***IMPORTANT NOTE: I EDITED THIS CHAPTER! - 15/April/2015***

Hi everybody! As promised, I edited the chapter… I only add Irvine's thoughts so that you could understand his actions. I'll try to get the new chapter within a week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII

Last Chapter...

"I am not going to argue with you, Seifer. So, you better stop antagonizing with me and follow me." Zell commands with a tone of finality. It was extremely scaring to see how angry and how deadly serious he looked. Seifer stopped on his tracks immediately. If he disobey, things will be worse than if he obeys. So, Seifer had no other way but to swallow his pride and agree with Zell. He reluctantly nods his head in affirmation.

Zell set the pace and Seifer followed close behind. Seifer was extremely angry and, at the same time, very scared… He was sure he hadn't push Chickenwuss' buttons to get this type of reaction…

Chapter 3: TO BE OR NOT TO BE…

The elevator's metallic door opened to show Squall's new office. Seifer was downright terrified by now. Zell hadn't uttered a word since they started walking from the classroom. Normally, Seifer enjoyed the silence that came after he confronted an angry and agitated chicken, but right now, the silence was overwhelming. Why did he have to anger the blasted chicken just before visiting Squall..? He prayed Hyne to be able to come out from the accursed meeting without losing anything that matter to him… Like the opportunity of becoming a SEED...

"Yo, Squall!" Zell shouted happily just as he opened the double doors with one swift movement.

"Hello Zell… Seifer…" Squall's words held a hint of emotion when he said Zell's name, but it dried instantly afterwards. Seifer couldn't pinpoint the exact emotion, but it felt as some sort of fondness towards the martial artist. "Oh, boy… So this is it, isn't it?" Seifer thought with finality. Fear spread within the depths of his soul, but his pride kept him from showing any feeling besides boredom. "Hi, Squall…" Seifer answered with a curt nod.

Squall, who had been busy writing several reports, took a few minutes to scrutinize him. It felt like hours before Squall made a gesture with his hand for them to take the seats in front of his desk. Seifer eyed Zell critically. He wasn't sure what this meeting was about, but he really hoped it didn't concern his general behavior around Chickenwuss. "Please, Chicken, remain quiet…" Seifer thought nervously.

"Seifer… take a seat…" Zell added when seconds passed and Seifer remained in the same position. The taller blond immediately moved following Zell's command without realizing what he was doing until he heard Squall's almost inaudible chuckle and noticed a soft smile from his instructor. Seifer sent an infuriated glare to both of them, but it only widen Zell's smile. Squall, on the other hand, brought a hand to his face and coughed a few times downing a possible laugh or maybe not... He couldn't be sure with Squall… "Now, Squall thinks I am Chicken's docile and well behaved pet… Just what I need…" Seifer thought reprimanding himself quite vigorously.

"Seifer…" Squall began changing the subject and, the taller blond, welcomed the opportunity to stop the bitter thoughts. No need to embarrass himself any further, right..? "You were called to my office, because we need to talk about an uprising event and your possible future within Garden and SEED…"

"What do you mean..?" Seifer answered in a very submissive voice. "Oh Hyne..! He knows…" The taller blond thought deflated... There was no way he was going to graduate at all… It was quite strange, but he felt betrayed by his instructor… He couldn't believe that the Chicken actually talked with Squall about his disrespectful confrontations and wanted to ban him from Garden..! The thought made him pause, Chickenwuss wasn't really his friend, so he shouldn´t feel betrayed in the first place. Yet, he couldn't help but feel it… Damn!

Zell, on the other hand, was very surprised. He already knew what the meeting was about since he already talked it with Squall. It's not that he was expecting any reaction from Seifer, but he had never seen that deflated expression. What the hell is he thinking; the meeting hadn't even started…

Squall as usual, wore his favorite whatever scowls. For those literate enough in its hidden language could read what clearly it meant… Do not interrupt me again… "As I was saying, I want you to participate on a mission…" He moved a hand in the air to stop any interruption from Seifer's part. "And yes, I know you are not an official SEED yet…"

"Wow… I wasn't expecting that…" Seifer thought surprised and very stunned. Squall took the opportunity to study him more closely, as if waiting for him to realize something. It didn't take him long to understand the hidden message between Squall's words... He wasn't a SEED, so he couldn't go on any mission unless he excelled in his training and, even if he did, he would need a high recommendation from his Instructor to be able to participate at all… Seifer's eyes twinkled in recognition and he cut his state of reverie instantly to look at his Instructor in astonishment. He was very tempted to kiss the martial artist at the moment... or at least, get along with him…

Zell clearly avoided Seifer's gaze and looked at Squall pointedly, as if urging him to continue. "Quistis will be the Team Leader… So, let's call her to continue with this meeting, shall we..?" Squall proceeds to call Quistis without waiting for any type of reply. It's not that he needed the permission anyway. The phone rang several times before Quistis picked up. "Trepe here…"

"Quistis…" Squall began, but he got cut by the sound of the double doors opening revealing a livid and outrage Irvine. "I want to know, why you did it..."

"..." Squall sent his way one of his most powerful glares. He didn't have time to deal with Irvine right now…

"I mean, I went to my classroom to discover that no one was there... Not a single soul… And then I found out YOU gave all my students to Zell..?" The angry cowboy barked pointing his index finger at said instructor, eyes fixed on Squall. Seifer never thought that the Perfect BFF Team could have a disagreement… Oh! He prays to Hyne they put a splendid show for him to watch. "Thanks Hyne, you are the best..!" Seifer thought with pure glee. Had he put a nickname to Irvine? He didn't remember…

"Why didn't you share them with Selphie… or why couldn't you give them all to Selphie..?" Irvine shouted at the top of his lungs and Seifer smirked darkly… Drama Queen, it is…

"Tell me…" Irvine's voice broke a bit, making the moment more dramatic. He knew he was being a little bit childish. Yet, he felt that he deserved to behave that way since he just lost something meaningful to him. After the war, he didn't know what to do with his life until Quistis suggested them, as in Irvine, Selphie and Zell, to become instructors. He discovered something more satisfying that training young students: an opportunity to help others, give them a purpose, and push them to be the best person they could be. But this reality had banished like a dream… Maybe he shouldn't have let his ladies' man reputation grow, but he was younger at that time. He understood that now…

Squall kept is death glare and his stoic stance… It looked like a lover's quarrel… Is Drama Queen jealous of Chickenwuss and Puberty Boy's relationship..?

"Why is it that you always please him in anything he wants? WHY..?"

"Damn! Where are the popcorn and the coke when you need them? Hyne, it's like seeing a movie but free!" Seifer thought. He was really enjoying the meeting so far… Thanks Hyne for the miracles. "Puberty Boy, don't you dare betray Chickenwuss..! Show that Drama Queen who is the boss!"

"That's not true! As far as I know, Seifer is right now Zell's student because you refused to be his teacher! And Squall complied with what you wanted… Tell me where the preference is?" Quistis voice boomed from the speaker startling everyone… They forgot she was still in the line. Zell buried his face in his palms thinking "Not in front of Seifer…" and at the same time "Hey, It wasn't me the one who blurt it out… that's a first…" A vein popped on Squall's forehead. He was ticking already and about to explode in any minute. "...but Zell didn't complain!" Irvine argued back without missing a beat.

"What..?" Seifer shouted after he came out of his stupor. He wasn't expecting these revelations… Something inside him began to burn; Seifer stood aggressively from the chair and a powerful glare was sent at Drama Queen's way. "I am going to make his life miserable… I swear…" Seifer thought with anger ready to attack the feminine boy…

"Oh Hyne, don't tell me Seifer is there..." Quistis voice came from the speaker sounding mortified. Zell's hand touched Seifer's shoulder and ushered him to his seat as if making sure Seifer didn't do anything stupid to get into trouble. Seifer stared at his instructor for any sign of malice in his actions, but he already had moved closer to the phone to answer Quistis. He decided in that moment to behave with Chickenwuss and concentrate in making Drama Queen's life a living hell… He could behave for a while, and just a while, since Chicken didn't throw him away… See, he can be magnanimous too…

"He is..." Zell answered and then looked awkwardly at Squall, like mere demon showing the white flag to the Heavenly Army "Can we continue with the meeting… Or do you prefer us to leave..?"

"JUST TELL ME WHY..!" Irvine roared, body trembling and face stained with tears. He was too focused on Squall to pay attention to the rest. And, just with that, the bomb exploded… This is not good… "IF YOU WANTED TO KNOW IN ADVANCE THEN, TELL ME, WHY YOU DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE!" The Commander roared.

"Squall, I swear I had it with me the whole time and it never sounded!" Seifer smiled knowingly at that… He knew Drama Queen didn't answer on purpose, possibly shagging a girl and now he was in so much trouble… "I don't know why you took my group away from me!"

"..." Squall stared at him disbelievingly.

"Ok, I know! But I swear I didn't do anything with those students!"

"..." And Squall didn't even blink.

"I am saying the truth, I swear!" Irvine begged kneeling before Squall. Like a slave would to his master… If Squall knew how much power he had over the Perfect BFF Team members…

Seifer began to tremble, even if he was angry with the cowboy, he couldn't help himself… "Don't laugh please, don't laugh aloud. Remember, you have to behave. You are between enemies. Keep it neutral! Hyne, this is so hard..!" Seifer thought trying to control himself but, at the end, laughter filled the room putting Seifer in the spotlight.

"Come on Drama Queen, stop this histrionic behavior! Be a big girl and stop whining for Hyne's sake…" Seifer said it from his seat with one purpose in mind: annoy the blasted cowboy. An arrogant smile appeared on his face adding more effect. "I am pretty sure some of the rumors are true if this is happening to you, don't you think..?"

"Shut…"

"Irvine, I am in the middle of a meeting... Come in an hour and we will talk about it." Squall said in an abnormal empathetic and conciliatory way, ignoring Seifer's outburst… Who taught him that..? But when Irvine gave Squall a pointed glare, he finally said what the cowboy wanted to hear since the beginning of the argument… "If you really want to know, your students requested to change their teacher and all of them asked for Zell…"

Just like a clean shot in the head… Irvine couldn't believe that his owns students didn't want him to teach them… Why? He didn't do anything wrong… right? Seifer began laughing aloud again. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Irvine screamed running to attack Seifer but Squall stopped him holding him close. "Seifer… stop…" The same hand rested in the same shoulder. There was a feeling of uneasiness and regret whirling in his instructor's sky blue eyes… Pfff, it wasn't Chicken's fault, and yet he couldn't help but feel bad for something he didn't have any control… Moronic Chicken…

"Come here in an hour and we will talk about the arrangements…" Squall said gently accompanying Irvine to the double doors. Irvine opened the door defeated, but stopped for a few seconds to stare stonily at his old friend. "I hope you finally got what you wanted…" He stated with a tired voice. Zell's shocked sky blue eyes widen, hurt and a sense of loss lingering in them, but Irvine was already gone to see it. Squall closed the door cutting the spell on everyone.

"Quistis are you there?" Squall asked returning to his "I don't give a shit" cold persona… His personality changes very fast it seems… "I'm here Squall." Quistis answered as a very numb Zell sat again.

"Good. Let's begin, shall we?" And, as usual, he didn't wait for the reply. "It's been almost two months, since women began disappearing from different places around the globe and, even though, several teams from Galbadia and Trabia Gardens have been searching for these women, none of them has been found… Our Garden has been working in collecting and analyzing any important information of the disappearances. From what we have gathered, we believe that some of these women are actually inactive sorceress if not all of them... I have several teams working on this at the moment…"

"So… you need me for..?" Seifer asked a little confused.

"As you know, Rinoa is a sorceress…" Seifer scowl at Squall's words; he didn't like where this long, but quite interesting monologue was going… It looked as if Squall new more but decided to only explain the general idea… interesting…

"Since she needs to visit his father, I need you and Quistis as her bodyguards during the whole travel…" Squall stared at Seifer… So this was it… "As I said before, Quistis is in charge, and you will follow her lead… Also, you will be paid as if you were a SEED member and, since your instructors recommend you for the job, you need to report every twelve hours to him… This mission begins in two days at 900 in this office… Everyone, understands?"

"I copy that, Squall." Quistis voice reply.

"Yes, Squall…" Zell answered in a more subdued manner… So unlike him… But getting back to topic; wow, that was the first time Seifer hears Squall talk so much… Alright, protect but ignore the insufferable witch, listen and follow the dominatrix, and chitchat with Chickenwuss… Got it!

"Hmmm…" Seifer finally answered.

"Good. You are all dismissed, except for you Zell. I need to talk to you…"

"Alright, bye everybody…" The three boys gave Quistis their farewell before the line closed and Seifer ran from the office without looking behind him… Yes! He got his first paid mission and he wasn't even a SEED yet… He should celebrate with his two good friends…

Oh my God! I never thought Seifer could be so fun to write. I mean, most of the fanfics I have read so far pictured him as a dumb and an arrogant bully, so I wasn't sure if I would like him as the protagonist. Thanks Hyne... I mean God that I gave him an opportunity! If things keep going like this, he will end up being my favorite character. Zell, watch out!

For Irvine's or Zell's fans, please don't worry. I'll explain everything as the story goes.

Next Chapter: Seifer is preparing for his new mission and starts another mission of his own.