Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or its characters and names. This is a work of fanfiction, not for profit.

A/N: College AU. I don't know why I'm writing this as I honestly don't have the time to, but I've had this idea in my head for a long time now, and I love writing humour, so here it is! I hope you guys enjoy it. I don't anticipate very long chapters or many chapters for this story. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but if you like this story, please leave a review as it motivates me to write. Similarly, if you have any critics, please also leave a review, as I am here to learn. Thank you!

The Feud

1

"Hey, you can see into the girls' house from your window." Was the first thing his housemate, Dearka, said to him when they moved into the share house, right next door to a girls' share house.

He didn't pay attention to it or who was living next door until one day, his best friend paid him a visit and came upstairs to his room.

"Hey, you can see into my sister's room from your window." Kira commented.

A vague flash of gold invaded his mind's vision. And when he finally took a glimpse out of his window from his study desk some weeks later, he was reminded that Kira's sister had golden hair and golden eyes and looked nothing like Kira.

She was also kind of cute.

When he was studying for his midterms, he went to open the window to let some fresh air in and spotted the blonde in her room dancing to the radio. The music travelled across through his open window, and he decided to close it after all, as Taylor Swift's latest single was kind of distracting when you're trying to solve a complex physics problem. And her singing wasn't exactly phenomenal either. Although the next time he unintentionally caught sight of her from across the way, the memory of her twirling around and flailing her arms randomly brought a bemused smile to his face.

Kira had introduced her to him once or twice, in passing. Cagalli was her name. He remembered her golden eyes glancing at him curiously but they never exchanged more than a hello and goodbye. He would see her across campus sometimes, but that was about it since they never ran into each other in class as he studied Engineering and he remembered Kira saying his sister studied Political Science.

Their paths never crossed or warranted any need for crossing until the first day of the second semester of his sophomore year.

That was when it all started.

When hell broke lose.

Athrun trudged up the stairs to his room after class, his backpack already heavy with textbooks and assignments, when a familiar music drifted over, getting louder the closer he got to his bedroom. When he opened the door to his room, the music hit him like a blast through his open window and he could see the familiar sight of a blonde dancing to the music on the other side.

Athrun shook his head in amusement then opened up his bag and dumped his textbooks and homework down on his desk with a sigh. First day of class and already five new assignments to complete in the next two weeks. He didn't know how any of the students on campus had time to party. His eyes inadvertently drifted to the window, watching the way Kira's sister moved, with such careless abandon. There was something about her spirit and energy that made Athrun want to watch her some more.

He headed to the window.

A small grin lit up his face as he watched Cagalli spin around on her bed, shaking to the tunes of Shake It Off. Then Cagalli started shaking off her clothes. It started off innocent with the removal of her scarf, then a jacket, then her socks.

Athrun thought nothing of it at first, until Cagalli's hands drifted to the hem of her t-shirt and started lifting it up, exposing the creamy skin of her abdomen.

At this point Athrun Zala should have looked away. At this point, if he was still the son Lenore Zala raised to be a courteous, sweet, morally upright young man, he would have looked away. But at that precise moment Athrun Zala's brain decided to go on vacation. Instead he froze. Eyes still staring. Mind completely blank of thought. Except for the thought of golden creamy skin. More and more of it as the shirt was lifted higher. Then black lace on creamy skin.

His eyes widened. His heartbeat quickened. His breath caught in his lungs.

Cagalli took off her t-shirt on the other side and tossed it onto her bed. It was at this point that Athrun's mind decided to wander back to him.

He should not be spying on his best friend's sister undressing in her bedroom.

He should not be spying on anyone undressing in their bedroom.

Just as his brain finally told him to turn away and move, Cagalli lifted her head towards the window. This time she froze, fingers perched over the clasp of her bra, getting ready to undo it. Athrun, whose body had not quite responded to his brain's request to move just yet, found her golden eyes piercing his, first startled, then alarmed, then a rosy blush at her cheeks, then fury. Definitely fury.

He gulped. And hastily, if a little too late, turned around and averted his gaze. A second passed, a minute passed, he wasn't quite sure when the music had stopped but when Athrun finally dared to turn around again to peek out the window, he had found that her curtains were drawn closed.

Slowly, Athrun pulled out his chair and sat on it.

'What just happened?' he asked himself.

No. He knew what had happened. He couldn't seem to forget what had happened, as black lace, soft curves, golden hair, golden eyes and golden skin kept replaying in his mind. The question was, what happens now?

Judging from the fury, definite fury, in her eyes, she had taken it the wrong way. He needed to apologise to Cagalli straight away. It was an accident. A misunderstanding. It was definitely not his intention to spy on her when she was getting undressed. He was not that kind of person. His mother taught him better than that. It caught him by surprise. He froze. And he felt terrible about it. Definitely felt...

Black lace. Sun-kissed skin. Supple round curves.

'Dammit, Zala! Stop it!' Athrun found himself shouting but it wouldn't stop.

The sway of her hips. The way her hair fell over her face. When her lips parted.

Her golden piercing stare. The fury in her eyes. Kira's sister's eyes.

Athrun banged his head on the table as the last thought struck him. Kira's sister. Kira's SISTER.

His mother would be very disappointed in him and his best friend would probably kill him. He had to apologise to Cagalli.

Athrun gathered up his courage and headed out of his room with the intention of going next door to apologise when the doorbell rang. When Athrun reached the front door, and opened it, Cagalli stood there with her arms crossed over a new shirt, and a furious expression on her face. Her golden eyes, which he always found to be full of spirit, was not lacking in lividness either, as she glared death at him. All thoughts of black lace and silky smooth skin were chased from his mind, replaced by a healthy dose of fear.

'You!' She pointed an accusing finger at him the moment he opened the door. 'How dare you?! Who do you think you are, peering into other people's windows to watch them undress?! It better not happen again, or I'm calling the police. I can't believe my brother is friends with a revolting sack of human garbage like you! Who else have you perved on? What kind of traits are you rubbing off on Kira?! Were you the one who gave my brother that porno mag I found in his room when we were 16?'

Her verbal assault on him was so immediate and unrelenting that it left Athrun flabbergasted. 'What? Police? Listen, I'm sorry. It was an accident. Who are you calling a revolting sack of human garbage?!' he stammered after her as his brain tried to catch up. 'I'm not a pervert. I didn't know you were getting changed, I really am sorry. What does Kira have anything to do with this?'

Cagalli ignored him and continued to call him every assortment of vile words stringed together.

'Look, I said I was sorry!' Athrun managed to cut in, somewhere in between being called the world's funkiest smelling turd, and being the poster-child for the word C-R-E-E-P, which he really didn't think he deserved.

This seemed to have caught Cagalli's attention, though not in a good way. 'Oh, you're sorry? You think you get to violate my privacy and my dignity like that, make me feel unsafe in my own home and everything'll be okay if you just say you're sorry?'

'Hey, I didn't ask to look out the window to see you changing. You're the one who left your curtains open! Who takes off their clothes without closing their curtains?'

'Unbelievable! So it's my fault?!'

'That's not what I meant...'

'How long have you been doing it?'

'What?'

'How many other times have you been spying on me while I undressed?'

'What? None!'

'You better hope so, Zala.' She pointed a righteous finger in his face. 'Because I'm not going to make your life easy.'

And just like that, Cagalli whirled around, her golden hair swaying behind her, and left, leaving Athrun standing at the entrance of his house still trying to process what just happened.

When Athrun finally closed the door and turned around, he found his housemates Yzak and Dearka standing there, having been witness to the whole exchange.

'You were spying on Yamato's sister?' Yzak said with his arms crossed over his chest in a judgemental sort of way. 'Shame on you, Zala.'

'I knew it! That's why you spend so much time holed up in that room of yours!' Dearka said with an approving glee, as if he just solved some unexplained mystery.

'No! That's not it at all!' Athrun exploded. His mind finally finished comprehending everything and he couldn't believe how things had blown out of proportions. And now even his housemates were accusing him of being a creep. 'I spend my time studying in my room. And I was not spying on Kira's sister getting changed!'

'Gotcha. Studying the female anatomy from the window.' Dearka winked at him.

'You didn't?' Yzak raised a sceptical eyebrow. They both ignored Dearka.

'Well...not intentionally.' Athrun backtracked then groaned. How was he going to explain this to Kira?

'Hey, I believe you,' Yzak offered, 'since you're not Elsman.'

'I don't resent that,' Dearka piped.

'But seriously, Zala, you need to work on your apology skills.'

Athrun winced, remembering his words. He hadn't meant to accuse her of leaving her curtains open. It just came out in the heat of the moment. Cagalli wasn't giving him any chance to explain and he was getting frustrated, and it just all came out so wrong.

'Oh god...' Athrun muttered under his breath. Things just keep getting worse and worse. Yzak gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back to the living room.

He wasn't given any more time to contemplate when the doorbell rang again. Athrun opened the door and was assaulted by a blinding white flash. When his vision cleared, he could see Cagalli storming across the lawn back to her side.

'What just happened?' It seemed to be his favourite phrase of the day.

Dearka who was still next to him, leaned over Athrun's shoulder to see the blonde retreating into her house. 'I think she just took your photo, dude.'

'Why?'

His blond friend gave a shrug of the shoulders. 'To use as dart practice? To put in her Burn Book? To give to the hitman, so they'll know what you look like when she orders the hit on you?'

Athrun didn't even bother responding to Dearka. He headed back upstairs to his bedroom. When he got there, he drew his own curtains closed, sat down at his desk and was determined to forget the whole fiasco. But as he bunkered down and stared at his physics textbook, he couldn't help picturing her again, not the black lace and velvet smooth skin, though that was plenty distracting too, but the way she danced and moved, hopping from her bed onto the carpet back onto the bed again, and realised he wasn't going to get any studying done tonight.