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Chapter 9.

IIiiII

"Cereal?" Selphie shook the box at Squall who shook his head.

Irvine pulled up the chair next to him, much to Squall's annoyance. "I'll have some."

She pushed his hand away and leaned across the table to pour it herself, almost tipping it over the table.

"Whoa! Selphie! What are you-?"

Quistis rolled her eyes. "She wants to get the toy out of the box."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "You want the-" He looked at the box details. "Pink pony that's in here?"

Selphie pouted. "Well... yeah, that's the only good thing about having cereal."

Irvine laughed. "Pour Seifer and Zell a bowl too then."

"Oh yes the morning entertainment's not here yet." She grinned.

Fujin smirked. "I'm surprised they haven't tried to run away from you lot by now."

"Us lot? You weren't exactly standing up for them." Squall said.

"Well you could always take the heat off them."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"By kissing Irvine."

The cowboy looked up at Rinoa first and then at Squall who frowned.

"Or not." He said. "Selphie could kiss Raijin."

Irvine almost choked on his cereal as he laughed.

"Shame Raijin not here yet, say it again later." Selphie said.

Rinoa giggled. "Ooooh Selphie and Raijin sitting in a tree-"

"Shut up." Selphie said laughing.

"You don't seriously like Raijin do you Selphie?" Irvine asked.

"Well I never really considered it until recently."

He sighed in relief. "Oh good."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Why are you bothered if she liked him or not? It doesn't affect you."

"It does she's my friend and I don't like to see my friends dating people who snore that loudly."

Rinoa laughed and even Fujin smiled.

"I thought Raijin was your friend too." Rinoa said.

"Well yeah... I guess but I'm known Selphie for longer."

The girls nodded along with that.

"No you haven't." Squall said.

The cowboy frowned. "Yes I have."

Squall opened his mouth to protest.

"Are you forgetting the orphanage years?"

"Okay you were friends as very young kids, that no one could remember then you meet up again at garden and Raijin was there at the same time."

"I remembered."

"Not at first."

The cowboy nodded. "Yes I did! I said that remember? I said that I-"

"But then after your failed attempt at trying to get into her knickers she-"

"Squall!"

"Oh my god Squall I can't believe you just said that!" The girls all yelled at him.

He gave them a look and then continued. "After that you hung out with Raijin and Seifer and Zell so therefore Raijin caught up on being friends with you time."

Irvine blinked at him. "That doesn't make any sense."

Squall frowned at him.

"Now boys!" Selphie interrupted. "Do we have to separate you two?!"

They both looked at her and then back at each other. "No." They said together.

"Well, good." She said.

Selphie then looked at Squall. "I can't believe you accused Irvine of- that, we're just friends everyone knows that."

"Well he does try to get into everyone's pants doesn't he?"

"You jealous Squally?" Irvine asked.

Squall frowned at him.

"'Cause you know I'm only interested in getting into yours."

"I don't wear any." Squall said as he pushed up from the table and wandered outside through the glass doors.

The girls smiled at each other and when Squall was out of sight Selphie leant across the table towards Irvine. "I think that was invitation."

Irvine rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah right, somewhere in that heap of insults was a come on?"

"Well I thought he was nicer to you than usual." Quistis said.

"What do you think Rinoa?"

"Huh?" She looked back at the table, she had been staring out of the window.

"What do you think? You have been Squall's special friend lately."

She smiled. "Now that sounded jealous to me."

Irvine scoffed.

Fujin grinned. "Are you a jealous cowboy Irvine?"

"Of course not." He glared at her. "And why would I be jealous of Rinoa? They are just friends." He paused. "Though he does talk to her and I suppose that's more than he does to the rest of us but--" He slumped at the table dramatically. "He used to talk to me, why doesn't he talk to me!!"

Fujin chuckled.

Selphie patted him on the head. "There, there sweetie."

Then Raijin walked in and everyone's eyes lit up.

"Raijin!" Selphie cooed. "We're so happy to see you!"

He flinched. "You are? Why?" He glanced around at all their faces. "Why is Irvine lying on the table, you know?"

"He's in distress, over Squall....." Fujin told him.

"Oh."

"....Just like you are over Selphie."

Raijin paled. "I am not, you know!"

Selphie giggled along with Rinoa.

Quistis rolled her eyes, getting up from the table. "Honestly I'm surprised you lot haven't completely traumatised Raijin, Seifer and Zell by now." She walked into the kitchen with her empty bowl and almost bumped into Squall.

"Oh, where'd you come from?"

He shrugged. "I came back in through the kitchen door." He explained.

She blinked. "Why didn't you just..." she turned and gestured to the simpler way that she had just come.

"I didn't want anyone to know I was in here."

"Oh." She turned her back on him, putting the bowls in the sink and started to wash them.

He watched her for minute then spoke again. "I heard what happened when Raijin came in." He smirked slightly.

"Yes." She smiled. "Also hear what Irvine said?"

He frowned. "That cowboy can be so melodramatic."

She chuckled. "I suppose." She shrugged. "He cares for you though."

He picked up the tea towel and started to dry up the bowls as Quistis finished washing them.

"No he doesn't."

"Yes he does."

"No-"

"Squall!" She scowled.

He frowned at her.

"Bet he'd stop sniffing around the girls if he had you to keep him warm at night." She said.

Selphie suddenly burst into the kitchen. "I got it! Look!" She waved a little plastic pink pony under Squall's nose and in Quistis' face.

Squall grabbed it, to hold it still long enough to see what it was. "Is that the bloody thing you were looking for in the cereal box?"

"Yeah!" She grinned. "Isn't it great?"

He frowned. "If you say so."

She grinned. "Irvine!" She called. "Squall said my pony's great too!" She went back into the other room and stuck her tongue out at him. "So there!"

"Great." He said. "Well worth all the cereal on the floor then."

Quistis frowned in the kitchen, hearing that bit. She turned, walking into the room to inspect the damage.

"Oh my god, Selphie!"

"What?" She looked up innocently.

"There are crunchy loops everywhere!"

Some of them crunched under peoples feet.

Selphie looked down as if seeing the mess for the first time. "Oh yeah." She looked sheepish. "Sorry." She marched into the kitchen. "I'll get a brush to sweep them up with!"

She came back out armed with a dustpan and brush. She got down on her hands and knees sweeping the cereal up. She pushed Irvine's feet out of the way.

"Hey maybe I should make you do this for me."

Irvine scoffed. "That's not going to happen."

She looked up evilly at him. "I still have that 'thing' for you to do remember?"

He blinked.

"On the beach, everyone else had a turn but you had to run after your boyfriend."

"I'm not his boyfriend!" A muffled call said from the kitchen.

"Oh yeah." Irvine said. "I forgot about that."

She stood and handed him the dustpan and brush. "Here, get sweeping."

He sighed and dropped to his knees, heading over the table.

Fujin, who was still sitting at the table glancing down at him. "Irvine if you look up my skirt I will stomp you into the carpet just like the crunchy loops."

He frowned. "Fujin I'm hurt that you don't trust me." He said, following by. "Ow!"

"What did you do?" Squall asked.

Fujin blinked. "Wasn't me."

"I hit my head on the table." A voice said. "OW! Fujin! What the hell are you doing?! Get off my hand! That hurts!"

"You touched my leg!"

"I lost my balance when I hit my head!"

Fujin moved her foot off his hand and he held it against himself cradling it. "Ow, I think you broke it."

She scoffed. "Don't be stupid I can't break it."

He crawled out from under the table still on his knees and she looked at it. "Does this hurt?" She grabbed him.

"OW!" He pulled away from her.

"Huh." She said. "I think I broke it."

Seifer and Zell walked in then and Seifer frowned at the mess and Irvine cradling his hurt hand.

"See Zell? We can't leave the kids alone for five minutes."

"What is going on?" The little blonde asked.

"Selphie wanted the toy out of the cereal box." Quistis started to explained. "But to do that she emptied most of the cereal onto the floor-"

"I didn't mean to!"

"Then she tried to sweep it all up but then get Irvine to do it for her and -urm- Irvine touched Fujin under the table and she broke his hand."

Seifer started to laugh.

"It's not funny! I'm in pain!" Irvine said cradling his hand.

"You touched her up under the table?" Zell asked.

"No! I hit my head and lost my balance and SHE-" He pointed with his good hand. "-Is evil!"

She smiled, taking that as compliment.

Squall stepped forward and took hold of Irvine's injured hand by the wrist so he didn't hurt him. "Can you move your fingers?" He asked.

The cowboy slowly moved them. "Yes."

"Then it's not broken then." He said coldly.

"Oh thank you for that show of compassion." He said sarcastically.

"Well you shouldn't have felt her up under the table."

"I didn't feel anyone up!"

"What's going on in here?"

They all turned to face Edea. "Irvine I can hear you outside you're making so much noise."

"Matron, Fujin broke my hand."

"He touched my legs under the table." She said, folding her arms and glaring at him.

He glared back.

"It's not broken." Squall put in.

Irvine switched the glare to aim at Squall.

She sighed as if dealing with infants. She walked past the two blondes who still stood in the doorway. "Zell help Selphie clean up this mess."

"Me?! But I've just got here! This doesn't have anything to do with-"

She glared at him.

"....Yes Matron." He said, bowing his head.

Seifer laughed.

"Irvine, follow me." Edea walked into the kitchen followed by Irvine and Quistis. Squall hovered in the doorway.

"Let's have a look at you." She gently examined his hand. "It's just bruised." She told him. "I'll get you some ice."

She walked to the freezer. "I wish you lot would stop abusing each other before I run out of frozen vegetables." She wrapped a bag of carrots in a towel and held it over Irvine's injured hand. She kicked out a wooden stool. "Sit." she instructed.

Irvine sat.

"Squall come here." She said.

The brunette left the doorway. "Yes?"

"Hold this on Irvine's hand for me while I go and check on the others."

The brunette frowned. "But can't Quistis do-" He started to say while looking back over his shoulder at the blonde woman behind him.

"No." Edea said.

"But why?"

"Because I'm asking you to do it."

The brunette pouted like a child but he did as he was told.

Irvine almost winced under the glare Squall gave him as the brunette held the ice pack on his bruised hand.

Quistis smothered her smile behind her hand, she meet Edea's eyes before the other woman went back out into the other room.

"That's better." She said about the now tidy room. Raijin and Seifer had moved the chair back into place and were clearing the table.

"Now if you've all finished fighting for the day I think it's time you all did some work."

They all looked down like scowled children and filed out the door. "Yes Matron." They chorused.

"Apart from you Squall." Edea added as Squall tried to leave.

"You can look after Irvine."

"I'm sure he can look after himself." He protested.

She gave him a look and he frowned, scuttling back into the kitchen to hold the ice pack over an amused cowboy's hand.

Edea went back outside after the others and Irvine chuckled.

"This is not funny." Squall hissed.

"I'm not laughing sweetheart at least I get the pleasure of your company."

Squall glared and his hand slipped slightly.

"Ow." Irvine flinched his sore hand back. "God, you've really got to learn to take a compliment you know."

IIiiII

TBC