FUJIN, WAX!

It was a hot summer. Ever since Squall and his gang made it back the disciplinary committee had been cast aside. Seifer being his usual, attention hungry self decided that if he wasn't going to be in the spotlight, he wasn't going to be on the stage at all. Which meant spending a lot of time kicking it out in Balamb Town.

Fuujin didn't mind that much. She really enjoyed the quiet port town, the soothing sound of the waves and the calm people here. Good thing Zell didn't visit often.

This afternoon they were on the peer, fishing, like they have been for the past two months. She rather enjoyed fishing. The open sky, the wind on her skin, the absence of words, all of that rubbed her the right way. Although sometimes Raijin could get overworried about her skin condition and ruin the mood completely...

This time though it was Seifer's turn. Apparently, she was spared.

"C'mon boss, why don't you take it off? It's so hot today, you're sweating like a racing chocobo, ya know? The whole summer has passed and you haven't got a tan, you'll end up like Fuu here."

Fuujin decided to ignore Raijin's comment and glanced Seifer with the tip of her eye. Raijin was nagging because Seifer was wearing his trenchcoat, like he always does, even in this heat. He was probably uncomfortable but Fuujin was not one to start a conversation over styling issues. Who was she to talk? Besides, Seifer's been like that the whole summer. He surely must have his reasons for doing so. He's the leader of this posse after all.

"Can it Raijin, you know I am ashamed to go bare-chested in my condition."

Now that caught Fuujin's attention. She began worrying: What was wrong with Seifer? What was there to hide? Another scar maybe, like the one on his forehead? He wasn't hiding *that* though. Was it worse then?

"Aw, c'mon boss, there's no girls around, it's just us, ya know? C'mon, just the coat maybe, ya know?"

Raijin went on but Fuujin wasn't paying attention anymore - she was already mad. No girls around, huh? What was she supposed to be, a scarecrow? She stood up and glared at them - they froze.

They should: they had seen that expression before.

"Fuu-sama..." Raijin started to apologize but she cut him short.

"TRENCHCOAT, REMOVE"

Seifer started protesting. She tapped her foot impatiently. He saw it and tried another approach, trying to sweet-talk her to change her mind. She flexed the fishing rod, spank-ready.

"C'mon boss, you know how Fuu-sama gets - you don't want her to got psycho on *us*, ya know? Just the trench' maybe, that'd be cool. At least "cooler", ya know? Ouch!"

Raijin's lame joke earned him a fishing rod lashing.

Seifer began undressing in a hurry.

In the beginning Fuujin didn't register immediately. She was looking for scars, or signs of illness, or maybe some GF backlash. His arms and shoulders were ok, and she was waiting for him to remove his breastplate to check his torso. It was then when it dawned on her.

Hair.

He was hairy. *Bear-like* hairy. On his arms, shoulders, chest, back, everywhere. Completely covered. And the embarrassed look on his face was hilarious. She didn’t know whether she was supposed to laugh or try to be complacent. Good thing nobody expected *her* to do the talking, she thought, what with her speech impediment and all.

"Look at you boss, you da man! How come your body hair's grown so much since last year, ya know?" Raijin asked.

"Well..."

In fact, Fuujin realized, this was the first time she saw Seifer looking that embarrassed.

"Well... Rinoa said she didn't like it and made me shave it when we were dating and now they've grown ten times stronger."

"Shaving does that? Wow. Still they're... you're... different ya know?"

"Raijin, honestly, have you noticed I'm tall and blond? (On earth) I'd be frickin’ European, not Asian like the rest of you. That's why *I*'m the frickin’ knight!" *sigh* "Unfortunately, turns out it's a package deal."

"Thank god there are no girls around then, "dark knight". Cause this time it'd be my turn to promote the posse, ya know?"

"Nah, when the sun sets, in the dark, i'd end up wining all the girls anyway."

There he was, Fuujin thought, Seifer, turning back into his usual self-centered self.

"Lol, maybe they'd mistake you for being tanned, ya know?"

"Hahahaha"

"RAGE!"

Fuujin gave *both* of them the boot and they fell into the water with a big *splash*.

She stomped off the pier thinking both of them had merited it: Raijin for his insensitive comments and Seifer for ignoring her, for going out with girls that were no good for him, for hiding important things from her, for being so mucho. So many reasons. He had it coming to him, she thought. The only thing she regretted was that Rinoa wasn't there - she would have gladly held her underwater. She had hurt him in so many ways...

----------

They didn't show up at the hotel when night fell. Maybe it was because the days were becoming shorter that it felt a long time. Fuujin was feeling some remorse for going ballistic on them. After all, if one person knew what it was like to have a skin condition, it was her. But Raijin knew she didn't mean it and Seifer, well, since he decided to remove his breastplate it was an opportunity for him to swim a bit.

She was on the balcony stargazing with these thoughts on her mind, when she heard the room door open. But she heard only one person’s footsteps.

"Fuujin-chan?"

It was Seifer's voice. Something was wrong though. He never called her like that. Maybe he wanted to apologize for earlier? Why wasn't Raijin with him? Maybe he wanted to talk to her alone? What for? Did finally realize she was a girl too? Always near him, ever waiting...

He came out in the balcony.

"Raijin said he'll be sleeping on the beach. Here, i brought you some food, you must be hungry. It's from the restaurant across the street - i guess we scared all the fish away."

Seifer gave her a warm smile and Fuujin felt herself falling under his charm. He was being attentioned too. Trying to be warm towards her. What was happening?

"Listen Fuujin-chan, I'd like to ask you something..."

He was now leaning towards her. She was unable to move, unable to breathe. "Was this it?" she asked herself and let out a sigh.

"...can you help me wax my back?"

Her jaw dropped.

Her eye twitched.

Somewhere in her subconscious she remembered to breathe.

Seifer of course didn't register:

"I was thinking, Raijin's right, it's not healthy for me to dress like that all that time. And it's not fair for the *ladies* either."

Anger was swelling up inside her like a tidal wave. "Why is he always like that?" she thought "Leading me on and then reducing me to his posse? Can't he see i'm a girl too?" Shin kicking visions overwhelmed her. She had had enough.

He went on, impervious to her new-found chameleon-like ability to change colors.

"I overheard once Selphie raving about how wax weakens hair but always considered it was a girly thing, so I've never tried it. Can you help me? You're a girl aren't you?"

Fuujin's eye twitched once again. Her anger vanished. For once, ha had acknowledged her for what it was. Wasn't that what she had always wanted? How could she refuse? She couldn't.

"FOOD, WELCOME."

Seifer backed from the chair with a smug smile, letting her get up. She felt her albino cheeks flushing and went inside in a hurry. He didn't follow her immediately. He stepped in when she was about to heat up the wax and begun removing his trenchcoat. The second time that day. Only this time it was different. It was night and they were alone. Fuujin felt like she was being tortured. She couldn't concentrate and almost burned her fingers. So she quickly got him to sit down and started applying.

Seifer used his usual technique: trying to be cocky to hide his uncertainty.

"I heard this hurts. Not that a knight like me couldn't stand it, just to know."

Fuujin knew from experience that the quicker she pulled the less pain he should feel. And, anyway, he had been really inconsiderate towards her today. No, he's always been inconsiderate towards her. It was payback time. He *SO* merited this.

"PAIN, IDEA."

...she said and yanked a strip viciously.

"OUCH! Hey, I wasn't ready! That hur- YEEEAAOUCH! OMG THE PAIN!"

She pulled another strip. And another. And another. In the end, Seifer wasn’t making a sound, biting his lip, trying to contain himself. "Just like him, trying to show others he's tough" she admired. They stopped talking until she was finished.

She was left staring at his back. It was masculine after all – this wasn’t the body of just some kid who just turned 18. This was the body of a soldier, strong and virile. Hair or no hair.

She put her hands on his shoulders. They were smooth yet strong. She stroked his back. "I have to check if it's well done" she justified to herself, but deep down she felt it would be difficult for her to stop caressing Seifer. With Raijin sleeping at the beach, who knew what the night had in store for the two of them? She let her imagination fly the same way her hands were.

She breathed down his neck -

And, suddenly, a knock on the door came to ruin everything.

The horror. Her dreams vanished. Shin kicking visions returned - only this time Raijin was to be at the receiving end.

As if things weren’t bad enough, then came the voice:

"Seifer, are you ready yet? We're going to miss the train leaving for Timber."

A *woman's* voice.

Seifer got up and looked at her, the look in his eyes totally changed now. She felt used.

"Well, gotta go, Fuu. Wish me luck."

He winked at her.

He *winked* at her! That was the final straw. That broke the camel's back. Or the drop that overflowed the vase. Or whatever. It was just too much for Fuujin. She couldn't stop him from not responding to her feelings. She couldn’t stop him from going out with that bitch, whoever it was out there. Was that Quistis by the way? Or maybe Xu? No, she didn’t care. She couldn’t stop him, she couldn’t force him to return her feelings, but she wasn't letting him get away with this either.

So she took a big breath, and a huge glob of wax and roared, on the top of her lungs, just before she lunged -

"CHESTHAIR, WAX"

All That Glitters Is Cold 3 Fanfic Competition


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