A/N: Okay I finally got it up! Gomen nasai!!!! I cannot believe it took so long. Well I decided to make it longer to make up for it!! I hope ya enjoy! Oh yeah, and btw…because I started school again * grumbles* I may not be able to update so often anymore…I will try to get up a chapter a week if I can, but volleyball games are starting too and I am busy. But I guarantee that I will not put this story on hold nor will I abandon it!! ^_^

~btw, Callisto, ya better watch out or I might steal your title as the Scum of Laziness. Muahahaha!

~moongiggles: I tried to make the chapters longer!! =)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Period. That's zippo. Natta. Null. Nil. Zero. Zilch. Nix. I believe I got my point across.

"Mission…Quest…Thing"

~A Couple of Weeks Later

Noin ran a hand across her brow, and her fingers came back slick with sweat. The sun beat mercilessly atop her raven head and the air was so thick she had difficulty drawing breaths. She stole a glance at her teammates and let out another strangled sigh. This was about the fifth time she'd done this, and her teammates seemed as enthusiastic about her as she was about them. The first-year cadets had been separated into teams, each group containing one person from each skill-level. Which meant that Noin and Zechs had been placed in different groups. Being the honors student, Noin was designated leader of her team. This did not make her team members happy, especially since they were all male. They had yet to be told why they were separated, and what they were planning on doing.

All of a sudden a loud thud was heard from a nearby tree. Noin ran over to investigate while her teammates watched her nonchalantly. She discovered the source of the thud had been a rock with a piece of paper tied to it. She untied the leather strap and unfolded the paper. Her teammates gathered around her and read over her shoulder.

Cadets-

You have been assigned a special mission. You must infiltrate a base we have set-up and deactivate a bomb located in the central chamber. Another team has been elected to guard the base, thus you must make it past them. If you walk towards the shed you will find four guns set out for your weapons. The ammunition is stored nearby, although each of you only gets enough for one refill. The team guarding the base has been equipped with the same weapons you will be receiving. You cannot simply walk towards the base and start firing. You must use skills you have acquired to come up with a strategic plan and course of action. I suggest you listen to your leader, for every good team needs a commander. You have precisely two hours to infiltrate the base and neutralize the bomb. Good luck, cadets.

Noin finished reading the letter and excitement bubbled up inside her. This would be interesting, much better than sitting in those stuffy classrooms. She turned to her partners and discovered they were sighing and complaining. They obviously would rather be in a stuffy classroom. Noin scowled, they had no right to be grumbling. They were supposed to be soldiers!

"C'mon, team!" Noin said authoritatively, "We need to locate our weapons and get going! We only have one hour and fifty-eight minutes!"

The other cadets rolled their eyes, but followed her as she walked over to the shed, grabbing some guns and inspecting them closely.

"These are paintball guns!" Eric stated incredulously.

"You didn't think we'd be using real guns, did you?" Antonio asked, mumbling "idiot" under his breath.

Eric glared at Antonio, but took his gun and ammo wordlessly. The troupe set out for the base, stopping about half a mile outside it to formulate their plan. They argued heatedly over the course of action that should be taken, but finally decided that two of them would draw the enemies' attention while the other two would locate the bomb. This conclusion, of course, led into more arguments as to who would be the best for each position. Since Eric and Julian were good marksmen, they would play as a distraction for the other team. Noin and Antonio would be entering the base. Noin would be on the lookout, while Antonio was the elected de-bomber. They must both be extra-cautious, to assure that they would not get shot, for the shooting of the two of them would mean definite failure for the mission.

Eric and Julian slipped around the outside of the base, making extra-wide turns to avoid early run-ins. They made miniscule noises once they were on the opposite side of the fortress. They tried their best to make it as natural as possible. They made small disturbances, that didn't shout out "Hey! Over here!" Their charade was a very important contribution to the success of the mission.

All of a sudden Noin noticed a guard slip towards the direction Eric and Julian had gone. She pointed him out noiselessly to Antonio, who looked at Noin and nodded. So the duo darted between trees slyly, attempting to remain unseen for the moment. Their wish was granted, and they slipped into the base without raising alarm. Walking briskly through the corridors, Noin kept her eyes peeled for any opposing team members. Her mind inevitably wandered and she began to wonder who the other team members were. With her luck, Zechs would be on this team. Noin grimaced, wondering what would happen if they had to face each other head-to-head. Zechs was Noin's only friend at the Academy, and she didn't know what she would do if he wasn't there to study and eat lunch with. She finally decided, that if they were faced against each other in a real battlefield, she wouldn't kill him. She probably couldn't. But, she also knew that she wouldn't let him past her…she would stand her ground…and if he decided to kill her then so be it. (a/n: a premonition of the fight at Libra…ooooh…).

Noin snapped out of her thoughts as Antonio turned into a side room. Followed him in, studying the room with mild interest. But as soon as she entered she noticed a cadet in the corner taking aim at Antonio.

"Enemy!" Noin whispered hurriedly. Antonio dove behind a desk and Noin took quick aim and fired at the opponent. She heard a loud curse and allowed herself a small smile. She had got to him before he got to her. A young brown-haired pre-honors cadet stepped from the shadows, scowling at Noin. Antonio stood up, brushing himself off and walking towards a computer that was in the middle of the room. Noin walked closer and saw that a strange computer code flashed on the screen. Antonio sat down and knitted his brow in confusion.

"Guard the door…" he told Noin quietly, before tackling the computer code. Of course there wasn't a real bomb, but Antonio had to solve the computer program, which was a simulation of a real bomb set-up.

Noin complied, walking towards the door and bracing herself against the wall, prepared to take out any intruder before they could take out Antonio. She kept her ears strained, because she had no idea how many other opposing team members were still "alive." She thought she caught a faint sound of footsteps…but she wasn't sure whether they were her imagination's idea of a sick joke, or if there actually was someone attempting to sneak in unnoticed. Noin smirked proudly. They wouldn't get past Lucrezia Noin if she had her way. Noin raised her gun and pointed it towards the door, ready to gun anyone who dared walk in.

All of a sudden Noin snapped her head around and looked at Antonio, then followed him to the doorway, which had no door. Noin's eyes widened as a sudden thought popped into her head. The enemy could shoot Antonio without coming through the door. Just as these thoughts were racing through Noin's head, she heard Antonio yelling. She looked over to him and saw that he had a red paint splotch right in the middle of his back.

"Shit!" he yelled angrily, glaring towards the doorway.

Noin stood stock still in her position, waiting for the culprit to walk in. sure enough, she heard footsteps walking towards the entrance, and she posed her gun, ready to fire. Her finger froze on the trigger as she recognized the figure that walked through the door. It's not a real mission…Noin told herself as her finger closed on the trigger, creating a blue paint splotch on the helmeted figure's chest. She saw him towards turn her and look at her incredulously.

"Dammit…" Zechs muttered angrily, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway. He smiled amusedly at Noin, who still stood with her gun raised. Then something snapped in Noin and she realized the mission wasn't even complete yet. She glanced at her watch and saw she had fifteen minutes until the "bomb" went off. She ran over to the computer, eyes skimming over the screen helplessly. Antonio had been halfway through completing the code and she had no idea what he had been doing.

"Why didn't I pay more attention in computer class?" Noin asked herself helplessly.

"If I remember correctly, you were too busy laughing at Instructor Fatel's hair…" Zechs answered, unable to keep a smile from etching his face.

Noin turned to Zechs, pointing her gun at him accusingly, "Your dead…" she said simply, "so shut-up!"

Noin turned back to the computer, smiling as she heard Zechs' amused laughter. Then her face grew serious as she contemplated the problem before her. Her brain searched through her memory, trying to remember her lessons. Then one particular day popped into Noin's memory.

::flashback::

Noin yawned, glancing at the clock. Computer/hacking class was almost over. Noin looked over at Zechs, who was seated a few desks away from her. He smirked as he saw her yawn, and Noin stuck her tongue out at him, and then started laughing as Zechs imitated Instructor Fatel's exact movements.

"Cadet Noin, would you like to share with the class what you find so amusing?" the said Instructor asked, tapping Noin's desk with the ruler he'd been holding.

Noin shook her head, "No, sir."

"Then maybe you can demonstrate how to decipher a Montegram program," Instructor Fatel said…smiling triumphantly.

::end flashback::

Surprisingly, Noin had decoded the Montegram program flawlessly. This program was exactly like the one Instructor Fatel had used. This bomb was being guarded by a Montegram system! Noin grinned victoriously, quickly finishing the last few adjustments and heard the satisfying beep that meant she had completed the decoding. Just as Noin stood up she felt a thud in the middle of her back. She grimaced, and turned, seeing the other two of Zechs' teammates smiling proudly.

"You're too late," Zechs said bluntly, turning to his comrades, "Were you at least able to take out the other two?"

The guy who had shot Noin stepped forward, shaking his head, "As soon as we caught sight of them," he explained, "they ran away into the forest."

Noin's mouth dropped open, "Those wimps!" she shouted, "If they had taken you two out like they were supposed to…" but she trailed off, fuming.

"Well you did stop the bomb," Zechs pointed out. This caused Noin to brighten considerably, and Zechs let out the breath he'd been holding. Noin is not fun to be around when she is mad.

"Would all cadets, dead or alive, please report back to the main hall!" a voice said over an intercom.

The teams shook hands, and then began walking out of the base. Noin fell into step beside Zechs, switching on the safety of her paintball gun.

"I still can't believe you shot me," Zechs murmured, turning towards the raven-haired Italian.

Noin grinned, shoving Zechs lightly, "Is it that hard to believe?" she asked mockingly.

Zechs allowed himself a small smile, "I guess not…" he whispered…she wasn't as far under him as he originally thought. In fact she was keeping in step with him, and he didn't mean literally.

"I guess not…" he whispered again, but inaudibly this time.

A/N: yay!!!!!!! I updated!!!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!!!! Chapters will be coming more often from now on…I hope everyone enjoyed it…and I'm sorry its not very much longer…but I didn't want to drag it on and on and on and on…if you're wondering I got the name for this chapter from Lord of the Rings…the part where Pippin goes "You need people of intelligence on this mission…quest…thing." And then Merry goes, "Well that rules you out, Pip!" hehe I love that part!! Well anyways I hope you enjoyed it!! Please review my friends! Tootles! ~luvvies, KaT aka Mistress Shinigami