Maybe Fate Isn't So Bad

Today was the day! Burn pumped his fist excitedly into the air, feeling it whoosh past his hand, and he couldn't resist letting a wide smile color his face as he walked slowly into the field. The bright lights and over-all cheery attitude that filled the air was affecting him too. Right now, he was at a yearly fireworks festival, and he had been going for as long as he could remember when he was with his mother, and by the time he was old enough to go on his own, he had been revisiting. He saw the familiar, illuminated faces as he strode through the stalls, stopping to get some red cotton candy. The good thing about this was that he didn't have to see any of the other Aliens, and it also meant that he could be himself for a day.

"Here you go, Nagumo-kun." Mayami-san said as she politely handed him a stick of the red puffs. As he started to pick the right amount of yen, the widow placed her hand onto his. "Take it as a gift!" she insisted, and Burn only looked at her with a sincere face, but he eventually agreed.

"Sure, Mayami-san." he said, and smiled as he walked off into the crowds. As he saw all of the friends that he had known for years, saying hi and joking off, he played the games and bought all the food that he liked. Truth be told, he had missed them and was grateful for being able to catch up. They were the only relief from his crazy life at Alien Gakuen, and he treasured every moment. At the moment, he was buying a strawberry tart, and the woman selling it brought out a bottle of hot sauce.

"Here ya go, Burn, since I know ya love hot stuff!" she said, handing it to me. He gingerly supplied his sweet treat with the hot sauce. Yeah, it is kind of weird for someone to put that on something so sweet. Burn ripped off a piece, trying not to get a lot on his fingers, and stuffed the piece into his mouth with a content sigh. The tastes contrasted greatly on his tongue, both scorching it and melting it nicely, but it was perfect. Since they were such opposites, they went well together. He smiled and began pushing through the crowds in an attempt to get to one of the less occupied stalls within the premises of the festival.

The sky had turned dark, the air tinted with coldness. Burn shivered, clutching his arms together, and hurried faster to his next destination. 'Why does it have to be so damn cold!' he thought, wondering why he had only worn a simple yukata. It was adorned with flames, encircling his body in an intricate pattern. His clogs clanked on the ground noisily, but as did everyone else's as they walked, some hand in hand, some in big groups, and then there were some like Burn, all alone. He brought his hands up to face and blew on the red appendages in an attempt to warm them up. Shifting his piercing golden orbs off of his hands and onto the stand in front of him, Burn immediately let his face twist into a wide grin when he saw the boy working there.

"Karu-kun, I made it!" he exclaimed rather loudly, startling the green-haired, teenage boy out of his wooden chair with a loud 'clunk'! Burn sniggered, always loving the reactions he got out of the strict boy, as he liked to tease him constantly whenever he saw him. Maybe that's why he always teased the other captains? 'Naw' he thought, inwardly smirking when he imagined the expressions on Gazel's face when he pranked him on April Fools Day. He shook his thoughts away and focused on Karu. The green-headed boy was about the same height as him, and he wore casual clothes, a pair of long jeans and a gray jacket that concealed his upper body from the harsh, cold air.

"What did you do that for, Nagumo?!" he shouted, and Burn just plugged his ears, looking away from him. He was had the strict, cool type of air about him, but he could be very sweet too, if he wanted to be.

"Because I wanted to, duh." he stated calmly as if this was the most obvious answer. He looked at Karu, and Karu looked at Burn in the same light, both lingering sights turning into a stare off in a matter of seconds. Both boys held their ground until they couldn't hold it in anymore. They started laughing hysterically earning weird looks from passerby. The greenette and the redhead exchanged a hug that lasted for a few moments with a comfortable silence thickening in the air as the two childhood friends stood there. Karu pulled away first with a bright smile on his face.

"I missed you, Nagumo." he said quietly and turned around as to hide his face. Burn followed him to the front of the stall, the corners of his mouth curling upward when his vision rested on the various wares for sale in the little corner stall. It held everything from knickknacks to rare items to kimonos. Burn picked at a box of hi-chew, eventually opening the wrapper labeling that it was strawberry, and began munching -chewing, rather- on the sticky, white and red candy.

"I missed you too!" Burn said, flashing a smile that was filled with flecks of mushy hi-chew. Karu chuckled at his friends foolishness and touched a polished nail to his chapped to lips. "Huh?" he asked in confusion.

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full like that." he corrected him, making sure that he got the point. "And you didn't pay for that!" he added harshly, but the catch in his voice and the slight smile could give away that he was playing. But no. Burn is just that dense.

"Ughh!" he groaned, pulling put a few hundred yen. He placed it on the counter and Karu swiped it up greedily. Remembering his teeth, he brought his tongue to his teeth and cleaned them. He sighed and pulled over a chair, the ends scraping over the soft ground silently. Sitting down, Burn looked back over at Karu who was ranting on and on about random things, all of which he had no interest to hear. Instead, he just sat there, content at last, and relished the moments he got to spend with his best friend. But a voice, one he did not wish to hear here, cut through his thoughts alarmingly.

Oh yeah, and did he forget to mention that no one here knew of his alien identity?

"Burn?" the voice, having hints of surprise and disgust, made him snap to attention and turn around. His golden eyes widened when he saw Gazel, Nepper, and Heat all looking at him curiously, as if trying to see right past him. He jumped out of chair, and a delighted duo of Heat and Nepper ran up to him enthusiastically.

"Burn-sama, it is you! What are you doing here?" the brown haired boy asked, and even though his eyes were shaded by his head band, he could see that they held interest. This was, after all, their captain at a fireworks festival with a person they didn't know, and to top it all off, it had looked he was happy. Now, mind you, that type of atmosphere is rarely created when accompanied by Burn, given his attitude about everything. The duo tittered on to their captain about what they had done and seen, what they had bought, and Burn just sat there, glaring at his co-captain that was glaring right back, hands on his hips.

"What are you doing here, Gazel?" he asked in a mocking tone, making Gazel scowl harshly at the form of a sneer. A tick grew on Gazel's head and he closed his eyes, crossing his arms lithely across his yukata-clad chest. The icy teen had the urge to walk up to Burn and start a heated argument, but instead chose the simple solution to the problem.

"What; I can't watch fireworks?" he asked; he didn't want it to sound too forced or angry, but truthfully, he didn't want to deal with him now -which was exactly what the other captain was thinking-. Being the more adult-like one in the situation, he didn't resort to anything rude. At least for now.

"I could ask the same of you, Gazel." he retorted, then scowled. "Why can't I just be left alone for a night, geez. Now you had to go and ruin it." Burn didn't try to hide his obvious annoyance, and looked away from the ice teen that was the cause of most of his stress. To his dismay, his eyes landed on his best friend, the one that wasn't getting any of this.

"Nagumo, who are these people?" Karu was looking straight at Burn, confusion written all over his perplexed face. Burn turned his head to look at his dear friend and smiled apologetically. He wanted to keep his secret a little longer, if only for tonight. He was about to speak when his teammates so correc- rudely interrupted him.

"Nee, Burn-sama, who is he?" Heat asked, pointing a finger at Karu with intrigue. The white haired boy smiled and went up to Karu, Nepper trailing behind and snatching Heat's hand when he was close enough. Burn just eyed them carefully.

"Hey, his hair is the same color as Reize's!" Nepper pointed out, looking at his hair and making the obvious announcement. Did he also have to shout it so loud when everyone was right here? Burn decided to intervene before anything got weirder and introduced him.

"Heat, Nepper, this is Karu. He's a good friend of mine." Karu stepped forward and smiled, greeting them formally. Burn rolled his eyes, but continued to proceed. "So, what are you all doing here?" he asked as politely as he could. The duo looked at each other nervously, before stealing a glance at Gazel. Burn flashed a glare at the ice teen, as it seemed that he was a part of this. Whatever this was.

"Hey, don't look at me, they're the ones who insisted that we all go!" he raised his voice in defense, turning away from the accusing pair of eyes. "Don't worry," he started with a smirk, pausing for after-affect, "not all of the academy came. Be grateful only a few of us went." Gazel crossed his arms again, glaring back at Burn triumphantly.

"Academy?" a voice meekly asked behind him, and a string of mental curses flew at Gazel. Their eyes meeting for a fleeting moment, letting Gazel know exactly what was on his mind. Karu had always thought that Burn had worked in the city, and had a small apartment and a small school. Or at least, that's what he was told. Technically, it wasn't all false, he had indeed lived in a small apartment and had gone to a small school, except for the fact that the information was all taken directly from his past, before he had gone to Aliea Academy.

"I-I uh-" Burn stuttered, trying to find a valid reason, turning to last resorts. He turned to his fellow aliens, his eyes pleading for them to come up with an excuse. Gazel, obviously a smart ass, decided to help his co-captain for god knows why.

"He recently got accepted to our academy, switching during the first semester." Gazel replied smugly; the tulip head owed him one now. Burn just looked away, trying not to look at Gazel's triumphant face.

"Is that so? That's great! Didn't know you could actually study properly." Karu congratulated, earning a glare from Burn. Karu just laughed and stretched his back of its kinks. The next few moments were spent in silence, the only sounds coming from the crowds passing by with an occasional sound of music and Heat and Nepper's frantic whispering.

Burn looked at his watch to see what time it was, since he had been there for awhile now. The fireworks were always planned to start shooting at precisely 9:20, lasting for about forty-five minutes. As of right then, the digital clock-since Burn couldn't read a clock if his life depended on it- had 9:03 displayed. Burn groaned, realizing he had barely any time to get to his special spot. This was obviously his worst time going here.

"Karu, I'm going to go now, or else I won't make it!" He grunted before dashing out into the crowds, three figures behind him mildly confused and a grinning green-headed boy. Since there just happened to be a lot of people attending this year, the grass was filled with couples and families on blankets, all spread out among the field. The field was surrounded by forests, the only opening in it connected back to the stalls. Just beyond the trees off to the right was where they stationed the fireworks, and just behind a patch of flowers and bushes was the secret spot Burn had found years ago.

Sitting down on the soft but prickly grass, Burn tilted his head upwards, his mind caught in thoughts. How had things manage to screw themselves up so bad? Maybe it was karma back to get him, or the gods didn't want him to enjoy some peace and quiet. Whatever the reason may be, he concluded that he would not allow anyone to ruin the lights for him.

"Umm, Burn."

Ugh. That voice, the one he despised so much. Burn groaned inwardly and rotated his head until his vision allowed the ice teen to be seen. Much to Burn's surprise, he gasped inaudibly due to the fact that Gazel looked... Amazing. The lights that were casted off of the little stars in the sky illuminated his face and his white hair looked so wispy and pale. Gazel's yukata squeezed him in all the right places, and his cheeks were rosy due to the cold air. It was a very hot sight, and Burn raked his eyes over the figure by the bushes, taking it all in.

"I'm... Sorry, Burn." Gazel whispered, looking away. Burn's eyes widened slightly; he hadn't expected the proud captain to actually apologize, he was the one who was supposed to. He thought it might have been a little over the top to treat him like that, but what he could he say? 'I am so sorry, Gazel, for what I did. Will you ever forgive me?'

No way in hell. Burn tsked in annoyance at himself and didn't notice his co-captain coming towards him until he heard the soft rustling of grass beside him. He just looked away and brought his knees to his chest in a more or less way to hide him -even though it did stretch his yukata a tad-. Why was Gazel here? How did he find out about this place? Brushing off the thoughts, he turned his head an rested it on his knees lightly, his arms dangling by his side.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" He asked, curious to why Gazel was here. Gazel looked at him and started to answer, but quickly shut it and looked away, blushing.

"Personal reasons." he answered flatly. Burn raised his head at the response but decided to leave him alone and resorted to a restless sigh. Not something for prying ears to hear, he assumed. Rubbing the back of his neck, Burn wallowed in the awkward silence. His own thoughts eventually became a distraction, pulling him in so far that only a distant boom could snap him out of it. He looked up quickly just in time to see the first firework explode in the sky, white tails trailing after each spark. Burn gave a satisfactory smile and looked at Gazel, to see if he liked it. Sure enough, he looked back down and smiled at Burn before turning his attention back to the sky as more exploded into bright colors.

The fireworks went on for some time, and when it was over the pair was all smiles. Burn hadn't anticipated for it to be better when he saw it together with someone, much less his rival, and Gazel had liked the experience in total. Another comfortable silence ensued, in which only the crowds of people could be heard under the crickets' chirps. Relishing in the moments, Burn sighed and looked down from the sky, satisfied, only to find Gazel looking at him. Those pale, blue orbs pulled him in, tempted him to gaze upon them forever as he returned the looks. They both sat staring at each other, and a final, bright pink firework went off, casting a glow onto them.

The moment was just too perfect.

They slowly leaned in, enough that they could feel each others breath, and their lips met in a small yet tender kiss that lasted a few seconds. Burn closed his eyes, yet he could just imagine the inviting look on Gazel's face. He pulled away, his red hair swaying slightly.

They blushed faintly but didn't make any move to escape the others presence except for their eyes that were flitting around and sometimes looking at the other. Burn was the one to break the awkward silence by omitting a soft cough.

"It's-it's about time we got going. So, come on." Burn said and got up, extending a hand out to his co-captain. Gazel blushed again, but he reluctantly took it and stood up beside Burn. Walking through the bushes, they didn't realize they were still holding hands until they were back into the field. They let go abruptly and looked away from each other. Burn started walking towards the opening of the field to get out of there. People were filing out by the second and Burn caught sight of a few Chaos teammates. "Hurry up, Gazel!" Burn yelled at the ice teen who had started to distance himself from the red head.

"Shut up! I can go slow if I want to." he shouted back with a pout I his face, which Burn raised an eyebrow to. Sighing, he stopped and waited until the slowpoke had caught up to him, and walked with him. Another awkward silence reigned over them as they walked over the grass.

"That kiss-" Burn started.

"Was too sudden-" Gazel added

"But-"

"I liked it." they both said at the same time, their faces turning scarlet as they finished the sentence. They avoided meeting eye contact and when the grass gave way to pavement, they had to part ways, sending little glances back at the other until they were out of sight -although they still live at Aliea Academy-.

One tiny event can change so many things in a life~

(-/-)/

Ugh. Good gravy. This turned pretty bad, but the BurnxGazel is so very tiny so I had to contribute~ no flames, this is my first story.

Amulet Spade~ out.