Unrequited

[Seifer]

"Seifer, just go."

Fuck this! He'd been trying to get through to the introverted commander for months now, he'd been nice, sociable, he'd even made SeeD for fucks sake and for what!? The man had been even colder then ever, not even glancing in his direction. Once he had passed SeeD, he'd gone back to being his old self with the brunet in the hopes that maybe, just maybe then he'd get a reaction. But no, nothing.

"Figgin' ice prince." Seifer mumbled to himself as he stalked down the hall, ignoring the questioning glances from other students. Most were still on edge about him being here, though a majority of them had taken to simply ignoring him once he'd made SeeD. He was still receiving hate mail though, but it seemed to be coming from just one person now. Or a group of people, who the fuck knows. One letter that comes once a week, sporting petty death threats and the like. It didn't really bother him so he hadn't brought it up with anyone, not that anyone would really care anyway. Well, no. Selphie would care, but she'd just make a big deal about it.

Ah yes, Selphie. Her and her little orphanage gang were all still here. Most of 'em didn't seem to hate him anymore. Well, her and Irvine didn't anyway. Neither did Trepe, though she didn't like him either. He couldn't say the same for Dincht or Leonhart; no they hated him, he was sure of it. Oh, and then there was Rinoa. She was pissed at him too.

Fuck.

Sometimes he wondered why he'd bothered to come back at all.

It's not like Squall even cared he was here.

Fuck. Even after all this, he still couldn't keep his mind off the commander. Bastard.

Swiping his key card he unlocked the door and stepped into his dorm. The room was messier then expected for a SeeD, but cleaner then expected from him. His bed was unmade and magazines were haphazardly piled on the floor. Walking forward, his eyes caught sight of a familiar looking envelope on the floor, probably slid under the door. Barely sparing it a second glance, he tossed it in the trash and shrugged off his coat; it'd been a long day and he was not in the mood to deal with tiresome threats.

Collapsing on his bed, he let his thoughts swirl around in his mind. He couldn't stand this anymore. It was obvious Squall was no more welcome of him now then he'd been when he had come crawling back. He had a feeling he was being more of a burden to the commander then anything. Squall was happy now, he didn't need anyone getting in the way of that. Besides, it's not like they'd had anything before. Rivalry? They'd stopped being rivals right around the time Squall kicked his ass in the war. No, Seifer was more of an enemy under surveillance.

Maybe he should just leave, find work somewhere else. No, with his past record, few people would give him work. Besides, being a mercenary was all he knew; he'd never been trained to be anything else... He could get a transfer, head off to another Garden. Galbadia might take him. Yeah, that would be better for everyone. He'd get the paperwork tomorrow, not from Squall though. He didn't want those eyes on him when he told him about it. No, that'd hurt too much; better go to Trepe, he could care less what she thought.

Content that he had some kind of conclusion to the problem, he allowed himself to drift off into a rocky sleep.

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She was watching him, always watching him. She knew everything. Things even he'd never told anyone. Things he hadn't even known himself. And she twisted them; his dreams. Broken them down and put them back together in her own messed up way. Adding little things- thoughts, feelings, wants- that fucked him up beyond anything anyone would ever know. She was the one who found out his love, his want and she dangled it in front of him. Taunting him with everything he would never have, breaking him be-

A loud thump jolted him awake and kept him there as it was followed by a series of increasingly louder ones, in a way that was almost rhythmic.

Ah fuck, who's next door? ...Irvine. Figures.

Glancing at his bedside table, the red numbers of the clock told him it was well past 11. PM. Fuck. Grabbing Hyperion, he left the dorms and headed to the Training Center, he'd much rather be killing grats then listening to Irvine get it on with whoever. Maybe Selphie? They were pretty off and on. Once he had made SeeD his 'probation' had been lifted and he was free to go where he pleased; none of the garden administrators gave him any problems on the way.

He spent the next hour dispatching grats and a t-rexaur, but by the end he was getting annoyed and a little unnerved. He swore someone was watching him. Yes, he'd recognize that feeling anywhere; but he hadn't come across anyone else. Who- no never mind. He was at Garden, unless it was one of Squall chipper little gang, he doubt there was going to be a problem.

Deciding that even Irvine wouldn't be going on all night, not with classes in the morning, he turned to head back. A rustle behind him caught his attention as something very heavy slammed into him from behind. Before he could reach for Hyperion and sharp pain radiated from the back of his head and the ground faded into blackness.

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[Squall]

Hyne, this morning was not going well. Somehow Rinoa found out about his day off and decided the best way for him to spend it was with her at his side. She'd even made him breakfast, well tried to. He hadn't known before, but apparently she didn't know how to cook, nor had she tried it before. His apartment smell nauseatingly like burned eggs and something else he hadn't quite identified.

Now they were in the cafeteria, the noise of the students quickly giving him a headache.

"-We could could go out to that next cafe along the docks, I hear they're really good. What do you think Squall?" Rinoa was determined to get him out today. What happened to the good ol' days where a day off meant fighting grats and maybe a challenge from-

Shit. He had been trying to forget about him. This whole 'day off' was his fault anyway.

"Squall?" Rinoa's big brown eyes stared at him with a mixture of concern and annoyance. She had tried 'opening' him up after the war, but once all was done he'd gone back to his old introverted self. Not that he cared, but apparently she did. As did just about everyone else.

"Hn." What it him or were the student particularity talkative today?

"So what do you think?"

"Hn." No they were. Listening closer, he tried to hear some of the conversations floating around.

"-I don't know-" "-Training Cen-" "-ow, Seifer had-"

Seifer? Great what has he done now? If he wasn't careful he was going to be kicked out of Garden.

"Squall are you listening?" Turning his head slightly, he gave what he hoped was a 'of course' gesture. When she just gave him a questioning glance, he decided verbal responses were probably best with her.

"Yeah, fine. We'll go there." Taking a sip of his almost cold coffee, he managed to catch Zell waving at him from the line. Grabbing his food, the energetic blond came to their table, seating himself across from Squall and Rinoa.

"So Squall... You hear what happened?" Squall had to turn away as Zell began stuffing his mouth with cereal. It wasn't as bad as watching the man engorge himself with hotdogs, but it was still pretty disgusting.

"Something to do with Seifer." As always.

"Yeah, a couple of cadets found him this morning." Figur-Wait...What?

Rinoa decided to speak up for him. "Found him? You mean, like he was asleep somewhere?"

Swallowing his mouthful, Zell gave her a skeptical look. "What? No. They think he was overpowered by some monsters. He was hurt pretty badly." Shrugging the man went back to his cereal.

What!? He was...How..?

"Is he ok?"

"Huh, oh I dunno. He's still in the infirmary."

Standing, Squall left the cafeteria, leaving Rinoa and Zell exchanging questioning glances. A minute later he heard the unmistakable footsteps of Rinoa behind him.

"Squall wait! What's wrong!?" Ignoring her, Squall made his way to the infirmary. He didn't know what had happened, but he was going to find out. There was no way Seifer had been 'overpowered' by monsters, he was too good for that.