NOTE: (please read this & thanks :) )
In this fic, everything is still the same, like the characters' personalities, appearance and such, but the "world of FFX" itself is different. It'll take place in a much more modern setting – similar to present-day Japan. I'm going to be using the same FFX-2 town names, its history, and etc., but it's going to be modified.

Don't get me wrong; I love how the game is.

If you're wondering about the "past" with Sin and Shuyin or whatever… in this fic, those events have already passed, but I don't want to delve into it much in here. It's going to get weird, lame and confusing if I attempt to explain it all in this modern-story.

And I don't want this fic to be viewed as one of those flop, sorta-high-school-ish, girly-to-the-max, plot-less kind of stories. I'm trying to make it more than that. :)

Also…
In the beginning, Rikku might seem like a typical-high-school-fanfic-kind of girl in the events that she goes through in the first chapter (it's not too lame, I think and hope, haha), but it's for the story's purposes. As the story progresses, things will change. Hopefully, she'll have a little more of the same personality that she has in the game.

Okay. So here's my story of Rikku and Gippal. Enjoy. :)

His Business, Her Love

Chapter One: "Drama"


Rikku

I'm late for school.

"RIKKU! I HOPE YER GETTING YOUR BUTT OUTTA HERE BY NOW!"

Okay. So I'm late again… it could probably be why Pops is screaming his head off right now. Man, you would have thought that I blew up his favourite machina.

Ah well. And as I stand in my immense room, staring at my reflection in my full-length, gold-rimmed mirror, I annoyingly notice that I've got a bad hair day.

I sigh. Whatever man. My hair is tied up in the usual way, but it looks messy right now, and I can't do anything about it. As for my school uniform, it's just a white formal blouse with a cotton red vest with my school's insignia on it, along with a plaid grey skirt. I folded it up and pinned it a few inches higher, but I made sure to wear spandex black shorts underneath. I'd rather not look slutty, thank you very much.

But Shina… just takes it to the next level. I caught her screwing with some guy in the bathroom stall a couple of days ago. And if I wore glasses, the sight would have splintered them. From then on, Shina didn't like me just because I told two people about what I saw.

Well, news spreads fast so around fifty people know, and that would be it. Meh. She should have gotten a room at least. Not my problem, nope.

Arisu on the other hand… Augh. She clearly puts the itch in b–

Fine, I won't swear. But she really is one. I don't really know why she's like that towards me. I see her pretty nice to other people, but when she turns to me, she looks at me as if I took her boyfriend or something. Sometimes, (I won't admit it), but it can be a little intimidating.

Then there's Hiro.

I'm not blushing.

Fine, I'm lying.

But he's such a great guy. He's friendly, smart, hot, athletic, cheerful, hot, kind, out-going, hot, patient, hot, hot, hot, hot –

Okay, I got carried away. But you get the picture.

You gotta believe me – he's a gorgeous guy inside and out. He's got amazing blonde hair (sure, so does every Al Bhed person), but his shines all the time, and his hair's a little longer than most guys, yet he pulls it off by flaring it out. His eyes are such a deep green colour that you can drown in it. His smile's perfect, and his slender, tall body's toned and packed with rippled muscles. AH, he makes every girl swoon.

And I'll grudgingly admit, there's one more guy that's able to do that too…

Gippal.

EW. I don't want to think about it. Time to wipe his image away from my mind with Hiro's picture.

Ahhh… much better.

Anyways, I'm starving. Time to go eat.

So I dash out of my room with my schoolbag, and run down the long, spiraling staircase to the kitchen and hurriedly grab anything from the pantry. After stuffing the pastry that I've chosen into my mouth, I turn on the TV that was attached to the front of the refrigerator. Man, I love it. Now I don't ever have to bring my food and walk to the living room or wherever – except I'm being called a pig by Gippal.

Augh… Gippal!

Anyways, moving on, I happen to land on the news channel. I turn it on in time to hear the news anchor say, "…gang activity. They seem to be planning on targeting major corporations. The public is advised to be on alert." The man grins. "In other news, the young president of the Machina Faction company has stated in an interview that he will be taking a slight break from his business. As everyone is well aware, this 18-year-old prodigy has done incredible work in the past. Starting from yesterday, he had also said that he will be attending – "

ARGH, GIPPAL.

I turn off the TV. I couldn't care less about that arrogant, skirt-chasing Gippal. Oohh, he makes me so angry at times. Hmmph. A prodigy? Yeah right.

Why am I so negative about Gippal? Ha, it's more like why aren't I more negative about him. Okay, it's not like I hate him or anything… we've been closer when we were younger. We were pretty much best friends – and then it escalated into something more.

Whew boy. I think it was the most beautiful disaster ever.

I mean, I loved every single moment with him. It felt so real to be in his arms… even if his one eye did roam around time to time to other girls. But it didn't really matter to me; I knew he liked me only and was just doing that to piss me off. Oh yeah, it worked and it rewarded him a couple of punches, but other than that, everything was good. I think I was 14 or 15 at the time.

And now I'm 17 with a single status, and feeling pretty damn all right still.

Minus the fact that I kinda wish we didn't end what we had. Don't get me wrong; I didn't dump him and he didn't break up with me either. We just sorta… drifted off. There was this big thing about the Crimson Squad, which was like a military group that takes in the most elite fighters, and Gippal was interested and strong enough to enroll for it. I went my own way as well, and went to help out my dad with the machina. Oh sure, Gippal and I tried to write to each other, but it never really worked out. The letters and phone calls became fewer and fewer, until I heard from friends that he was going out with four girls – at the same time. I clearly remember punching a hole in the wall when I heard that. I also remember refusing to talk to him when he came back from his training. But he convinced me that he still liked me, and suggested we have dinner together. But then I bitterly remember as well that some prostitute came running into his arms while I was with him, and was all over the damn guy.

Psh. Whatever. It's not like I cared – but I did care enough that I scared the slut away. After that, I haven't talked to Gippal much.

"RIKKUUUU! I THOUGHT YOU LEFT ALREADY! GET YER SLOW ARSE ON THE MOVE!"

Yes, Pops. Thanks for reminding me. Jeez, yelling from the stairs isn't very kind of him… and since we live in a big house, it's even worse to hear his voice echoing everywhere.

In fact, we don't really live in a 'house'… we live in more like a mansion. And honestly, I'm not that thrilled. Although we have a housemaid and all, I still have to do so many chores, and the huge damn space doesn't help me out. I really do wish we lived somewhere smaller. It's only because Pops is the leader of the Al Bhed people that he gets to live in a place like this. But I gotta admit, Pops picked out a nice place to live in. The mansion's pearl white on the outside, complete with balconies looking out to the open space and onto our winding driveway that's lined with gorgeous bushes and cherry blossom trees. And after arguing about getting a bird fountain, we got one, and the inside of the place is just as nice – everything's marble and spotless… and I freaking kid you not. I should know; I have to clean like three quarters of the place. Augh. Pops calls it discipline. I call it child labour.

"RIIIKKKKUUUUUUU!!!"

"OKAY, POPS!" I yell. "I'm going, I'm going!"

I run out the house in a flash, almost knocking the kind housemaid, Linette, over as I fling the door open.

"Have a good day, Rikku!" Linette calls after me.

I throw her a smile and a wave as I sprint out to get my sports car.

Damn straight, a car – and a sexy red one too. It looks like my child labour pays off with Pops. Heh.

So time to go to school.

Now time to get out of school.

I wish.

On the way to school, I had parked my car in the school parking lot (being the daughter Al Bhed leader rocks), and it got verrryyyyyy windy outside.

Sigh. Now it looks like a chocobo made a nest on my head.

Now how can I look good for Hiro?

Anyways, I'm stuck in homeroom, sitting at my desk, half-asleep, and everyone else is sitting or standing around, chatting. I see Arisu, with her short and layered hair cropped to her chin, giving me a withering look before talking to other people. Meh. Whatever. I already made my greetings and so have the rest of the people, and they know I'm tired so they're kind enough to give me some space. Ah, such good friends…

– Unlike the group of five skanky girls approaching me at the moment.

Hey, look who's at the front – their fearless, slutty, stuck-up leader – Shina.

Good Spira, could she at least pull down her skirt a tiny bit?

Shina stops at my desk and crosses her arms. She flips her long, layered, dark blonde hair out of her face, and glares at me haughtily with her cat-like eyes. "So, Rikku, how are you?"

Hmn… I never thought she would care. So I respond anyway.

"Fine. So what would you like, Shina?" I give her a Rikku-grin. Yes, I named my smirk. I curl my lips enough to show my teeth slightly locked in a Rikku-grin. I know it bugs people like Shina, and it makes people like me feel good.

Shina narrows her eyes. "You won't be smiling much after what I have to say."

Her group starts to mutter darkly about me.

Oh man. She wants to start something. Why does she have to do it now? And really, do I have time and patience for this? Do I really want to stoop to her immaturity level? Whatever. I'm bored anyway.

I give her an even bigger Rikku-grin. "Go on."

That's when Shina started shrieking.

"You bitch, how many people have you told?"

I give her a slightly puzzled look. I'm a little lost.

Oh wait. She's talking about the washroom incident. Ah.

People are starting to take notice of what's going on and begin to watch the situation unravel. Great. We're going to have an audience.

"Hmn… I've actually don't got a clue."

"Don't lie to me! I know you told a lot of people!"

"About what?" I like to feign ignorance in situations like these. It deeply ticks off Shina. It's actually amusing to watch her fume underneath her infinite layers of makeup.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

I give a dramatic pause. "Oh, yeah, I think I do. You and that guy were getting it on in the girls' bathroom stall, right? I remember! I almost got a heart attack when I saw."

"Bitch, you didn't need to go around spreading rumours!"

I feel a pinch of annoyance. She needs to wash her mouth.

"Rumours? It's called a fact, Shina. And I only told two people."

"Then how does the rest of the school know?!"

I give a sarcastic gasp. "Wow, I don't know… maybe they've got mouths and started telling each other? It could be very likely that it happened like that…"

"Don't give me this bull! You could have kept it to yourself!!"

"No, you don't give me this bull. You could have kept your slut-life to yourself."

People start to whisper and gather around us slightly. Shina's eyes seem to be on fire.

"What did you say?!"

"What, slut?" I say calmly. Ohhh, I'm such a bad girl. But really, she shouldn't be making a scene like this. She could have yelled at me somewhere else rather than be such a drama-queen, as she just craves for attention. I never liked her in the first place anyway. Besides, she needs to learn a lesson. The way she acts degrades women, and I really don't want to see some sex-machine like her go off doing Spira-knows-what with Spira-knows-who, and start complaining at me that –

SLAP.

There's a stunned silence.

Shina gives me a triumphant, wicked smile as she eyes me feeling my cheek. I feel a small stinging pain, and I can tell from people's faces that it's red.

It doesn't hurt much. But it doesn't mean I won't hurt Shina.

With another famous Rikku-grin, I swiftly slap Shina across the face as well. Everyone gasps as they see her stagger from the pain. Meh. She should be grateful. I could have just easily punched her out, but I don't start fist-fights with girls. And besides, Shina can't fight for beans. It would make me look oh so bad if I have the advantage and knock her out.

Shina's eyes are blazing, and this time, she tries to swing a fist at me.

Sigh. She never learns.

I manage to duck in time and the cat-fight starts to escalate.

I keep dodging her blows easily as she claws her way at me, trying to scratch me like a cat at a post. I snicker, lightly stepping out of the way as she keeps missing, and people around us are starting to cheer and talk amongst themselves. No one wants to break the fight up. They know I'm not being serious so it's all for good fun – for me, that is.

But Shina and her friends seem to disagree, as one of her groupies pushes me very hard from behind, and I lose my balance slightly, allowing Shina to pounce in and grab my hair.

Oh, to hell with Spira. She just… she did not just…

Shina starts to wrench my hair around and I give a growl.

Oh yes, she did.

I knee her in the stomach and she lets go instantly. She wheezes but tries to claw at my hair again, but then I also grab onto her hair and yank her close to me, while she wails. Then I quickly put her in an uncomfortable head-lock, and she tries to squirm but it doesn't work. She kicks at me but I kick her back. And suddenly, one of Shina's friends smacks me in the face, and the other girls kick me. I give another growl, and I'm about to kick back at them, but then my other classmates get involved, the girls howling that it's not fair that it's five against one, and dive right in.

Oh Spira. It's a Classroom War of the Girls.

And I can see the guys hooting from the sides, and already making bets about who's going to win. I hear my name being mentioned in their discussion.

Shina's group are really vicious skanks, and start to slap, punch, bite, scratch at everyone, and successfully do so as girls wail about their hair and skin. I feel a girl yank at my hair and I kick her behind me. Shina takes the opportunity, and squeezes her way out and gives me a punch in the jaw.

Oh, that little –

I give her a good punch, and next thing I know, some girl jumps on my back and beats at me. I try to shake the stupid monkey off, but she's also grabbing onto my hair, trying to rip it off and hanging onto my neck at the same time.

AH, what's with hating on the hair?! NOW I'm furious.

I throw the girl off by bashing into a desk, and then I aim a kick at Shina before she punches me again. Another girl scratches me, and I lash out at her as well, and we're all just screaming, wailing, bitching, scratching, punching, and grabbing onto hair and anything else. It's insane.

As I grab onto Shina's collar and about to give her another piece of my mind, I hear the teacher yell, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GIRLS DOING?"

We all freeze and slowly look up at our female teacher, Ms. Talia. Her emerald eyes are flashing behind her glasses, and I can see a vein twitching out of her forehead that's underneath her blonde hair tied up in a tight bun. Her legs are tense in her dark grey suit, and her hands are clenched into fists.

Ohhh, she looks very pissed indeed.

"RIKKU. LET SHINA GO RIGHT NOW."

I give a small pout and shove the skank away.

Then Shina starts putting up a show for the teacher. It makes me sick. I see her spilling out her infamous, fake, last minute tears. Now it's just between Shina, the pissed-looking Ms. Talia, and me.

"Oh, Ms. Talia! Ms. Talia, it was so horrible. Look at what Rikku did. It wasn't any of our faults. You see, Rikku's been spreading lies all around the school, and even though I haven't done anything, she thinks it's okay to spread false rumours around and – "

I glare at Shina. "You're kidding. It was the truth, so stop – "

"And when I confronted Rikku nicely just now, she started to yell at me. I got really uncomfortable, and then I politely told her to calm down – "

I interrupt her. "Really? Didn't you call me a bitch a couple of times –?"

"Don't listen to her, Ms. Talia! She's lying again. She always is. So I tell her nicely to calm down, and then Rikku punches me out of nowhere! Oh, it hurts so much, Ms. Talia. Look at my bruise right here, you can see it, it's so big – "

"How do you know if that was me? You're quite the blind skank, you know. It wasn't just me beating you up – "

"See, Ms. Talia? She's calling me a skank when I'm not!"

"Pull down your skirt, then say you're not, please."

"Ms. Talia, Rikku's a liar!"

"Ms. Talia, Shina's a liar and a skank."

"I'm not a skank, you bitch!"

"Oh, Shina, I don't like your language."

"Rikku, I'm gonna kill you!!"

Before the drama sinks deeper, Ms. Talia yells, "ENOUGH ALREADY. This is ridiculous. Exactly how old are you girls? You're seniors! Honestly, if you two have the urge to rip each other's hair out in anger, I do NOT want it in my class. Take it outside! It's embarrassing that you are my students. I won't tolerate it!" Ms. Talia glares at the rest of the girls. "The same goes to you as well! I expected from all of you!" Then she gives a death glare at the boys, who were trying to pretend that they didn't see the all-out-female brawl. "AND YOU. Don't try to pretend that you didn't see anything! I'm so disappointed and furious. You could have at least taken an ounce of your brainpower to discourage the fight! This is not wrestling – you need to take your heads out of the gutter and shape up!" The boys look sheepishly at one another. Ms. Talia then whips her head to the classroom door, and barks, "Hiro! Bring him in!"

My stomach clenches. Oh noooo! Why Hiro? Aw man, I don't want him to see me like this. My hair looks like five hundred chocobos made a nest out of it, and I've got scratches and bruises everywhere, not to mention that my clothes are tattered, and DAMMIT, my hair's such a mess right now, oh no, he's looking at me with surprise, and I wonder if he's disgusted with me, but I'll make it up to him, I'll do anything, I'll clean his house, I'll cook for him, I'll wash his feet, I'll even –

I stop rambling. I feel a deep pit in my stomach forming. I can't believe it.

Behind Hiro is a guy walking in, and he's smirking at the disaster before him.

The guy looks straight at me, and gives an even bigger smirk. "Hey, Cid's girl."

I almost pass out.

Reviews would be very helpful. Thanks. :)

I would like to know if my story's bad or not that I took a different view of FFX-2 and made it more "modern". Is it too weird?

In any case, I hope you enjoyed the story so far. The next chapter will be in Gippal's POV. And since school's hectic, I can't promise a quick update. But when exams are over, you'll get to read more of the story quickly.

If you found this story uninteresting, then don't worry, it'll develop… this is just an introduction. :) The plot will thicken a lot more later.