This’s a fic I’m working on, and it’s set like, 2 years after the actual game. So far, I have 4 parts of it done, and I’m working on part 5, like, as we speak.
Er…as we type. Ya get the idea.
:moogle:
Basically, I got bored.
What you see here are parts 1 and 2.
“Oh no oh no oh nooo…Gonna be late!” In the halls of a very busy Garden, a girl, obviously a new recruit, was in a panicked rush. Since it was her first day in Balamb, she wanted to make a good impression, and hence wanted to be on time for her classes. So, naturally, the only way to do this was to push forcefully through the mob of students.
Of course, after a while, this got a bit tiring, so she stopped to take a rest, wondering vainly what everybody’s hurry was, then came to the quite bizarre conclusion that everybody was rushing to escape the girl’s sight.
Her given name had been Yolei but, even though she was only 17, she had already been labeled a “Freak” by many and other names by some lowlife losers. Generally, her appearance wasn’t very Freak-ish, she was of medium height, had a clear face with light brown eyes and ponytailed blonde hair, hair that had been streaked half-violet due to an incident that happened when she was seven, an embarrasing incident she didn’t particularly care to discuss. It was the hair that had earned her the reputation of a Freak with her peers throughout her years in public school.
But things were going to be different at Balamb Garden, oh yes, Yolei was oh-so-sure of it. Besides, they couldn’t have been trying to get away from -her-, since she had been pushed,shoved, and rammed into more times than she could count. It had to be something else, but…what?
She heaved a collective sigh, and began walking again, still wondering what could possibly be going on. The thoughts were swimming through her head so quickly that she barely noticed the mob-like crowd dissipate, and was brought crashing back to earth with the sounding of a very loud bell.
“Oh dammit!” The unexpected oath slipped easily through her lips, adding to her aggravation. But,strangely enough, instead of racing off, Yolei just stood there, shocked and dismayed beyond belief. That was her standard reaction to any crisis, simply standing dumbstruck for a while, then freaking out when it hit her.
Only this time, “it” hit her a lot faster than usual.
At first, Yolei had no idea what had happened exactly, only knowing that she had been pushed flat on her butt by something and was now dazed. After about half a second, her senses seemed to function properly again. The scent of soft leather wafted into her nostrils, and she heard the “squeak, squeak” of sneakers, and when the blur left her eyes, she saw a gloved hand being waved in front of her face. The hand was attached to a young man with oddly spiked blonde hair, a facial tattoo reminiscent of lightning, and blue eyes filled with a look of concern. Kinda cute,no, really cute, Yolei thought, her head still spinning, and she wondered if she was hallucinating.
“You okay?”
The simple question succeeded in causing the poor girl a great deal of embarrasment, and she slowly got back on her feet.
“Uh…Y-yeah. I’m… fine, th-thanks…” She emphasized this by brushing herself off and flashing a sweet smile. “I was just…trying to get to class.” The blonde boy chuckled.
“You’re new here, huh?” When Yolei nodded, he quirked his head, the light sapphires of his eyes shining.
“I…I just got here yesterday.” In an instant, Yolei’s paranoid side came out. “You…You’re not gonna get me in trouble, are ya?” He shook his head, an amused grin playing his face.
“Nah. But wait… New student…just arrived yesterday… Yolei Alcher, right?”
“Whaa? How’d you know?” Her face was displaying a look of embarrased shock. Her eyes went wide and traces of a light blush began to show themselves.
“Oops. Forgot to introduce myself. It’s only fair, I -did- bump into you and end up pushing you about two feet away.” Again a grin splashed across his face. “Name’s Dincht. Zell Dincht, SeeD rank 30 and lover of hotdogs.”
“Uhhmm…And how should that explain why you know my name?” With that, Zell began laughing.
“Oh, sorry. It’s a SeeD requirement that we all have to be familiar with every single student in this Garden. And yes, that really -is- boring.” He caught the look of confusion on her face. “Something wrong?” At first, she shook her head, then nodded.
“Actually I was wondering…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know why everyone’s in such a hurry today?”
As if the answer was the most obvious thing ever, Zell nodded.
“Of course I do! Today’s the annual SeeD test, and everyone’s edgy and excited about that. They just…”
And at that precise moment, the bell marking the end of homeroom went off, making Yolei jump yet again. Zell sweatdropped, looking nervously at the clock that hung nearby.
“Damn! I gotta go. Cid’s probably going to kill me…” The look on his face was clear, he didn’t want to discuss why the headmaster was out for his blood. “Well, Yolei, it’s been nice running into you. Hey, since you’re a trainee, I’ll see you later for the exam, huh?”
“Yeah. Guess so.”
Not another word was exchanged between the two. Zell ran down the hallway leading to the SeeD meeting room while Yolei concluded her walk to class. From what she had heard, Garden’s instructors were pretty lenient about new students being late, but she wasn’t particularily interested in seeing for herself…
Balamb Garden - SeeD Lounge, Noon-ish
Hours had passed since the unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate, accident in the hallway, and Yolei’s meeting with her Homeroom teacher had gone rather well, although her head was still spinning. However, Zell hadn’t fared as well. Having missed part of a very important SeeD meeting meant being assigned to Instructor duty in the SeeD test later on, which was the absolute last thing the blonde fighter wanted, or needed. The decision had been made over two hours ago, and Zell was still depressed about it as he lay on one of the Lounge’s many sofas and sipping a Dr. Pepper, tapping his foot.
Suddenly the glass door swung open, and Seifer sauntered in, swaggering about like he owned the place as usual. Zell didn’t even bother to tell the intruder that he wasn’t allowed or wanted in the SeeD Lounge, mostly because of sheer fear. True, the younger blonde had more authority and say in things than more than a few people at Garden, but he didn’t really want to use his authority near Seifer and get his ass kicked into next year for it!
“Yo, Dincht. What squad you in charge of?”
“…” Zell wasn’t really willing to answer, for fear that he might accidentally say the wrong thing, and thus have his rear kicked ahead in time. This made Seifer glare at him.
“Answer me, Chicken-wuss. What squad are you in charge of!?” He grabbed Zell by the collar, threatening to give him a well-deserved (in his mind anyway) punch in the face.
“…B.”
“Shit…” The tall blonde muttered to himself, and swaggered right back out the door.
Zell couldn’t help but grin at Seifer, who obviously didn’t realize that only actual Instructors could deduct marks from Exam participants. This wouldn’t be so bad after all…
The afternoon passed quickly after that. Soon the time for the SeeD recruits to take their exam had arrived. Naturally, all the hopefuls had arrived promptly in the front hall. Except for one.
A certain blonde chick was late. Again. After nearly ten minutes, Cid had an announcement made.
“Would Yolei Alcher PLEASE report to the front hall immediately!”
“Oh -shit!- Late again… Not good…” Something told the girl that being late for the biggest exam she would ever take wasn’t exactly a good thing. Not willing to be any later, Yolei just grabbed her Garden uniform top, which she had already declared annoying, and tied it about her waist. She smirked, really pleased with herself for sidestepping Garden’s strict dress code. From what she had heard, tying part of one’s uniform around the waist didn’t qualify as “defacing”. Satisfied with her new “look”, Yolei sprinted from her room down to the Hall.
Time waited for noone, and she was fairly sure the Instructors wouldn’t either.
She just hoped they wouldn’t notice…Wait, they already had. A knot of fear had tied up in her stomach, growing huge by the time she passed the last fish fountain. Already students were leaving, heading for the large vessels parked outside of Garden. She tried to follow, but was stopped abruptly.
“Hey! Yolei! Wait a minute!” The voice,which she recognized instantly, almost made her heart stop. She didn’t dare turn to look at him, for fear that he just may notice the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. The fact that she was blushing confused the shit out of her.
It just didn’t make sense.
Zell Dincht was older. He was a SeeD, her superior.
But he was so cute!
Cute or not, it still didn’t make sense. They had just met!
She turned to face him, arching a pale eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
“You’re in Squad B, with me.”
“I…am?”
“Yup! You’re lucky too.” The blonde boy had a wide smirk on his face.
“I…am? Why?”
“I’m nice to trainees. Especially the ones I’m in charge of.” The smile widened, and so did poor Yolei’s eyes. “Somethin’ wrong?”
The moment he asked, she began to wonder if Zell Dincht was a mind reader. She didn’t want to show her true thoughts yet, mostly because she herself didn’t understand them yet. So, she shook her head.
“Nah. Just nervous, I guess.” Yolei smiled, shrugging it off as if her nerves were nothing.
“Nothing wrong with bein’ nervous. It’s your first real battle, right?”
“Yeah.” She felt her smile fade as her nerves gave her a kick in the stomach. He noticed this, and quirked his head.
“Well, don’t let it get to you.” He put his hand on her shoulder, making any blush that was starting to form become ridiculously obvious. “Just stay focused and you’ll be fine.” Zell grinned again. If he noticed the deep red of her cheeks, or the fact that her heart was pounding like a bass drum, he didn’t show it, just squeezed her shoulder. “Oh, and remember, I’m lookin’ out for ya. Okay?”
“O…Okay.” In reality, she was anything but okay. How could she stay focused when he was watching out for her if she was sent into a confused blushing frenzy when he innocently touched her shoulder? She would try. She had to try her hardest to pass this exam, and wasn’t about to let such a trivial thing as what felt like a developing major crush interfere with her success. Zell lifted his hand from Yolei’s shoulder, and began walking to the gate. Having no other options, she followed him timidly, eyes watching his shadow and nothing else. She didn’t dare look at him, afraid that she’d lose what little focus she had.
If she could just last long enough to pass, she would be fine…