lina nodded in excitement. "That's the only place with plenty of petite sizes for us."

"Likewise! I always buy things there," Selphie agreed. "I can swim in Balamb and Galbadia's clothes."

"Quite convenient for..." Irvine started to say, but got jabbed by his girlfriend.

"For what?" Lina smiled curiously.

"Nothing," Selphie said, returning the awkward smile. "Just sleepwear in general."

Lina nodded knowingly at the couple before immediately returning to her group. "Have fun at Miyagi's!"

As soon as the couple stepped into the elevator, Selphie nagged, "What was that?"

"What, honey?" Irvine smiled.

"I told you not to say anything yet."

"I didn't say anything!" The cowboy got defensive. "I was just about to comment on how comfy loose clothes can be…"

"Really?" Selphie narrowed her eyes.

"Come on! People will notice soon anyway."

"Notice what?"

"Bah!"

Quistis, standing right by the elevator door, startled both of them.

"Quisty!" Selphie called out. "You almost gave us a heart attack."

"I'm sorry," Quistis said. "Anything new?"

"Yes!"

"Nothing!"

Quistis rolled her eyes at different responses, and so did Selphie toward Irvine.

"We have a big surprise for the Garden Festival and Seed ceremony this year," Irvine gave out a fake explanation.

"Ah, good thing Aki won't be there to tell us 'no'. Let's get wild, team," Quistis said. "Let's get to the gate. Dr. Kadowaki and Xu are there already. Nida will pick us up soon."