Taking Over

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny, or any of its characters.

DEE. DEE. DEE. DEE. DEE. DEE. DEE. DEE.

"Oh, gosh, Kira, shut up," groaned Cagalli, rolling over onto her side and covering her ears with her green pillow. "You absolutely SUCK at imitating alarm clocks!"

Twitching slightly at her insult, her twin brother crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto one leg. "Well, sorry I suck at imitating inanimate objects! I wasn't the one who threw my alarm clock out the window!"

Cagalli cringed at the memory; it was only a few days ago when her stupid, stupid, stupid alarm clock rang at 3 AM in the morning. Annoyed beyond belief, the blonde had furiously slammed the ringing noise off and threw it, with all her might, out the window. She ended up turning on the alarm system for the entire house; she couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. Nor could Kira, Shinn, or Stellar; even Lacus, in the building 10 meters away, ended up unable to sleep.

Furthermore, with her scarily accurate aim, she had managed to score a hit on Kisaka's head with the bright red alarm clock. The already restless night plus Kisaka and her father scolding her, resulted in getting only 2 hours of sleep.

Forcefully making her reluctant body get up and stretch, she sat up in bed. Her amber eyes fell upon her window, which was covered with brown cardboard. "What time is it?" It was difficult for her to tell, but she knew it was probably past 7. School started at 9:30 AM. The sun had peeked through already and birds were flitting in and out in front of her window.

"It's 7:15. You wanted to take a shower, right? Hurry up and join us for breakfast," Kira demanded, staring at his sister, who was wearing orange pajamas with bananas on it. Raising his eyebrows, Kira decided it was best if he didn't ask Lacus to take Cagalli pajama shopping ever again. Tearing his gaze away from the disturbingly patterned sleeping attire, he said, "Your uniform is in your closet; don't forget to wear the ribbon and the school badge, okay? I left them on top of your drawer."

"Thanks, Kira," Cagalli murmured, bouncing off her bed as her brother exited the room, closing the door behind him. Banging her knee as she crashed into a box she left on the floor, she limped towards her finally clean closet. She eyed the uniform, curious, as she picked out her undergarments.

There had been a lot of discussion about the school uniform. Both sides wanted their colours represented; ZAFT, with their typical red and black; ORB, with their blue and white. They had tried white and black, but both sides had agreed it was too plain. Red and blue practically blinded them both, and it was quickly scratched off the list. Red and white made the students seem like candy canes walking around in a school.

And so the uniform was decided to be black and blue. Cagalli, personally, didn't mind it; in fact, she actually liked the look. They were to wear a white collared shirt underneath their uniform top, which was a blazer that was mostly blue but with the edges and lines black. The skirt was black itself with a blue bottom. Their shoes were a shiny black as well, with navy blue knee-high socks. The only thing Cagalli had an issue with was the length of the skirt.

"For goodness' sake, does it have to be 2 inches above the knee?" The blonde grumbled, eyeing the article of clothing menacingly. Sighing, she grabbed the hanger on which it was hanging and made her way to her bathroom.

When she finished showering and putting on the uniform, she skipped down the stairs, her black school bag in hand. Technically, the students were allowed to bring their own, custom school bags, but Cagalli didn't see the point of it and instead used her bag from her previous high school. 'Looks good with the uniform anyways…'

Stepping into the dining room, she saw Stellar, Shinn, and her brother all crowded around the small, round table. As she got closer, she greeted them and stared at the breakfast Kira had cooked up. The blonde stared at the…

"Muffins? Since when did you start baking muffins?" Taking one, she scanned it warily before taking a tentative bite. As the scent of blueberries wafted through the air, she grinned and quickly swallowed before chomping on it once again.

"I was about to make panca—" Shinn choked on his muffin, sending blue and brown crumbs all over the place. The twins turned their deadly glares at him. "As I was saying, pancake—" Once again, Shinn couldn't help but to cough loudly and send another round of crumbs across the table. Stellar pulled a face of disgust and quickly covered the rest of their breakfast.

"Go on? So instead of making pan— DARNIT, SHINN. DON'T MAKE ME PANCAKE YOU." Throwing her half-eaten muffin at Shinn, Cagalli cheered as she heard the soft thump and the sound of the black-haired teenager falling backward off his chair.

"W-wait, what the heck does that mean?!" The panicked male quickly sat up, rubbing the back of his throbbing head. "D-does that mean… you'll… y-you'll… stri—"

"What in the world are you thinking?!" Kira sent a pan flying into the Asuka's face and high-fived his sister as it efficiently shut the other male up.

"Correction: he's not thinking in the world, he's thinking in the gutter." Walking gracefully across the room, Lacus perched herself onto a chair beside Kira. Her pink Haro bounced around behind her, cheerfully saying, "Haro! Haro!"

"Nice, Lacus," Cagalli reached over for a high-five, which Lacus did so daintily.

"Did you have to throw that burning pan in my face?" The red-eyed teenager scrambled back onto his chair, rubbing his now slightly burnt face. Cagalli and Kira burst out laughing, startling Lacus and Stellar.

"OH MY GOSH, IT'S THE RED-EYED BLACK DRAGON!"

Lacus stifled her giggles while Stellar sighed in disbelief. Shinn, on the other hand, was absolutely livid.

"HOW THE HECK CAN YOU THINK OF YU-GI-OH IN THIS SITUATION?!" The twins continued to roar with laughter at the fuming teen, but were quickly shushed when the teen glanced down at his watch. "OH FUDGE, IT'S 9:14!" Everyone around the table stopped what they were doing and gaped at the black-haired teen who was already tumbling from his chair in his rush to get to the car. When it was evident that he was not joking, the rest of the group choked on their breakfast and scrambled out the door towards Kira's car.

---

"Shinn, you should be so glad I don't have my pan with me or you will be finding it up your a—"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE WATCH MALFUNCTIONED!"

After leaping into Kira's sleek, black car (and, admittedly, with everyone in the most uncomfortable positions; although, they would be comfortable in any other place), the brunette had driven 200km/h in his mad rush to get to school on time. What was normally a 15 minute ride became an 8 minute ride; what was usually a peaceful scenario in the car became total havoc as the passengers tried to get comfortable.

However, when they got to school, they realized it was empty. Glancing at the clock in the car (which they only noticed after getting there), the group of friends realized it was only 8:20. Practically steaming with anger, Kira and Cagalli began to yell at the mischief maker, who attempted to defend himself.

"More like you malfunctioned," Stellar muttered, rubbing her back sorely.

"Stellar!" Shinn whined, turning towards his girlfriend and pouting.

"When we get home, I am taking Kira's pan and making pancakes; YOU are going to eat them even if it sends you to the hospital. Clearly, someone is suffering from withdrawal of pancakes," straightening her uniform and skirt, Cagalli sent a glare towards the Asuka, who coughed violently before hiding behind Stellar.

"Cagalli! Don't be like this!"

"Don't be like this?! You still have the guts to say that after you practically killed us on the roa—" Smoothly cutting in, Lacus put a hand in front of her best friend before turning towards Shinn herself. Her usually bright and cheerful blue eyes were still innocent, but there was a gleam none of them had ever seen before.

"Shinn Asuka." The said teen shivered at the chilly tone in which the pink-haired girl had spoken his name. "Do you find amusement in us nearly losing our lives? Is this your idea of an amusing joke? If so, then I shall hereby warn you: I will not hesitate to * beep * and * beep * and do * beep * to you if you ever decide to do this again. Have I made myself clear?"

His whole body trembling from head to toe, Shinn nodded weakly from behind Stellar. Kira and Cagalli simply sighed in relief as Lacus returned to her normal self and said, "Well, now that the incident is behind us, what shall we do?"

"Huh? Keeners?" The 5 teenagers spun around to see…

"Athrun!" Cagalli exclaimed, bouncing towards the navy-haired teenager. Surprise flashed across his face before he quickly smiled and bowed, shocking both Cagalli and her friends behind her.

"Miss. Athha! How very nice to see you again," he greeted, standing upright and flashing her a dazzling smile. Confused, the blonde sneaked a glance at her friends. Kira was gaping, dumbfounded; Shinn mirrored Kira; Stellar was muffling her giggles, while Lacus just stared, surprised.

"U-uh, Athrun, you can just call me Cagalli!"

"Is that so? Then, good morning, Cagalli. Why are you guys here so early?"

Kira couldn't help but notice the way the emerald-eyed male said his sister's name; his eyes narrowed and he responded, "We had a little… malfunction. Why are you here so early?"

"I decided to look around the school before classes started, but I guess it was a careless move on my part. I don't have keys." He shrugged and sighed, before motioning to the people behind him. "By the way, these are my friends. Yzak Joule, Shiho Hahnenfuss, Dearka Elsman, and Nicol Amalfi"

The silver-haired one, Yzak, was scrutinizing Cagalli closely. Feeling unsettled, she questioned, "Y-Yzak-san… are you a girl?"

Her comment made the one named Dearka and the girl, Shiho, burst out laughing. Nicol, the green-haired male, chuckled quietly. Athrun struggled to maintain his cool face, but a smile twitched on his lips. However, Yzak was not amused.

"If YOU were supposed to be a girl, I can see something went horribly wrong."

"What the heck?!" Furious, the blonde stepped forward, raising her fist threateningly. "If you were supposed to be a hermaphrodite, then I guess you were a success!"

"Now, now, I'm sure you guys were both successes," Yzak snorted, "but come on, get along." Athrun glanced from Cagalli to Yzak. "Kiss and make up, now."

"Excuse me?! You want me to kiss this THING?!" Cagalli asked in disbelief, face pulled into one of disgust. Yzak's face was similar to hers.

"I'd rather kiss a sloth!"

"What sloth would let you near it?!"

"You want to repeat that, failure?!"

"Oh no, you did not!"

Their bickering continued all the way until the bell rang, in which they finally stopped arguing and ran for their first period class.

---

Sitting in her second period class beside Lacus, she noticed that Kira, Athrun, and the girl named Shiho were in the same class. Shiho had waved cheerfully at the blonde when she saw her, which Cagalli returned, grinning. The long-haired girl had taken a seat behind Cagalli, beside a girl with short, perky brown hair; she immediately recognized Cagalli.

"Cagalli!"

"Miriallia! Oh man, I never expected to see you in my chemistry class!"

"What, it's not like I failed a course or something!" Winking at the blonde, Miriallia leaned towards her and whispered, "I hear you fell for a certain blue-haired male in our class!"

Blushing furiously, Cagalli glared at Kira, who happened to be whistling and staring out the window; a sweat drop gave him away. Using their twin telepathy, the blonde thought, 'Kira Athha. You are SO dead you won't be pushing up daisies; you'll be pushing up TREES.'

Kira, at this time, wished his telepathy malfunctioned.

Before class got underway, Cagalli couldn't help but notice how Athrun was surrounded by girls… and guys. There were more girls, of course, but the number of guys was quite appalling as well. She observed how he responded to their questions politely, complimented the girls on their new hairstyles, made arrangements with the guys for date— games and hangouts. There was something peculiar about his behavior, but before she could dwell on it any further, massive, round, plump breasts appeared right in her view.

"Cagalli!" Wincing at how her name was said, the blonde glanced up from the breasts to their owner; Meer.

"M-Meer… how nice to see you again…"

"I know, right? I'm SO disappointed we couldn't see each other over the break, but at least we have the same chemistry class! Oh, Lacus-san! Hello!"

"Hello, Meer-san," greeted Lacus, smiling politely at her look-a-like.

"Anyways, I'm SO glad I'm in the same class as you guys AND my fiancé!"

Surprised, Lacus asked, "Oh, who would that be?"

"Athrun," replied Cagalli, eyeing her best friend meaningfully, before nodding in Athrun's direction.

"Oh," quiet, Lacus resumed writing her notebook, although it was with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I'm going to go over to Athrun-kun now! Bye bye!" Waving at them as she left, Cagalli let out a sigh and slumped back into her chair. Miriallia and Shiho, who had bonded quite nicely behind them, smirked as they leaned towards her.

"Is that a sigh of disappointment, Cags?" Snickering, Miriallia poked the blonde in the back.

"Is it legal to punch your best friend in the face?"

"Oh, come on, Cagalli. Do you like him or not?"

"Shiho!"

"I know we just met today, but c'mon. Why would I tell?"

"You're friends with him! How can I trust you to say anythi— oh crap, did I just give myself away?"

"Not until the last part, no."

Cagalli groaned. "Ugh! Fine, I think he's interesting, that's all."

"Interesting?"

"Miriallia…"

"I swear, I wasn't reading Playboy magazines."

"Okay, class, settle down and sit your bottoms in those chairs." A pretty lady of around 28 walked into the classroom. She had slightly wavy brown hair that rested slightly past her shoulders. Her brown eyes were sincere but sharp, and she had the figure any guys would probably drool about. "My name is Murrue Ramius, but I expect you guys to call me Ms. Ramius. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I will be your chemistry teacher for the rest of this year, so you guys better not fool around, or your marks will be in jeopardy."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, I'll begin with attendance. Athha, Cagalli?"

---

As Kira and Cagalli made their way to their third period class (Lacus was not with them, as she had lunch that period with Shinn and Stellar), they noticed a girl with red hair, half-tied up in a ponytail on the back of her head. She appeared to be arguing with a male with short blonde hair and who wore glasses.

Immediately recognizing them, Kira called out, "Sai! Fllay!"

They paused and looked around for the source; their eyes fell upon Cagalli and her brother.

"Oh… hi Kira," they both greeted. Fllay turned around, pouting slightly while Sai said, "What do you guys have now?"

"Languages. You?"

"Oh, we have functions… I guess we'll see you around, then!" Pulling Fllay with him, Sai went in the opposite direction. The twins stared after them, puzzled, before resuming their walk to L348.

When they entered the classroom, they found it almost full. Cagalli pulled her brother towards a pair of empty tables near the back and sat down in the window-seat. To her surprise, Athrun happened to be sitting in front of them.

"Cagalli! Kira!"

"Eh, we're in the same Languages class too?! I never knew that!" The brunette glanced at his sister uneasily, watching her brighten up at the sight of the navy-haired male.

"You never asked," chuckled Athrun, before turning towards Kira. "When do you have computer science?"

Tensing, he replied, "Next period. You?"

"Oh, same! I have last period lunch, which sucks."

"Me too!" Cagalli moaned, and she slumped over her desk, grumbling.

"Athrun! Are you available to attend my father's masquerade on the 19th?" His attention occupied elsewhere, Athrun turned around to talk to a girl with short magenta hair.

"Wow, he must be busy… he has to attend social events just like his father," Cagalli whispered to Kira, who nodded.

"I don't like him."

Raising her eyebrows at her brother, Cagalli hissed, "Is it because he used to be Lacus' fiancé? Or is it because he's better looking than yo—"

"Cagalli, you'll be the one pushing up trees."

"Hey, you are still going to be pushing up trees after school! But still, why don't you like him?"

"He seems so… fake… as if he's just hiding behind a façade."

"I don't think I should be hearing that from you, Kira."

"Why not? I don't wear a fake mask and act all cheerful and false towards othe—"

"Lacus?"

"… okay, you are so getting it when we get home."

"You know that can be interpreted in a very interesting way, right?"

"Cagalli, stop stealing Miriallia's Playboy magazines."

"I'm no— wait, how would you know Miriallia has Playboy magazines? Kira… don't tell me…"

Meanwhile, Athrun couldn't help but feel shivers creep up his spine as he continued to talk to Lunamaria Hawke about her family's invitation to their masquerade. He had a feeling he had chosen to sit in a very uncomfortable spot.

---

"Ah! Finally, lunch time!" Her stomach roaring with hunger, Cagalli ran to the cafeteria to purchase a hot dog. Remembering that her brother also had lunch the same time as her, she bought another one and paid the cashier $10 in total. Looking for the brunette, she didn't notice someone yell, "WATCH OUT!"

WHAM.

Cagalli felt herself get knocked to the floor, the hotdogs flying out of her hands and landing on her. Someone had pushed her down to save her from a football that was thrown astray. She had squeezed her eyes shut, but after crashing to the floor, she blearily opened an eye to see strands of blue hair above her.

"Cagalli!" Kira, who had seen the whole thing happen, ran towards Cagalli and her savior, Athrun. Helping the male up grabbing his sister up by the arm, he quickly looked over her to make sure she was not bleeding. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… I think so…" Wincing as she touched her forehead, she admitted, "I think I hit my head pretty hard though…"

"I'll ask Kisaka to call a doctor," promised Kira, before turning towards Athrun. "Thank you."

"No problem." Athrun smiled angelically at them. Kira noted his dirtied attire.

"I can arrange for your uniform to be washed; it was because of my sister, anyways."

"No, no, it's okay! It's not much, anyways. Cagalli's uniform needs more attention."

It was true; Athrun's uniform was splattered with small dots of ketchup and mustard. Cagalli's, however, was caked with the sauces. Her hair was speckled red as well (the mustard couldn't really be seen as it blended with her hair). Nodding, Kira thanked Athrun again before pushing Cagalli towards the washroom to clean herself up. As they left, they noticed that flocks of guys and girls had crowded around the navy-haired teenager, complimenting him on his heroic rescue and his dashing bravery. Kira's eyes only narrowed as he overheard the murmur of the crowd. Cagalli glanced back, worried. She suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"K-Kira…?"

"I told you."

"… I still don't think that's what he's trying to d—"

"Cagalli, stop defending him! You know what he's after!"

Biting her lip, she sighed before saying, "I'll need more proof, okay?"

Sighing as well, Kira mumbled, "What other proof do you need?"

"Who knows, maybe it's just his personality to he—"

"If that's his real personality, then Miriallia's Playboy magazines are non-existent."

"What was that about my magazines?" Miriallia asked, walking out the girls' washroom. Gasping at Cagalli's appearance, she quickly ushered her in and slammed the door in Kira's face. "Eugh, Cagalli, what the heck is this?!"

"My lunch."

"Care to share?"

"If you don't mind licking it off me, sure."

"I think I'll help myself, the—"

"MIRIALLIA! KEEP YOUR TONGUE OFF MY SISTE—"

"KIRA, STOP EAVESDROPPING!"

Back in the cafeteria, Athrun chuckled and smiled to himself, his eyes gleaming with something that no one around him could understand.

ROYALMILKTEA (author):

Yay! Finally done this chapter and finally onto the main storyline!

The part where Cagalli got splattered by hot dog sauce was inspired by Ep. 18 from Gundam Seed where Kira and Cagalli met the Tiger (Andrew Waltfield). The kebob sauce debate and then the attack; Cagalli got covered with sour cream and chili sauce! O:

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Kind of boring and lame, but still. * sigh *

I'd appreciate it if reviewers would actually give tips instead of just stating if it's boring or lame or stupid or whatever. You're reading it; why not give tips to make it better?

Other than that, I think that's it. :)

Take care! Next update is probably next week or even earlier. (;