I've never been the biggest fan of Riku, he's just always seemed kinda…blah. I decided to write something from his perspective, and once I started, I realized that, you know what, Riku isn't as boring and annoying as I thought he was. Actually, I've surprisingly come to love him. Anyway, lately I've felt bad for Riku 'cause he ain't got no woman! I'm a little sick of all the SoraxRiku pairings, so I'd thought I'd get a lady for poor, lonely, not-gay Riku. This is right after the ending of KH2. The only things I've changed is that the King's letter never was received (or written, for that matter) and also, Tifa is about 16 or 17. Sorry in advanced for the Selphie-bashing. I don't dislike Selphie, I just decided to see her from Riku's eyes instead. And it turned out to be pretty funny too, if I do say so myself.

"I know you think it doesn't matter, sweetie, but the fact is that it does. You need to pass this class or you won't be graduating next year."

"But Mom," I didn't mean to whine, but I was desperate. No way was I going to have a perfect reputation ended by something like this. "Nobody even speaks Spanish anymore."

"That's not the point. It's a required course and I won't let my son fail eleventh grade." She said it in that strict, demanding tone that always makes me wonder if she really even cares.

"But…"

"I don't want to hear about your 'but', Riku."

Real funny, Mom. Just hysterical.

"I'll call the school first thing in the morning and talk to the principal about this," she ignored my eye-rolling and turned to face the sink again. Pulling her wavy brown hair into a knot on the back of her head, she leaned over and scrubbed at the dirty dishes.

"Okay…" I tried to hide my feeling of defeat from creeping up and invading my words, but the attempt was to no avail. That predictable, I'm-right-and-I-know-it smirk spread across my mother's face, but was replaced a moment later with an overall look of sympathy. She cocked her head in my direction.

"I only do this because I love you."

I nodded.

Yeah, right.

Sora waved me over to join him and the others who now stood in a cluster in front of the school. Walking over, I couldn't help but notice the very obvious fact that his arm was not-so-casually draped across Kairi's shoulders. After two months, I should have gotten used to seeing the two's public displays of affection, but it still surprised me. If it had been a couple years earlier, I would have popped Sora a good one for even touching her, but I guess I can't do that anymore. Somewhere along the line, I had lost my right to love Kairi as any more than a best friend. I felt lucky to be allowed even thatprivilege. Her smiling blue eyes told me that she forgave me for everything. If only I could forgive myself.

"Wussa, brudda? Wakka gave me a friendly slap on the back. I wondered if I should go through to predictable morning greeting routine, or if I should actually answer his question.

Actually, I'm failing Spanish. Though what little free time I have will now be used for tutoring, I'll probably still fail.

"Hey guys!" What they don't know won't hurt me.

"Hi, Riku!" I jumped a little at the sound of that familiar screechy voice penetrating what would otherwise be a pleasantly uncomfortable silence. Probably out of fear for my own sanity, I hesitated to look down into those piercing green eyes. They were eyes that seemed to survey me with not-so-hidden intentions of doing only God knows what to me. Quite honestly, I didn't even want to know what that horny little girl was thinking of at the moment.

"Hi, Selphie." I mumbled the greeting with a straight, emotionless face. If I tried hard enough, maybe she wouldn't misinterpret a simple hello as something more along the lines of please bear my children.

"Did you have a wonderful weekend?"

Translation: I would be more than happy to bear your children.

Damn my boyish charm and irresistible good looks.

I'm only kidding.

Instead of answering, I pretended not to hear. That wasn't exactly believable, since the overly-perky brunette's voice could wake the dead. Mentally distancing myself from the group, I absent-mindedly looked around the courtyard. As usual, the sidewalks were covered in randomly spaced clusters of white-and-blue-clad students who awaited the school day with a lack of enthusiasm that never surprised me. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I noticed a break in the predictable pattern of teenagers gathering together as if their life depended on not being alone (and maybe it did). I turned to see a female figure bravely standing alone amidst the swarming children. She was far away and had her back turned to me, so I couldn't see her face. I noticed, though, that a few individuals nearer to her were eyeing her with intentions I couldn't decipher. My concentration was interrupted suddenly by another familiar (though definitely less obnoxious) voice.

"What are you looking at?" I turned to see Sora trying to follow my gaze. His face had a puzzled look on it, but suddenly his eyes widened and he flashed a surprised grin first at me, then over at Kairi. She was just as uninformed as I was, and she gave Sora a confused stare. Suddenly, he broke his hold on her and ran over toward the lone girl I had just noticed. He waved both his arms in the air as if to say, over here.

"Tifa!"

Tifa?

I looked over in time to see the girl whip around and face the direction of Sora's call. She rushed over with a relieved smile on her face.

Uh…whoa.

I'm not one of those guys who have only sex on their mind 24/7. Ok, I admit, I do fall into the thinking-with-a-body-part-other-than-your-brain trap every once in a while, but I'm certainly no Selphie. But can you blame me for not being able to help but notice the obvious? Swallowing uncomfortably, I nudged Wakka in the ribs. Knowing him, he'd have no problem going off about her body.

Don't even start, man.

Over the past year and a half, I've gotten myself out of seemingly impossible situations time and time again. But no matter what I've been capable of in the past, Wakka is still an idiot. Thankfully, though, he seemed to take the hint and shut up.

"I knew I'd find you around here somewhere!"

I fought the growing temptation to look down at the way her collared white shirt clung to her chest, and I concentrated on her face instead. Her big eyes could have easily been written off as simply being brown, but upon further inspection, it was easy to see how they were marked with flecks of gold and swirls of dark red. Her long, straight hair was a very dark brown. If we had been inside, it might even look black, but in the bright sunlight, it had very subtle golden highlights. In contrast to most of the other girls at school who seemed to find the need to wear a pound of makeup just to "play up their drab attire" (Selphie's words, not mine), the girl's face was pleasantly free of "beauty" products.

I wonder how many people bother to look up and see how beautiful she really is.

"I didn't know you moved here?" Sora seemed to be blissfully unaware of his friends standing around him with puzzled looks on our faces.

"Yeah, just a few days ago."

"What about—" Sora started, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"No, just me!" her voice was cheerful but her smile had faded as she somehow knew what he was going to ask.

"Oh." Sora nodded solemnly, though his face was a little confused for a moment. As is his nature, he changed the subject to avoid the uncomfortable silence.

"Guys, this is Tifa. Tifa, this is Riku, Wakka, Selphie, and…" he paused, smiling at his girlfriend (I still can't believe it). "…Kairi."

"Hi!" Tifa waved politely, then looked over at Kairi with a certain gleam in her eyes. "Hi, Kairi." She then elbowed Sora and winked. Her gentle shove pushed him toward her, and Sora blushed. I guess even he hadn't gotten used to the idea of them being a couple. I noticed the slightly angry, jealous look on Kairi's face suddenly changed to a more pleased one, now that she realized that Sora had been talking to another girl about her in a way that would make Tifa react like that. I watched as he once again proceeded to put his arm around her, her face flustering. A little more sickening was how she giggled as he held her.

I used to be able to make her giggle like that.

"AWWW!" Selphie's horror of a voice cried out in glee as she watched Sora and Kairi. "I wish I had a boy that would hold me like that!"

Oh, no.

Her hands clasped in front of her, she looked over at me with a goofy grin and those wide, evil green eyes. I think she was trying to be seductive.

I could feel my ears burning red as I tried to ignore what I realized was her attempt at flirting. Ever since preschool, I think Selphie has always had a crush on me, but it's gotten worse and worse as the years go by. It got especially bad after the unfortunate day at the tender age of twelve when she wandered into the adult section of the library and suddenly started reading big, sleazy romance novels. That, and the raging teenage hormones had turned her into the little whore she is today. I'm not surprised, though, to learn that she's apparently "saving herself" for me (I heard this from Sora, who heard it from Kairi, who of course heard it from the devil herself).

Needless to say, I have nightmares.

Brrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnng

There is only one other noise I abhor as much as Selphie's voice, and that is the morning bell. I find myself wincing in pure agony as I hear it day after day (minus weekends and holidays!). As usual, Kairi runs off, eager to begin another day of learning, and she drags a reluctant Sora along with her. Wakka wanders off without so much as a later, bro and Selphie seems to have disappeared all together.

"Umm…" I say in oh-so intelligently as I realize I've been left alone with Tifa. I search my mind for something clever and impressive to say.

"Uh, welcome to Destiny Island High, I guess."

Wow, Riku. You certainly have a way with words.

Her full lips curved up into a sweet smile. "Thanks."

I shrugged and smiled back. She looked down and studied a piece of paper she had been holding. I stepped back slowly, wondering if she wanted me to leave. Dozens of kids filed past, running into her petite frame and some staring quite rudely at her body. Her face became worried as she nervously apologized to those who had run into her. It was all very predictable: The sweet new girl getting taken advantage of and her feeling as if it is her fault. Suddenly, an especially large senior purposely shoved into her shoulder. She surprisingly was able to easily keep her balance, though he apparently intended to knock her over.

"Hey, you!" I usually didn't mess with the senior guys, mostly because they tend to underestimate what I'm capable of. Freshman year, I was more of a show-off, and that ended up in countless black eyes and once even a broken nose on my part. I'd guess I've grown up a lot in two years, now that I think about it. If there was one thing I'd learned from being away from home, it was not to pick fights unless necessary. But I also had a very important rule that I will always stick by: nobody messes with my friends.

But wait…does that make Tifa my friend?

"Excuse you?" he snarled back at me. The guy's name was Seifer. He moved from across town earlier in the year, and seemed to already be the self-proclaimed "leader" of his peers. Sora said that he'd met him once before, and to just leave him alone because he was a jerk, and not much else.

"No, excuse you," I grabbed his arm and pulled him so we were face-to-face. He smirked and tried to yank free, but his expression changed to slight surprise when he found that he couldn't. His already narrow eyes became angry slits on his face as he glared at me.

"What the hell is your problem, man?" I shook my head at him and then glanced back over at Tifa, indicating that he had made a grave mistake by touching her. He followed my gaze and then laughed.

"You mean other than the fact that the little slut was in my way? No problem at all!"

I looked over at Tifa, who now wore a horrified, disgusted expression on her face which seemed to mirror how I felt at the moment. Poor Seifer. Today just wasn't his day. I grabbed his tie with one hand and pulled the other hand back behind my head. Before he had time to react, a clenched fist met his face, and he was on the ground a moment later.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of turning my back on him. I swung around to meet Tifa, but suddenly felt myself being pulled back by the collar of my shirt. There was a bright flash of light and a heavy blow against my cheek. Now I was the one on the ground.

"HEY!" Tifa's voice rang in the air with sudden and shocking anger and hate. I struggled to get up, but Seifer had got me good. I anticipated a kick in the stomach or something, but instead there was nothing. A second later, I heard the scrambling of running feet, and then a loud thud. The crowd that had gathered now ooed and ahhed in unison. When I was finally able to sit up, I never expected to see what I saw. The spectators had formed a circle, with Tifa in the middle of it. At her feet was Seifer, moaning in pain. I looked back up at her with wide eyes and saw that she, too, was just as surprised as I was at herself. But her shock turned to disappointment and she ran off through to crowds toward the building.

"Tifa!" I called as I got up. The audience had started to disperse as they realized that there apparently wasn't going to be anyone taking anymore punches. Even so, it was difficult getting through the crowds. I looked ahead frantically in search for her, but she had somehow been able to weave through the tight throngs of people quickly and easily. I'd lost her.

Once again, I'd sorely underestimated yet another of Sora's acquaintances.

I hope you loved it! It's ok is you didn't. It's a really out-there pairing. But they'll be cute, I promise. I would love your feedback, hopefully of the positive variety. Please keep flames to yourself unless you have some constructive criticism. I have the next few chapters already written, and I'll put them up soon, but not until I start seein' some REVIEWS!

Oh yeah, some parts I was purposely very vague about, so if you have any questions about what went on, I'd be more than happy to explain.