"Hey get up! Up, up! Let's go! I'm going to start singing if you don't get up!"
"Please god no…"
"Shut up Zack! Come on, up with you. Vinny sit on her."
"What?"
"Yuffie shut up."
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"Will you guys just go away? I was doing just fine on my own."
"Sorry Fair, orders are orders."
"It's not that bad Zack, Cloud will be back soon and then we can all go do something!"
You sat up, "The hell are you people?" you were a tiny bit grouchy.
"Oh sorry, I'm Yuffie!" a girl with short black hair said, she was sitting at the foot of your bed, she had been the one trying to wake you,
"I'm Tifa." A pretty girl with long brown hair said.
"This here is Vinny." Yuffie said, putting an arm around a guy with long dark hair.
"My name is Vincent…" he corrected her, sounding very annoyed.
"And we are your wake up call!" Yuffie chimed, unfazed by Vincent's tone.
"Sorry about all this ≈≈≈, Cloudy apparently sent backup." Zack grumbled from the corner of the room.
"It's not our fault you're trouble when it comes to ladies." Yuffie cooed.
"Shut up." Zack fussed.
"Apparently he's not that bad, Angeal said he's only dated three girls." You said, enjoying this little scene.
"Dated maybe, but there is not a girl in town who has not suffered one of his pleas for a date."
"That's just not true." Zack defended himself, getting to his feet.
"Oh it is too." Yuffie challenged him.
"it's pretty true." Tifa agreed.
"I hate you all." Zack mumbled.
"Too bad, because we love you!" Yuffie took a flying leap into his arms bridal style. He caught her, looked down at her, realized with he did, then dropped her on her butt.
"Ouch, that hurt ya grunt!" she said, kicking him in the shins.
"Ow! You harpy!" he held his shin in both hands. Yuffie got up, pretending to walk away, but as soon as she was behind him, she jumped up on his back and began hitting him. He stumbled forward and his foot caught on your rug. He tumbled forward, his nose landing a few inches from yours. Yuffie pulled out her phone and snapped a picture as quickly as she could.
"Haha! Gotcha." Yuffie sang clapping her phone shut.
"What did you just do?" Zack asked hysterically.
"Zack, get off my sister." Cloud said rather piss-a-ly from the hall.
"It's not like that at all!" he fussed.
"And in front of all these people too. What the hell is wrong with you?" Cloud shook his head.
"Really Cloud, Yuffie pushed him onto the bed." Tifa said, getting up and walking to his side.
"Alright, fine. Whatever." He sighed, walking away with her.
"Where are they going?" you asked.
"They had some last minute shopping to do." Vincent said.
"Aw, I'm sorry Zacky, I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Yuffie said, but he didn't respond, he was looking the other way, still red as a tomato.
"So guys, why is it dark out, it's only 5?" you asked, looking from your watch to the window.
It was completely dark out, moon and stars, everything looked as though it was midnight.
"Well this world was once lost to the darkness, but then the King blocked it out, sometimes it leaks through, and the light cant find its way here, not even the light of day." Vincent explained.
"Is that even safe?" you asked.
"As long as the king is here." Zack said, looking outside.
"Besides, even if all hell breaks loose, you've got nothing to worry about." Yuffie cooed with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" you asked and she winked at you and the glanced at Zack.
"We've got company." Vincent said, nodding to the window, where Riku was standing on the branch of a thick tree by your window.
He was about to tap on the window, when he saw that you all had noticed him.
"See what I mean?" Yuffie mused, shaking her head.
"Riku?" you asked, opening the window.
"Hey guys." He said, jumping into the room.
"We were just leaving." Yuffie said, smiling.
"No we were not." Zack said, crossing his arms.
"Yes we were!" she said, pulling him out of the room, Vincent following.
"What were they all doing here?" Riku asked.
"Being annoying." You said, sitting back on your bed.
"Well that's Yuffie for you." He said with a shrug.
"Anyway, what brings you here?" you asked.
"Well my mom and Basch have been coworkers for years, and she made a welcoming gift for you and your mother." He said, holding out a basket with cookies and brownies. "A word to the wise, don't eat any brownies. She had me help her make them…just trust me on this one."
You laughed and picked up a brownie, broke it in half and handed one side to him.
"You can't make me." He grimaced, not wanting to take it.
"On three." You said, holding it to your mouth.
"Please no." he pleaded.
"One…" you said.
"Two.." he said, sounding like he was in pain.
"Three!" you both said, taking a bite at the same time.
It was burnt and crispy, and had the taste of unsweetened coco powder.
"It's not…too, too bad." You said, trying to chew and muster a smile.
"Please, I think I chipped a tooth." He said, taking the brownie from you and tossing it out the window. You chuckled and looked at the cookies.
"Are the cookies okay?"
"They should be, I was no where near them." He joked.
He stayed and talked with you for a few more minutes, but then he looked at his watch and said "Well, I should be heading back, see you tomorrow." He said. "see you then." And with that he climbed out the window, back over to his house.
You wondered about what you would do now, so after some thought you decided…
(special scene 1)
"Hey Riku, you sure you have to go?" you asked, before he was even out of the room.
"Do you want me to stay?" he asked with a smirk.
"Not at all, it's just you drove everyone else away, and I don't know what to do now." you said, smiling sweetly at your backhanded comment.
"Well when you put it like that.." he said rubbing the back of his head, and pulling his leg in from the window. "Actually ≈≈≈≈, would you like to go somewhere with me?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"The roof."
"The roof?" You repeated.
He chuckled, "Yes the roof. Come on." He nodded out the window and you got up and walked over. He jumped from your window to the tree then looked back at you. You got over to the window, then raised an eyebrow at him.
"Are you kidding me?" you asked, looking at the three story drop.
"Oh come on." He said, shaking his head.
"You know, I don't think I'm ready to die."
"You wouldn't die, just break a few bones or paralyze yourself." He said with a smirk. You glared at him and began to shut the window.
"No, ≈≈≈≈ come on, you'll be okay, I've got you." You opened the window back up, and sat on the windowsill. Riku held out a hand to you.
"Do you trust me?" he asked. (Aladdin O.o?)
"No, no I don't. I really don't." You said, shaking your head.
He looked at you sideways and you rolled your eyes, then pushed off the window.
"Shitshitshit." You mumbled as your feet clumsily landed on the branch. As the tree branch moved under your weight, you hit the deck and held onto the branch for dear life.
"See? That wasn't so bad." You wanted to kick him.
"Okay, okay, I've got you." He said, putting a hand on your shoulder and helping you to your feet.
"This sucks. You suck." You fussed as he pulled you along.
"Well now, you're not very lady like are you?"
"Not at all you son of—"
"Ready to jump?" he asked, by now you had crossed from one side of the tree to the other, and were now facing Riku's house. His house was a story less than yours, and directly across from your room was his roof. It wasn't too steep, so jumping over to it wouldn't be too hard. Riku skillfully made the jump, and you skillfully didn't. your foot clipped the edge of the roof, and you pin wheeled to try to keep your balance. Riku laughed and grabbed you by the strings of your hoodie, and pulled you forward.
You fell straight to your knees, and rolled over onto your back. Riku sat down next to you and laid back as well.
"When we were kids, Sora, Roxas and I would all climb that tree. The first time that he tried it, Sora fell out of it and broke his wrist."
"And that, you stupid boy, is why we stay out of trees." You said, looking up at the stars. "Wow you can see so many." Being from the city you had never really seen a sky so filled with stars.
"They're so pretty." You said.
"They're not the only thing." Riku said, scanning the sky.
"Huh?"
"What I mean is on really clear nights you can even see other worlds."
"Really? I wonder what's out there…" you looked up, trying to see if you could find any worlds out there.
"We'll know someday. I cant wait until the day I'll be able to go see things for myself."
"What's that matter? This world not big enough for you?" you asked.
He didn't answer for a minute. "Maybe…if there are other worlds out there then I want to see them."
"Of course there are other worlds out there, where do you think I'm from?" you asked. He looked over at you and nodded, a new realization in his eyes. The two of you stayed out on the roof talking for quite some time.
~~~~
"So, the only teacher you really need to look out for is-≈≈≈≈? Are you sleeping?" he finally noticed that you had fallen asleep. "and they say that guys are the ones who don't pay attention." He shook his head and nudged you awake. "Come on, back to your house we go." He said. You looked up at him, then rolled over.
He chuckled at your antics and lifted you up into a sitting position. "Come on, off to bed with you." He said, pulling you to your feet. He walked you back over to the tree, and jumped into the branches. You were too tired to care really, and the fall didn't seem like such a big deal to you now. with a hop and a skip you were at your window.
"There, see? It's not so bad up here." Riku said, as he made the jump to your window. You shrugged, and made the jump yourself, you grabbed the windowsill and caught a foothold on the side of your house and you began to try to pull yourself it.
"Well, would you look at that, you don't even need my help." He said, leaning against the wall.
"I used to do things like this with one of my old friends…only our houses were much smaller…" you said, looking out your window at the ground.
He laughed a little, saying "And here I thought you would be normal."
"And just what does that mean?"
"It's certainly not an insult." He said, as he headed back to his house.
"Goodnight." You said as he began to climb the tree back to his house. "night." He said and you shut the window, and began to get ready for bed.
(Special Scene 2)
You decided to go on a little walk. You walked down the grand staircase in your house to the main entrance. You passed by the tv room where Zack Yuffie and Vincent were all sitting and talking. You snuck past them and got outside. You walked along, past Riku house and came up to another rather large three-story house. It had a kind of old Victorian look to it. you saw there were two skateboards sitting at the garage, and figured that this would be where Sora and Roxas lived. You then saw Roxas walking down the driveway, pulling a large trashcan and mumbling.
"Hello there." You said, stopping you walk to talk to him.
"Oh ≈≈≈≈, hey. How are you? Settling in okay?" he asked, dealing with the trash at the end of the curb.
"Yeah, everything has been great. Everyone seems really nice…most everyone." You said, recalling the few bad eggs.
"Oh yeah? Did you meet Kairi or something?" he said with a sly smile.
"Well, yes there was her. I cant say I'm very fond of Seifer and his little lackeys either."
He chuckled, "You had the pleasure of meeting them both in the same day? Wow, what an honor you have had."
"Not just the same day, within the same hour. Double the luck. But anyway, is Sora alright? I don't think I ever got the chance to ask him." You asked.
He laughed, "Are you kidding? That was a graceful landing for him. What about you? Didn't hit your head or anything?" he was joking around, but concerned nonetheless.
"Don't worry, that was one of my more graceful falls of the day too."
"I don't believe that." He said.
"No, it really, really was…at any rate, you were teaching him to ride, right? Think you can teach me?"
"If all that's true you might be a harder student than Sora."
"Don't worry, I know the basics. And how to stop."
"Then I guess you'll be a step up from him." he laughed.
He walked to the garage, got out his board and Sora's, then kicked his toward you. You stopped it with your foot, and stepped up on it, getting used to it. Roxas rolled comfortably up next to you, giving your shoulder a push to get you going. He stayed right by your side, keeping a hand on your shoulder to make sure you didn't fall off as you left the cobblestone driveway and hit the main road. It wasn't made of asphalt, it was made of stone, bumpy stone. You put your hand on his(which was on your shoulder) to keep your balance.
"Hey you're pretty good at this. Who taught you?" he asked.
"An old friend, from Midgar. I'm still not very good, but I haven't fallen yet. You're much better about keeping your students vertical. He was…a bit of a tough teacher." You said, tightening your grip as you hit a stone, then loosing it as you regained your balance. He didn't even seem to notice the change in surface as you rolled up and down the streets of Travers Town, you however were adjusting constantly.
"So who taught you how to ride?" you asked.
"My older brother." He said tenativly, after a short pause.
"Oh? I didn't know you had a brother besides Sora." You said, not really paying attention to the conversation, just trying to keep yourself upright.
"Yeah…he doesn't live at home with us."
"Oh? Why's that? Is he that much older?" You were just making conversation at this point.
"He…didn't want to stay."
"Did he run away?"
"Something like that."
"Oh, that's terrible. Do you know where he is?"
"Around. We have a general idea."
"That's good I suppose. My own brother…my real brother…we don't know where he is…if he's alive. At least you know. Do you miss him?"
He didn't answer for a moment.
"I…we didn't really get along. All the same, it has been a while since I've seen him. But anyway, here we are, come full circle." He said, and sure enough, you were back in front of your house. You were surprised, you had no idea where you were going the entire time, but he was taking you in a large circle around the town. You stopped and picked up the board, handing it to him.
"Goodnight." He said.
"Thank you, see you tomorrow." You replied, walking up to your door, and waving at him. he waved back and hoped back on his skateboard, and heading home. You were curious about his families past, and his mysterious older brother, but you decided that Roxas wasn't especially keen on the subject, so you wouldn't press it.
(Special Scene 3)
You watched as Riku jumped from the tree and closed the window after him. You then saw Sora jumping up and down like a maniac. once he was satisfied he had you attention, he pointed to the ground outside your house. you nodded and went down stairs and walked out onto your front porch.
"Hey S-."
"I didn't know you knew Riku." he said running up to your house.
"I just meet him today, he saved me from Seifer and is little gang."
Sora looked at his feet. "That's Riku for you, always there in the nick of time."
"Yeah, well its always fun to be pushed into a fountain every now and then."
He perked up and said, "Hey do you wanna go out for ice cream"
"Sure! Oh…wait, I don't have any money."
"it's fine, I gotcha covered. Maybe I'll give you your special treat early." he said.
"Okay then lets go!"
"Great!" Sora said grabbing your wrist and pulling you down the road. after a few minutes of walking you saw a little stand with a man selling ice cream. You ordered your favorite flavor and Sora got his. He paid for them and then you guys walked to a nearby park. you sat down on the swings eating your ice cream and talking for a good while. then Sora's phone rang.
"Hello? Oh hey Roxas. Hold on I'll put you on speaker."
"No Sora!"
"Too late ." You said.
"Oh, is that ≈≈-." Roxas began, but Sora cut him off.
"So what is it?"
"Mom wants you to come home, she says she wants you to get to bed 'cuz your such a pain in the morning to get up." You laughed.
"Thank you Roxas…he's lying, of course." Sora said quickly hanging up on him.
"Of course." You smiled.
"well I guess we should be going." Sora said.
He walked you home and said goodnight.
(Special Scene 4)
You left your room, deciding to go for a walk. You walked around the block and down the road, not really paying attention to where you were going when someone said your name.
"≈≈≈≈?"
"Huh? Oh, Zexion. Hey." you said turning to see him holding a green recycling bin that he was bringing out to the curb.
"What are you doing here?" he asked setting it down.
"You know, just walking around."
"I see." he said walking over to you.
"Hey, why did you just duck out on our tour? I was having fun with you." you said.
"You...were having fun...with…me?" he sounded surprised.
"Well yeah, didn't you have a good time?"
"I did, but i didn't think that you were enjoying your time with me. Especially with the way Fair made me out to be like."
"Not at all. I've discovered what a blockhead he is, he didn't taint my opinion of you at all." you said smiling. You could even see a small smile forming on his lips.
"Well its getting late, shouldn't you be getting home?" he asked.
"Yeah...well...I wasn't paying attention when i was walking down here and-"
"You don't know how to get back?" he guessed.
"Nailed it." you said rubbing the back of your head.
"Well I suppose I could take you home." he said, "that is of course if you want me too." he added quickly.
"Of course...I couldn't get back if I tried."
"Yes, I guess that you do live on the other side of town." he walked you home and you had a pleasant little conversation about nothing at all, and he showed you a few things that Zack left out in our tour.
"Well here we are." he said stopping at your driveway.
"Thanks so much." you said hugging him. He blushed bright red and froze, his arms out in shock.
"For...what?" he asked once he regained composure.
"The tour, taking me home...dealing with Zack for me, i really appreciate it." you said waling to your front door.
"Bye!" you said to him although he was already almost down the street.
(Special scene 5)
you decided to go and see what everyone was up to, so you left your room and headed downstairs. You saw Yuffie and Vincent sitting on the couch watching tv in the front room.
"Where's Zack?" you asked, breaking up their argument on what to watch.
"The balcony." Vincent said.
"What's he doing out there?" you asked.
"Beats me." Yuffie shrugged, channel surfing.
"Well, I'll just be going then." You said, seeing how enraptured she was in the TV and how much Vincent didn't care.
"We'll be here." She waved you off. You shook your head and headed down the hall, finding a set of glass doors, and sure enough you saw Zack was standing out there by himself, looking out over the rail.
You walked outside, "Hey there."
"Oh, ≈≈≈≈, didn't hear you come out." he said.
"Is everything alright? You seem down."
"Yup, I'm good."
"You don't look so sure." You said, hopping up onto the railing, sitting on it.
"I'm just upset that school is starting." He said.
"That's stupid." You said, and he nudged you.
You lost you balance on the rail and began to fall backwards. "Whoa there." He said, putting a hand on your back. "you always this clumsy?" he asked with a smile as you batted his hand away.
"I am not clumsy."
"Sure you're not."
"I am a gazelle."
"But of course."
"I am."
"Yes, sure. Need I remind you that you fell in the ship, fell into a fountain, fell from a piggyback ride, got hit by the library door, ran into Angeal…twice…then you ran into Gippal, now this."
"I'm not clumsy, I just like to keep everyone on their toes." You huffed.
"Right, so that's what we're calling it now days."
"Anyway." You said irritably, "what's so bad about school?"
"Nothing really, I just worry that I wont have any classes with this creature of grace, this…gazelle, was it?"
You crossed your arms. "Uh-huh, in that case, goodnight blockhead."
"Alright, let's not be too grumpy. Don't let the sun set while your angry and such." He said, as you went back inside.
"Suns already set."
"Not the point."
"Goodnight." You said before closing the door.
"See you tomorrow." He said. And you gently closed the door then hedded off to bed.