Author's Note: Consider this a pre-warning - this fic does not make any sense. It was written with the intention of exploiting the relationship between Luneth and Ingus as something more than the game tells us. I'll tell you this now: Yes, I'm an IngusxLuneth fan. Yes, I know it technically doesn't make sense. No, I don't care.

The pairing (and to a lesser extent, the story) was inspired by three things. One, the two's interactions in the opening FMV (can you believe they're the ones who interact the most out of any of them?). Two, the official character profiles. And three... Japanese fansites. You gotta love those Japanese fansites.

Anyway, this means there'll be obvious male/male interactions in this story. I suggest you brace yourselves if you're daring enough to continue reading.

Lastly, this fic is pure crack - it's not to be taken seriously (unless you want to). With that said, read on!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy III DS belongs to Square Enix, not me.

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Left Unnoticed

by Krile

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Refia had always let her curiosity get the best of her, despite what others thought of her constant "nosy" behavior.

For instance, when Luneth, Arc, and Ingus began to leave her with the task of buying supplies while they went off "to train", as Ingus had put it, the reddish-blonde haired tomboy was more than a bit perplexed as to the reason - they always traveled together as a group up until that point, so she felt her concerns justified.

However, her thoughts were quickly changed to "absolute rage" upon their third return - she did not hesitate to verbally let Luneth have it, even after his protests that it wasn't his idea to leave her behind in the first place.

After threatening them all with one of her fire tomes (an empty threat, really, but she figured it couldn't hurt to bluff when it was to her advantage), Luneth finally seemed to submit to her whims, and, with fear etched all over his face, promised it wouldn't happen again. Arc immediately agreed, appearing even more afraid than his childhood friend, while Ingus just gave a half-hearted shrug in reply.

Refia had simply nodded then, allowing the group to return to their current task at hand, but inside she was rejoicing. She couldn't believe how easy it was to get the upper hand, and thus was confident they wouldn't do anything behind her back again.

However, when they, at a later date, decided to stop at the weird little town of Gyshal for a short break, she realized she couldn't be any more wrong.

Refia could've smacked herself for believing Luneth when he said he would "be right back"; had she known Arc and Ingus were already missing-in-action, she wouldn't have let her guard down so easily. Or never let her guard down when it came to Luneth, period. That boy was way too sneaky for his own good.

Well, wouldn't he be in for a surprise; she may have let the boys out of her sight once, but she'd be damned if she would let that happen to her again.

It was time to investigate, and this time, she would get the upper hand.

Striking up casual (or so she hoped were casual) conversations with some of the townsfolk for information, she learned that no one had, in fact, left town for the past several hours. Well, after she survived listening to the little girl in front of town chatter about her sheep for five minutes straight, anyway.

This new fact just sparked Refia's ambition even more - if they hadn't gone to train, then where did they go?

It was decided; she'd pick at every nook and cranny of the town with a fine-toothed comb if she had to, she would find her missing comrades.

Once, twice, maybe even three times over the next half-hour did the residents of Gyshal see a fiery young girl zoom past their vision, seemingly leaving no house unvisited, no crate unopened, no tree looked behind. Perhaps they thought she was crazy - hell, maybe she indeed was crazy, but once she got started on something, nothing would be able to interrupt her.

That is, until she "literally" ran into Arc, who had been reading against the fence of the town's precious Gyshal garden, close to a big empty field across the bridge.

Apologizing profusely for nearly kicking the youngest (and thus most vulnerable) member of their group in the face, Refia helped Arc to his feet... only to promptly, albeit accidentally, knock him down again upon remembering why she was there to begin with. The freckled boy could only rub his head in pain as his teammate began to drill him, demanding answers.

Before he could think of an answer that would satisfy her, though, he was instantly given another one - if all Arc was doing was reading in a quiet, secluded spot, then where the heck were Luneth and Ingus?

Coughing, Arc diverted his gaze from the taller girl's intense ones, and meekly told her that the two had been arguing again, his voice (unbeknownst to her at the time) wavering somewhat as he tried to hide embarrassment of the knowledge he held.

Confusion replaced anger. Luneth and Ingus bickered quite frequently, it was practically a world-known fact. Whether it came to battle strategies, opposing views of righteousness, or even who got the last piece of food during dinner (Luneth always liked starting that one), it always proved difficult to get the two to agree on anything.

So why would the two of them, if Arc had indeed been reading the entire time, go off somewhere on their own? Just to argue like they always had?

No, she wouldn't have any of it - there clearly was some sort of unrevealed secrecy going on, something that apparently she wasn't allowed in on.

And that's what bothered Refia the most.

She had to know.

Yanking Arc up again, she sweetly asked which direction their two remaining teammates had gone. The faint venom in her forced sugar-coated tone did not go unnoticed by the young bookworm, and so, not wanting to face her wrath, did as he was told, pointing shakily in the direction of the field to the east.

Refia's eyebrows raised at the direction he was pointing. Wasn't that just an empty field? There were absolutely no places to hide out there... except maybe that one, easily-overlooked area hidden by Gyshal's water barricade...

Bingo.

Completely forgetting Arc was even there, she dashed towards her desired destination, determined to solve her "mystery", not even realizing she knocked the poor boy over in the process once more.

Approaching the secluded area behind one of the stone walls, Refia immediately slowed down, as she heard faint sounds coming from there. Stopping completely, she realized they were voices.

Two very familiar voices.

Not wanting to be seen, at least not yet, she quietly ducked behind the nearest tree (thanking her thief stealth skills she had learned previously as she did so), hoping to hear anything that could clue her in as to why she was left out...

Indeed, there were Luneth and Ingus, standing face-to-face in front of her eyes...

...Arguing.

Refia couldn't hide her disappointment. This was the reason she got all worked up over "finding out the truth"? Sure, she hated being unincluded, and her inquisitive mind never allowed such things to just pass her by, but after all that time and effort to locate her comrades-in-arms, she was at least hoping for something more... fulfilling.

Well, at least she had caught them. Might as well scare them half-to-death by calling out to them from the tree...

Wait.

Refia strained to hear, as their voices suddenly got lower. The arguing had apparently stopped, or at least paused for a moment.

While Ingus still held a firm glare at the younger man, Luneth's had softened considerably. Averting his gaze for a moment, he murmured something so softly, it was barely audible to even Ingus, let alone their unnoticed audience.

Refia couldn't make out a single word Luneth had said, but whatever it was, it resulted in making Ingus blush and look away in embarrassment, disguised as irritation.

Blush?

Ingus never blushed. Even when he was constantly teased about Princess Sara, he always kept his usual stoic composure.

Completely befuddled, she could merely watch as the surreal event continued to unfold before her eyes.

Luneth smirked teasingly at the knight's reaction, stepping closer to him, though Ingus still refused to look him in the eye. Determined, Luneth stepped even closer, as some kind of challenge, and gave the taller man a light shove, similar to the ones Ingus had sometimes given him in the heat of their squabbles.

Refia couldn't even begin to prepare herself for what happened next.

As Ingus turned around to (possibly) offer one of his typical retorts, the silver-haired youth gripped his arms firmly, and, after raising himself up to the other's level, kissed him. Kissed him.

It wasn't as if the keen-eyed blonde was surprised by the action, either. OH, no. Quite the opposite, actually, as he responded to the sudden affection in kind, yanking Luneth closer so he could deepen the kiss.

If eyes could indeed fall out of their sockets, as old wives tales once told, Refia's would've been rolling all over the grass by then.

Oblivious to their surroundings, the two's struggle for dominance continued, their kiss becoming more fierce and passionate with each passing second. In a sense, it was like watching one of their usual arguments, only on a different level all together. When Refia, still fixated on her lip-locked friends, thought of it that way, it almost made sense.

Almost.

Another moment passed before Ingus finally gained control of the situation, taking the younger man by the shoulders and shoving him harshly against the stone wall behind them. Eyed closed tight, Luneth could only let out a small groan of mixed pain and pleasure before his mouth was devoured by his partner's once again.

All the while, their unintentional, yet still gawking audience continued to watch the display in absolute fascination. The whole thing made her feel a little dirty, spying on her friends in such a way without permission, but she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the scene. It was as if she discovered something "sacred"; something she was never meant to find.

And, in a way, she had. She didn't think Luneth and Ingus were even friends, let alone... that. Then again, their fighting did seem that of an old married couple, now that she thought about it.

Refia hid back behind the tree for the time being, rubbing her sore eyes, her cheeks burning. No wonder Arc was so flustered earlier - the poor kid must've found out the hard way. But, in all honesty, the "secret" didn't seem so bad...

A rather loud moan snapped the girl out of her thoughts. Startled, she turned back to look at her companions...

And shrieked.

Loudly.

Okay, maybe it was that bad.

Covering her mouth in an attempt to block out any further attempts to voice her astonishment, she could only look on helplessly while Ingus and Luneth pulled away instantly, as if struck by lightning - accompanied by a rather loud crash as the younger one tumbled to the ground in Ingus's attempt to move as far away from his now-obvious lover as possible.

Two pairs of eyes were on her now. Staring. Luneth lying pitifully on the ground, and Ingus standing arms crossed several feet away from him, trying to pretend none of it had ever happened.

Silence filled the air for what seemed like hours. Even the routine noise of the town's residents seemed to have stilled.

Refia looked on as Luneth's mouth opened and closed like a fish, possibly to either deny the whole thing or come up with some sort of half-assed excuse for their actions, but she knew he wouldn't be able to speak for at least another two hours, and Ingus wasn't even making an effort to. So it was all up to her. All up to her to make things right. All up to her to relieve the tension of the tight spot they had found themselves in.

"PERVERTS!!"

Or maybe not.

As Refia made her escape, she came to the conclusion that no matter how curious she was sometimes, no matter how much of a second nature it was to her to BE nosy, there were just some things she would rather leave unnoticed.

After all, she still had her violated innocence to worry about.

fin?

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Author's Note: Poor Refia. Poor Arc. Poor Luneth and Ingus. Poor readers. How I torture thee.

Hope I didn't scar your brains too much with this thing - it kinda got out of control as I was writing it. But hey! Maybe this'll inspire more people to write FF3DS fanfics to one-up mine! Yeah! I'll read anything, because I love all the characters and will approve of any pairing you guys cook up - or even fics with no pairings at all! gasp This is a plea from an obsessed fan. Yes it is. Please write. Or I'll be forced to write more IngusxLuneth crack, ahaha... ha.

...Can you believe this was my first ever attempt at shounen-ai? You could? Damn.