I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Pairing: Axel.Yuffie
Summary: That jerkwad stole my gum!

gum

There are lots of flavors of gum that she likes. But her favorite is spearmint.

Delectably cool and sweet, Yuffie is almost always chewing gum ever since a certain stubborn Gunblader had begrudgingly bought some for her.

Yeah, that was a good day.

But back to the point--

Yuffie skips along in the almost-abandoned streets of Agrabah, humming some strange melody and, of course, chewing her gum.

Chew, chew, chew.

However, her skipping-humming-chewing (multitasker, anyone?) comes to a halt when she hears footsteps crunching on the sandy ground behind her. Yuffie turns around, chewing her gum slowly as her mauve eyes scan the empty, dusty streets.

Nope, nothing.

So she continues to skip-hum-chew, all-too aware of the fear now burning in her brain. And then there's another loud crunch behind her, and Yuffie freezes this time. The foosteps haven't stopped, and Yuffie turns around. There is a man, standing there, his features highlighted by the moonlight pouring onto him.

Dressed in a black coat, his skin is pale and glowing in contrast; his eyes are catlike, emerald-green, and his hair is red-red-red, like burning fire. It spikes out in multiple directions, and Yuffie vaguely wonders whether it can defy gravity like that if she hoses it down.

But she shakes her head, because now's not the time to think about gravity-defying hair, now's the time to--

"RAPIST!" she shouts, pulling out her shuriken and charging at him.

--yeah, that.

The man seems visibly shaken, as if he's not a rapist and that he's just a normal man walking on the streets at night, but Yuffie knows better.

"Whoa, whoa, you've got it all--" He jumps back as Yuffie smashes the shuriken into the spot where he was standing just a few minutes ago. "Holy crap, that almost hit me! What the hell is wrong with you--"

"RAPIIIISSTT!" she screams again (chew-chew-chew).

"I'm not a rapist!" the man yells (almost shrieks).

Yuffie stops immediately. "You're not?" she asks suspiciously. Still chewing her gum.

Yum. Spearmint.

"No," the man sighs in relief, rid of the rampaging Yuffie. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Uh...yes?" Yuffie replies, and the man smirks.

"So what's a little kid like you doing out so late at night anyway?" Axel asks, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh...what are you doing out so late at night?" she counters. Then Yuffie pouts. "Besides, I'm not a little kid." (Jerkwad, she mutters under her breath). "I bet I could totally kick your ass."

Axel scoffs, obviously unbelieving, when Yuffie readies her shuriken again. His expression changes from surprise to one of confidence. "Alright, I'll take you on that bet," he replies, and two chakrams appear in his hands. Yuffie stares.

Shit. Should've thought this over.

Oh well. She dashes at him without a second thought, dodging the first swinging chakram and parrying the second with her shuriken. What she does not expect, however, is the foot flying outwards and kicking her in the butt. "Ow!" she howls, rubbing her bottom. "Meanie!"

Axel grins. "Looks like I kicked your ass first," he says coolly.

"Pervert! Rapiiisstt!"

The grin falls away, and Yuffie smiles, dashing at him again. It's been a while since she's had fun with sparring, since sparring with Squall usually ends in her getting scolded for her carelessness (if I were a Heartless, Yuffie, you would be dead!).

"So anyway," Axel says in between cuts. "What are you doing out here? Seriously?"

Yuffie parries a chakram, ducking under the other. "I don't know. Just walking, I guess. I get bored easily."

Axel dodges to the left, scraping by with a cut on his cheek. "I can tell," he laughs.

"Your face can tell!" Yuffie yells, gritting her teeth with effort as she tries to force her shuriken past Axel's chakrams. No luck; she falls back, panting. There is a small cut on her shoulder. "Why are you dressed in all-black, anyway? It's boring!"

Axel shrugs. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't be wearing this." He launched another chakram at her. Yuffie evades it gracefully.

"Eww, so you'd be naked instead?! You're a nudist pervert, aren't you?!"

"Will you drop the pervert thing?!"

"NEVER!"

More sparring.

It isn't until around twenty minutes later, when both of them are sweaty and hot and slumped against the wall of a nearby shop, that Axel stands. "Well, gotta go, kid." Yuffie makes a face, standing up as she crosses her arms.

"I'm not 'kid', I'm Yuffie. Kisaragi Yuffie." Axel pauses, contemplating this for a moment.

"Okay, Yuffie," he says, and Yuffie gets the feeling that he's teasing her. Axel turns to leave, before pausing and walking back towards her. "You got another piece of that gum?"

"Nope, this is my only piece, so sucks to be you, Mister Stinky-Breath--!" And before she can finish her insult, Axel leans forward and grabs her vest, yanking her towards him. His lips meet hers, and for once, the Great Ninja Yuffie is completely speechless.

The kiss lasts for no more than a few seconds, and Axel pulls away (chew, chew, chew), grinning. "Later, Yuffie."

The ninja stares after him, even as Axel disappears from her sight. She regains the working condition of her brain about a full minute later, and makes to chew her spearmint gum before stopping.

"Hey! That jerkwad stole my gum!"

There was not a prompt for this, but the pairing came from Chiisarin's forum thingy.

Ehh...I hoped you liked it, Pen Against Sword!

.oblivion's pen

(Fear the crappiness)