Shinishu: Hey there! After another long break I'm here again! waves flags I was just innocently retyping Chapter Eight (My stupid computer decided to crash when I had half of it done. So I had to start all over again. Why can't I just make a back-up copy?) when I read through the whole story again to get into the stuff. I noticed just how awful the first chapters are and so I decided to rewrite them! It's not much, but I think Chapter One is much better now.

Eiri: At least you can read it without taking aspirin against your headache and sick stomach now...

Shinishu: Look, Prince Charming is speaking... Anyway I hope you guys like the new version! Currently I'm working on Chapter Two and Eight at the same time. I hope it won't take too long!

Summary: x-over with FF X, but it's not necessary to know it Shindou Shuichi is not just a random new kid at school, he's none other than the little brother of Tidus, star Blitz Ball player and everybody's idol. Through a few circumstances he gets to meet Uesugi Eiri, coolest guy in school. Originally he and Tidus don't really like each other but when Eiri has to give Tidus extra tuition, things begin to change for Shuichi. If it at least wasn't for his strange dreams and this nasty voice in his head...

Warnings: Hm, some uncommon pairings?

Rating: For now it's T, but could move up later on...

Amor Fati (Love your fate)

Chapter One: There's always a beginning

It was a bright and wonderful day. The sun sent her lovely rays down to earth and warmed the air of that delightful morning… Everything seemed to be just out of a fairy-tale. But that would be all too cheesy for this story to start, wouldn't it?

But anyways, the city of Tokyo did lie peacefully that morning - as peaceful as a giant world-city with millions of people could be.

One household in particular appeared to be very calm that morning. It seemed there was an utter serenity as the eldest son prepared himself for the upcoming school day. But then again, appearances can deceive.

"Hey, Shuichi! Get your lazy ass out of bed and hurry up! We're gonna be late for school!" Tidus called over to his younger brother, who was still fast asleep. When the teen didn't so much as even stir, the blond boy looked quite somewhat impatient. He waited a whole ten seconds before he finally lost his already too little patience. His younger brother, who had been in a very nice state of sheer sleepy bliss until now, looked pretty confused when the older boy grabbed his beloved blanked and yanked it away from him. Instantly the pink haired boy buried his head under the pillow since that was all that was left from his nice and comfortable bedding.

"Hn...?" came the muffled voice from under the green striped pillow. Tidus growled. His brother could be such a sleepy-head! Couldn't he just get up when his alarm clock rung! No, of course not, he had to turn it off, roll over and wait until Tidus came in, trying to prevent him being late for his first day at his new school. The seventeen-year-old grabbed the pillow and smacked it over the boy's bottom.

"Shui-chan, if you aren't ready in two minutes, I'll leave without you!" Shuichi opened his eyes and blinked a couple times before he realized what the blonde just said. He suddenly shot up and sat up straight in his bed.

"Oh, no! Don't you dare do this to me!" he cried and grasped the collar of his brother's yellow t-shirt.

A very evil smirk danced across Tidus' face. He gently brought his hands up and freed himself from his brother's grip.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't… But I tell you, you don't want to find out…"

Shuichi gasped. He shot his brother a testing look, then jumped and stormed out of the room, making it for the bathroom. Seconds passed and then he stormed out, rushing through the kitchen, swallowing his toast and grabbing his bag.

"One minute twenty-two. New record." Tidus stated matter-of-factly, already waiting at the door.

"Oh, really now?" Shuichi asked none-too-interested as they swung on their bikes. "My very first day at Zarnakand High and I'm late! Tidus, this isn't helping me in the slightest!"

Tidus let out a sigh. Though he had not been living together with his brother all of his life, he still knew him very well. Their parents had been living apart from each other for years now and from the age of twelve Shuichi had been living with his mother Sunako, a very successful business-woman. A few months ago she had been offered a job in America. She had been there a couple of times and finally met a new man. So she had decided to take on the offer.

Sunako didn't want to force her son into anything and had left it to him to decide. And since Shuichi didn't want to leave Japan he moved back to his father Jekkt.

Although there had been a few difficulties at first, the three of them got along very well after some time. Jekkt loved his two sons who were much alike and yet much different. Tidus was the sporty one. He was the number one player in the school's Blitz Ball team and had a rather weird sense of humour. Few people laughed at his stupid jokes he kept on telling. But he didn't care, he couldn't even tell a joke properly for he started guffawing in the very middle.

Shuichi was the more hyper one of the pair. He had lots and lots of energy (no one knew where that came from) and couldn't sit still if his life depended on it. When he first saw, how the two of them lived he was about to shriek. Since then he decided to do the cooking and take care of the cleaning (what did not prevent him from making a mess around him).

Finally the pair arrived at Zarnakand High school and went to lock their bikes. Tidus had assured Shuichi several times that everything would run smooth and dandy, he didn't need to worry.

"But I'm still going to be at least ten minutes late!" the boy all but cried out. Tidus sighed suppressing the strong urge to roll his eyes and turned towards his brother, grasping his shoulders in a way that meant to comfort.

"Hey bro! Calm down, it isn't bad at all! Real stars are always a little late! And now, show up to your class and teach them what a really cool appearance is!" he flashed the pink-haired a bright smile.

Shuichi raised his head. He didn't look very convinced. In fact, he was a little worried that it might have consequences to be late at his very first day at the new school. But soon Tidus had talked him back into his normal, cheerful self. Beaming up to his older brother, Shuichi squeezed his hand before he took a few steps towards his new classroom and waved his hand.

"Yeah, you're absolutely right! I'll go there, win their hearts and show them what a real Shindou is made of!"

Tidus grinned. "Now that's the spirit, Shui-chan! See you at lunch!"

"Yeah, thanks for motivating me, bro! I owe you some!"

"I'll keep that in mind!"

And with that the two parted.

Taking three deep breaths to calm himself down Shuichi finally knocked on the door or his classroom.

"Come in!" was the reply from inside. Okay, this is it. No turning back now, thought Shuichi.Slowly he opened the door and let himself in.

"Good morning! I'm very sorry I'm late, but I'm new. I'm Shuichi Shindou." he said politely, not able to look somewhere else than his shoes. They suddenly were much more interesting than he'd ever thought!

"Oh, it's not all that bad. I'm just glad you found your way here in one piece. I hope you had no problems with finding us?" his teacher replied just as polite. Then she seemed to be remembering something and shook her head.

"Oh. Where are my manners? I'm Mrs. L. I'm your English teacher." She smiled. Shuichi smiled back. "Ladies and gentleman, this is Shuichi Shindou. Please be nice to him." she introduced him, still smiling.

"Please take a seat."

Shuichi let his gaze wander across the room, looking for an empty seat. He finally spotted one next to a boy with long, red hair. He quickly walked over to him not wanting to disturb the lesson any further. Still nervous he sat down next to the unknown boy and cracked a little smile.

"Hi..." he said shyly.

The longhaired boy returned his smile goofily.

"Yo!" he whispered. "I'm Hiroshi Nakano. But you can call me Hiro if you want."

Shuichi sighed in relief. That Hiro seemed to be nice. Maybe the two of them would get along with each other quite well and become friends. A little more self-confident now, Shuichi laughed.

"Okay, it's Hiro then, I guess!"

Soon their first English lesson for that day ended and the break came around. Several students left the room to drop by their friends or get themselves coffee or tea from the cafeteria. Shuichi preferred to just remain in his seat when eventually Hiro turned towards him and began to chat.

"So, where exactly were you before you moved back to your family?" Hiro asked. Shuichi had just told him that his mother went to America for her new job and boyfriend.

"Well..." -Shuichi started sliding around in his chair- "I'm from Custricay!" he replied. They continued their conversation and Hiro couldn't help but find that Shuichi sure was a cheerful young boy. He seemed like he was a pretty lively boy that enjoyed life very much and could find something good and funny in everything. If that was the case, then Hiro would gladly be friends with the pink-head. He needed some sunshine for he, for himself, was a little too serious sometimes. That thought at least his girlfriend.

"Hey, aren't you the guy who was beaten up by my brother years ago for breaking my Action man? I was five at that time, so you must've been the same age! Ne... Do you remember?"

The red haired was a little startled. He frowned and brought his hand towards his chin as if in deep thought. Finally he had his Ah-Ha! Moment.

"Ah! Hell, yes! Then you were that crying little brat? Yes... now that I come to think of it, you look alike. But then... Then you're the little brother of our famous-infamous Tidus ? Ow man... that is just awesome! Cool!"

Shuichi blinked. Awesome? Cool? What the hell!, he thought. The poor boy now really was somewhat confused. But who wouldn't? How should he have known that his carefree (not to say lazy when it came to school) older brother was one of the most popular guys in school? He was the star in the school's Blitz Ball team and therefore he had many fans. The freshmen admired him, the juniors looked up t him and the seniors were his fans. Some said there even were some girls who would love to become his groupies. But Tidus had never told him. Well, he enjoyed the attention he got, but his head never grew too big. Good for him.

Lunchtime soon came around. Since everything was pretty new to the 15-year old teen the day went by rather quickly. He dropped himself onto the nearest empty seat at the less populated side of the cafeteria and rummaged in his bag, finally digging out his sandwich. He had hoped to see Tidus somewhere around, but he saw no face that he actually recognized. So he continued to sit alone, having his much longed for lunch. It didn't bother him to be all by himself, no really. A little, maybe. But only a little.

The teen was just about to take another bite of his peanut-butter-jam sandwich when there was a very strange, loud beeping sound. He looked oddly at his lunch. What was the matter? He crossed his eyes, then he noticed that the students were getting up and leaving the cafeteria. Then it hit him: It was the alarm practice his brother had been speaking of the other day. Shuichi snorted looking at his not even half finished lunch and cringed when his stomach shouted names at him in his normal growling-language. It must have been that very second that he decided not to practice with the other students. He was at the edge of starvation for crying out loud! Just because there was a silly practice he wasn't the fuck going to his next lesson hungrily!

He cocked his head and watched the others leave. And that must have been the time he first saw him: The human incarnation of aloofness himself. He was blond, appeared to be a little older than Shuichi himself, and was just drop-dead gorgeous. He didn't bother to follow his co-students; he sat just there, reading his book, while occasionally nipping at his coffee.

Shuichi simply stared. Though somewhere in his mind he knew how stupid he had to look, he just couldn't rip his eyes off of the elder. He took note of the loose black dress shirt he was wearing, along with a pair of black slacks. His dark clothes contrasted to his light hair and skin. Absolutely gorgeous. The trouble around him didn't even seem to register his mind.

After a few minutes there was silence again. Everyone had left; Shuichi was alone with this stranger. Said boy chose exactly that very moment to raise his head. He seemed to have been so caught up, that he just realized what had happened. Shuichi stopped breathing. He had never so desperately wished to be invisible than this time.

The blond let his gaze drift around but stopped as soon, as he spotted Shuichi. The pink haired gulped hard when the blond fixed his gaze on him. He felt his cheeks growing all too warm.

Okay, now that felt weird. He shouldn't feel funny under the gaze of some pretty-faced stranger. Some pretty-faced MALE stranger, nonetheless. No matter just how pretty-faced that male stranger was. An evil smirk marred the blonde's features. Shuichi gulped hard. Why did the other boy stare at him like that? He didn't break the eye-contact, just kept on examining him intensely. Shuichi began feeling very uncomfortable. A shiver ran up his spine and down again. What the heck was happening to him!

"If you keep staring like that, your eyes are going to pop out of your head, baka." with that the blonde let his gaze fall from Shuichi and continued on his book. He seemed to completely forget about the teen and went on reading as if nothing had happened at all.

Shuichi nearly snapped. What had that been! He blinked once, he blinked twice. Then it sunk in: He had been caught staring! Blushing furiously he shot up and quickly picked all his belongings up and shoved them into his bag. Without giving the other boy a second glance he hurried towards the exit. He had to get the hell out of here, before his head exploded from too much blood!

He was lucky not looking at the stranger again, because so he missed the superior smile that danced around his thin lips. Surely that would have sent the teen into absolute humiliation.

"Shuichi!"

He stopped when he recognized his brother's voice. Looking around the school ground he finally spotted the blond haired boy waving enthusiastically from a spot on the grass. Shuichi waved back and moved his way towards his sibling. Tidus grinned at him and gestured him to sit down. Shuichi causally dropped beside his brother.

"Hey, Shui-kun. It's been quite some time since we've last seen each other, don't you think?" asked a soft female voice. The pink-haired turned towards a pretty brown haired girl who smiled gently at him.

"Hello, Yuna-chan! You look good today!" he greeted her. Tidus snaked an arm around his girlfriend.

"Why, of course she does! She looks good everyday!" the Blitz Ball player announced loudly. Yuna blushed. "Don't say that, please. You're embarrassing me." She said quietly but Tidus only laughed in response towards his girlfriend's overgrown sense of modesty.

Shuichi smiled at the pair. They were cute together, he had to admit. His brother always seemed so happy when the brown-haired was around.

Love must be wonderful... Shuichi thought dreamily. It was then he noticed another girl sitting beside Yuna. She looked pretty cute. Her honey blond hair had been pulled up in a high ponytail and her eyes glowed with amusement.

"Hi!" she began, smiling playfully at Shuichi. "I'm Rikku, I'm Yuna's cosine!" the blonde introduced herself and offered Shuichi her hand. Shuichi took it a little awkward for he wasn't much self-confident when he met new girls.

"Hi... My name's Shuichi and I am Tidus' younger brother."

For the rest of the lunch break the four of them stayed at their place under the group of trees. Shuichi learned that Rikku was in fact Rikku Nakano, Hiro's younger sister. He was a little surprised for the two didn't share too much similarity. But then again, one wouldn't think he was Tidus' brother when one looked at the two.

"So you're Onii-chan's classmate?" she asked him smiling. Shuichi shifted his weight on the grass, a little nervous. He didn't know why, but for his taste Rikku was way too friendly towards him. He didn't think that she just pretended to be, no he thought that she was being honest in taking a liking towards him. But that was exactly his point. Ever since that fateful day back in fifth grade, when that girl had kissed him and expressed her undying love for him, he was a little scared of girls. He didn't want to upset her when he had to turn her down. And the way she was acting there was a good chance that she liked him very much. Too much already...

The bell saved him from farther self-tormenting thoughts as it exclaimed lunch break officially being over. Shuichi sighed in relief. He made a mental note to avoid leading Rikku on, just in case. Sometimes he really wondered if he was kind of weird since he didn't like the thought of a girl, any girl for that matter, developing interest in him. But he always shook it off as himself just not being ready for love. Hell, he was only fifteen!

All days come to an end and Shuichi's first day at Zarnakand High school made no difference. In the evening he and his brother sat in Shuichi's room to discuss the day. Dinner had been had and Jekkt was now in the living room sprawled all over the couch, snoring away to an old Blitz Ball match that was shown in TV.

"Well?" Tidus asked curiously. "How's your day? Have had any trouble?"

Shuichi grinned. "Oh... It wasn't bad at all! I think I had a nice day." he stated munching contently on his stick of strawberry pocky. He leaned against his bed and flipped through some random music magazine, looking at the pictures from an old Nittle Grasper article.

The blonde's eyes widened in comprehension.

"Uh-uh..." he smirked. "Is there anyone you like? Seen anyone attractive?"

Shuichi blushed. No he hadn't! It couldn't possibly be that he found him attractive! He was a guy for crying out loud! He didn't like other guys, especially not that way. And Tidus couldn't know, could he? No, he just wanted to tease him, right?

"Someone like our blond haired, pretty faced..." Tidus continued grinning. Shuichi just wanted to die. Or vanish. Or sink into the floor. Or all three together.

"... Rikku?" Tidus asked finally. The pink-haired boy blinked.

Rikku? He thought shocked. He was talking about Rikku?

Shuichi didn't know if he should be relieved now, or even more panicked. When even Tidus thought there was something with Rikku, what about the others or Rikku herself? He didn't want anyone think there was something when there wasn't. Rumors spread quickly.

"You mean Nakano? Oh...no... She's nice but..." Shuichi cut himself off. Isn't she Yuna's cousin? I don't think you'd like me going out with the cousin of your beloved Yuna, would you? Besides, she's Hiro's sister. I'm not giving up on my new friendship just for a little flirt with a girl." Shuichi stated seriously.

Well spoken, tiger. He thought to himself.

"But I think she really has a crush on you! Remember just how she looked at you with these shining eyes." He parodied Rikku's look and admired his brother with a lovey-dovey-glitter-gaze that could be out of some anime. Shuichi shook his head.

"You didn't like her? But she's soooo nice and has that great blond hair! And you have to admit that she's cute..." Tidus teased.

Shuichi snorted. "Will you stop that! When you like her that much, why don't you just dump Yuna and take her for yourself? Because I am not interested in her!" he shouted. Storming out of his own room, he left a very confused Tidus behind.

TBC...

Shinishu: So, that was my rewritten first chapter. I think I'll also rewrite Chapter Two and Three and then maybe edit the others... (Have to ask my Beta-chan) I'm quite satisfied with the whole outcome. Maybe there still are a few edges here and there

Eiri: ... and overall and everywhere.

Shinishu: You shut up! You didn't want to help me, remember! You should be thankful you at least got text!

Eiri: Yeah. A whole sentence.

Shinishu: Yup! I'm so glad you didn't mix it up like you did in "Höhenflug auf der Aida" (Don't ask... in the 2. Act he suddenly said the text from act 3 or 4... that was quite embarrassing!)

Eiri: Anyway, are you done now? I'd like to have some dinner now and it smells very good in the kitchen...

Shinishu: You'll get fat!

Eiri: ...

Shinishu: Okies... I hope you all enjoyed it! See you next time with either Ch. Eight ore the new Ch. Two!