I do not own this characters in any way, shape, or form. Square-Enix does.
-Begin-
Kairi stifled another yawn, placing her pencil down on her notebook to rub her weary blue orbs. Glancing at the tiny, yellow digital clock on her nightstand, she took note of the time.
1:22.
A pitiful whine escaped her lips, head collapsing into her paper covered desk. The 20+ year old had been studying for hours, and the anxious redhead felt like she hadn't gained any sort of beneficial knowledge in the least. Head still lying in her barely legible study, she moaned pathetically to herself, fighting of the yearning wish for time consuming slumber. Silently cursing the school system and impossibility of living off a menial, minimum wage job, she willed her heavy head off the wood, her usually immaculate hair now comically disheveled, adding an exclamation mark to her frustration. This day was not unlike the other sleepless nights she had began to lose track of in the past months, and she didn't like this particular one any better than she liked the last.
Eyes droopy, she began going over yet another excruciatingly detailed retelling of some former war in a foreign, ancient, long forgotten land. Her eyes slowly scanned the next sentence as she learned the effects the battle had on goat herding. Her eyes moved to the next sentence, as it informed her about the effects the battle had on goat herding. She read the next part of the paragraph, which mentioned the after effects the war had on goat herding. A full minute passed before the 20-something year old realized she had just re-read the same sentence repeatedly, and still had no idea what effects the war had on the herding of goats. Her body went slack yet again, which resulted in another meeting with her skull and polished wood.
Maybe being a waitress for the rest of her natural born life wouldn't be such a bad thing. She was certain that was the only way she'd be able to get some sleep. Head rising from the desk, she shook the cobwebs out, quickly dismissing that thought when she realized it meant she'd forever work next to that creepy Wakka kid. Shoving the thought of Wakka and his lame blitzball related innuendos far from her mind, she focused her eyesight back on the task at hand.
Then quickly refocused it as her blue eyes began to cross.
Rubbing her hands vigorously across her face in hopes that the friction would wake her up, she hastily picked up her pencil, determined to finish her violent study session. Time seemed to drag on at a snail's pace, but it continued nonetheless. Scribbling notes in her notebook she deemed important enough to possibly remember, trying desperately not make up a list of what else she'd rather be doing, she began to lose herself completely in the study, time passing.
The sound of synthesized music interrupted the silent room, enticing a scream from the startled girl.
Exhausted and upset bordering on the point of insanity, she glared at her phone with a hate that is usually only found on the face of manic serial killers. She reached for her phone, fully intending to place a curse on the person who dared to call her at this time of night. Her eye's searched for a name on phone's caller ID, but she was only rewarded with a set digits. This particular number didn't happen to be in her phonebook. Fighting the urge to hurl the phone out of her second story apartment window into oncoming traffic, she blinked a handful of times, trying to steady her vision long enough to see if the number happened to be one she knew.
She instantly recognized this particular series of numbers, despite the fact it hasn't been in her phone's memory bank in over four years.
Kairi held the phone in her hand, unsure of what to do. Certain she was mistaking, she was tempted to just toss the mobile on her bed and dismiss this whole occurrence as a strange coincidence. After all, how could she possibly remember a number after so many years? The only problem was she was absolutely positive she recognized that series of numbers. Five seconds passed, while Kairi lamely held onto the phone, music ringing in her ears. 10 seconds.
11 seconds.
Kairi's thumb slid across her phone's screen on its own accord.
"...Hello?"
"... Uh..." A female voice stammered out so quietly Kairi could have passed it as static. No one said anything for a few seconds.
The silence was so thick Kairi was sure the only thing she could hear on the other end was the other's heartbeat.
A nervous chuckle interrupted their battle of most-awkward.
"...Heh... Kairi?" The voice asked, a little shaky.
"Yes," was all she said. It was the only thing she had an answer to right now.
"Uh... Hi." Awkward.
"...Hi Yuffie." Equally.
"Hey, Kairi." Yuffie said. The sound of the Chocolate-haired female voice sent a strange sensation down Kairi's spine. One she didn't particularly like. "How's it going, Kairi?" Yuffie asked her, a little bit louder than she had to be, as if volume of voice would bypass the awkwardness of the phone call.
"...What do you want, Yuffie?" Kairi hadn't meant to sound so cold. Honestly, she didn't know how to sound at all. She didn't know why she didn't just hang up the phone. It was still a mystery why she answered the call in the first place.
Kairi could almost feel Kisaragi wince at the unusual blankness of her voice. "I just... I just wanted to know how you're doing, Kairi..." Yuffie almost muttered into the receiver. The red-head just blinked. She felt dead tired, and it had nothing to do with the lack of sleep. "You know, how you've been and all?"
"It's really late, Yuffie." Kairi finally managed to say, replacing her initial question of 'Why did you call?'
"Yeah... I know..." Yuffie apologized. Kairi thought she a gulping sound. "I'm... I'm sorry for calling. So late. I guess I just lost track of the time." Kairi was unsure of the exact meaning of that last statement.
"Yeah." Kairi said.
"So, how have you been?" Yuffie asked, suddenly loud, as if making trying to get over the sheer uncomfortable-ness of the situation by force. Or perhaps she had been trying to speak over the noise in the background.
"Yuffie, are you at a bar?"
"What? No-" A voice in the background suddenly shouted.
"Last call!" Kairi was able to make out.
"Ok, yeah." Yuffie admitted. Kairi frowned.
"You're still a drunk, I see. I was hoping you would have grown out of that by now." She could hear the pain this statement had caused. Yuffie just gave a small noise. "Say hi to Axel for me."
Kisaragi decided to bypass the passive-aggressive shots.
"Look, Kairi, would you possibly want to meet up tonight? I was thinking about going to that coffee shop right across the street from here. You remember where that is right? I... I miss you."
"...It's really late, Yuffie."
-Yuffie-
Yuffie stared blankly into her quickly emptying glass. Music blaring from the neighboring jukebox to her right; she struggled to tune out the much distracting track. Truth was, the Raven-Haired princess found everything currently a distraction. Kisaragi took another gulp of her alcoholic beverage. Another Distraction.
"Refill, Yu?"
Yuffie hadn't even noticed the Red-Headed barkeep return, but she didn't bother acknowledging his presence with anything more than a nod and a shrug.
Reaching under the bar for her favorite brand of Whiskey, Axel topped her drink off. She didn't really acknowledge this either. Her friend did a quick sweep of the bar, making sure the other patrons were currently content for the time being, before he leaned in towards the woman.
"Hey Yu, you ok?" He asked, concern leaking into his voice as he cocked an eyebrow. "You're scaring the other drunks." He joked, slightly chuckling at his wit. A few seconds passed before the girl nodded lamely. Axel examined his friend, trying to figure out if she was genuinely troubled or just very, very drunk. He couldn't ponder much longer however; a blonde male at the side of the bar was trying desperately hard to grab his attention. Walking away from Kisaragi for a moment, he put on his best fake smile, leaving her to wallow in her own private thoughts. Course, they weren't private in the sense that she was the only one in her mind.
The Asian beauty caught a quick glimpse of her tired face in her liquor and struggled hard not to imagine that they were another pair of eyes of the brightest blue that stared back. Yuffie quickly downed her drink, emptying the glass. There was pain in her throat and chest that had little to do with the sudden consumption of booze. She looked up in time to see the returning barmaid.
"Hey Axel," She began, the slightest slur in her heavy voice. "You ever do sumthin' that you regret?" She asked. Axel laughed, sweeping some wayward strands of hair from his face. "Look, Honey, if you're talking about missing your chance to sleep with yours truly, well sorry but that ships already sailed." He said with a cocky grin. Yuffie snorted. "As for regrets, yeah, I got a few. I mean, look around." He said, motioning around the dark, dank bar. Yuffie could see the point he was making. Axel began to frown, worried about one of his closest friends and best customers.
"Look, Yu." He said, leaning in close. "Does this have anything to do with a certain Red-head?" He asked, even being sure not to make a joke about himself. Yuffie didn't say anything, which was as good as a confession. Instead she just let out a small hiccup to herself. Axel sighed.
"Look, Kisaragi. That was years ago. You haven't spoken to her in ages. When are you finally going to let it go?" He stressed, placing his slender face in his right hand and staring at his friend; his face was a mixture of condescension and pity.
Yuffie hated that look.
"Don't talk to me like that." She said, her brows furrowed in anger. Axel cocked his own perfectly shaped eyebrows in response. He questioned what she was talking about.
"Like I'm... immature or stupid, a drunk. "Yuffie hiccupped again.
"I didn't say any of that, honey."
"Your eyes did."
"Your eyes are barely open."
"Shut up."
Axel rolled his eyes at his friend and stopped leaning on the bar. He looked around slightly, seeing if there was anything that needed his immediate attention. The drunks at the end of the bar certainly looked like they could be milked for a few dollars/ tended to. He looked back at his friend before he left to dealt with them however.
"Look," He started again. Yuffie absolutely hated when he started with 'look'. It usually meant a monologue of some sort was following. "It's been far too long for you to be far too cut up about this. I know this girl was your first..." Axel made circles with his hands, looking off into the distance as he tried to find the proper words for his spiel. "...Whatever she was. But how many times do you spend in this bar, wallowing in some sort of self pity-"
"I don't wall-"
"You wallow." Axel cut her off, his voiced raised. He was making it obvious that Yuffie was not allowed to interrupt this monologue. "I don't know what happened, and really, I don't care. Make that face all you want, but it's time to just finally get over her."
Yuffie opened her mouth to speak, but closed it suddenly; the words she had were lost before she could speak them. Instead, Yuffie shook her empty glass at Axel. With another roll of his eye, he filled up her drink.
"I might sound insensitive, but frankly, I don't care anymore. It's time to just stop, before you end up doing something really stupid. I mean, it's not like you can just call her out of the blue. It's pointless to think about. You understand?
"...Yea'."
"Got it memor-"
"Shut the hell up." With that, the redhead smirked and walked away. Yuffie absolutely hated when someone told her she was being stupid. Or was going to do something stupid.
The great fuckin' Ninja Yuffie was not stupid. Oh hell no.
She swigged the rest of her drink down quickly, the burning of the whiskey and her friend's speech lit a fire in her chest. No one tells Yuffie what the hell to do. Oh no.
Yuffie started pulling out her phone.
Yuffie does what she wants, she steals what she wants, she drinks what she wants, and she talks to whoever the hell she damn wants. Everyone else be damned.
Before she knew it, she had punched some numbers into her phone, without even thinking. She was out to prove a point.
Yuffie is not stupid.
The call she wasn't really sure she was making had been made; the phone ringing when she didn't really know if she was on the phone. She held the receiver in to her ear, still thinking to herself. A long time had passed on the phone, but Yuffie didn't notice. Yuffie wasn't even sure what she was doing at this point. Yuffie was not stupid, however. It felt like minutes had passed, and she was still holding the phone to her ear. Yuffie was certainly not stu-
"...Hello?"
Fuck, this was stupid.
"...Uh..." Yuffie stammered, suddenly really unsure of what to do with her body. She kept moving awkwardly in her seat; her eyes were roaming around constantly, as if searching for something that could help her in this situation. They found nothing except a returning bartender, who just so happened to notice the phone in her hand, and who's face just so happened to be bunching up into an unmistakable look of rage.
'What the hell are you doing?' His lips mouthed.
Yuffie stammered some more into the receiver, either to the person on the phone or to her friend she didn't know. Yuffie didn't know what to do; it was like she was caught in some sort of corner. The proverbial 'rock and a hard place'. She did the only thing she did when she was confused and scared.
She laughed.
A small chuckle escaped her lips; she had absolutely no idea why.
"...Heh... Kairi?" She asked, licking her lips. Despite drinking what feels like her own body weight in alcohol, her throat and mouth had never felt drier. She just so happened to notice that Axel just to happened to hear who she was speaking to. She turned away as he started to cross his arms and mouth angry obscenities she didn't hear. Oh God, please, just say something. Anything.
"...Yes."
Oh God, why didn't you say something else. Yuffie closed her eyes; she felt her whole world shaking. It was as if the universe was shaking her in anger that she would do something so... Well, so fucking stupid. Even the universe thought so.
"Uh... Hi." Smooth. So damn smooth. Why am I doing this? She opened her eyes. Axel had retreated somewhere else, either leaving her to have a private, useless conversation, or being so disappointed in her he couldn't stand to look at her anymore. Yuffie couldn't blame him if it was the second one. Yuffie couldn't even stand to look at herself anymore. Not that she could right now anyway. God, why did she drink so much?
Oh, right. Because she hated thinking clearly about all the stupid stuff she did in her past-
"...Hi Yuffie."
And now.
"Hey, Kairi." She said. Her voice sounded weird to her; it was as if she was forcing herself to sound happy and sad at the same time, somehow addressing that she knew she shouldn't be doing this but that she had no reason not to be doing this. Her thoughts were so drunk that she didn't even make sense to herself anymore. "How's it going, Kairi?" She repeated her name more than she needed too.
Maybe she didn't believe it was actually the so called Kairi she was speaking to. No, Yuffie couldn't talk to Kairi anymore. Not at all. And fuck, was she always this loud when she spoke?
"...What do you want, Yuffie?" Yuffie's head almost smashed into a bar. Kairi didn't need to be loud, but that still felt like it was shouted in her ear, along with every obscenity Yuffie ever uttered; every insult Yuffie ever heard. That's what Kairi was saying in those... Five words?
Yea, five.
"I just... I just wanted to know how you're doing, Kairi..." Yuffie couldn't raise her voice past a whisper. She knew she was saying things she shouldn't be saying. Her eyes began to search around for another way out. She couldn't find one, so she kept speaking. "You know... how you've been and all?"
You know, since we don't talk anymore, and were never going to talk again, but as usual, I had to go fuck it up and now I'm drunkenly calling you because I'm stupid and immature and drunk?
Kairi said nothing at all. Her speaker as silent. Perhaps she had hung up. Perhaps this was just some sort of drunken hallucination of some sort. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her because she rarely sleeps, and eats, or-
"It's really late, Yuffie."
Nope, she's here. And she definitely knows/remembers that I'm stupid and immature and drunk.
"
"Yeah... I know..." Yuffie's hand wrapped around her glass again; she raised it to her lips, but there was nothing but maybe three drops left. She really needed to remember to take it slow when she drinks. Shooting the rest of the alcohol, or whatever was left, into her mouth, she swallows. Her throat was so dry it hurt.
I'm... I'm sorry for calling. So late. I guess I just lost track of the time." It's totally possible to lose track of years, right?
"Yeah." Kairi said, answering her question she didn't ask.
"So, how have you been?" Kisaragi nearly shouted; Axel had returned to shoot her dirty looks and more unheard obscenities. The drunks seemed to be entertaining themselves and had no more need for Axel. A blonde man seemed to be jokingly pushing a smaller brunette, who had a frown on. For fucks sake, they were loud.
"Yuffie, are you at a bar?"
"What? No-" Yuffie lied. Yuffie was never at bars. Yuffie hated them.
"Last call!" Axel suddenly shouted to the group of people. Either that was horrible timing, or Axel was just a colossal dickhead. Right now, it was both. Yuffie grimaced as though she was hit.
"Ok, yeah." Yuffie was always at bars. Yuffie loved them.
"You're still a drunk, I see. I was hoping you would have grown out of that by now." I grew into a bigger one, does that count? Also, when did you learn to take shots like this, Kairi?
Perhaps in the years it's been since I've last seen you/spoke to you/made you realize of my existence?
"Say hi to Axel for me." The last thing Kairi wants to do is mention this female to Axel anymore. As it is, she can feel his glaring stare of hate from across the room. Yuffie's head dropped.
"Look, Kairi, would you possibly want to meet up tonight? I was thinking about going to that coffee shop right across the street from here. You remember where that is right? I... I miss you." The words were said before she even realized it. The feelings were there before she even addressed them. She missed, she wanted, she yearned. Monologues and warnings be damned. Everything else be damned.
"...It's really late, Yuffie."
Trust me, I know.
"I... know, Kairi. But. You know..." Yuffie's voice was starting to crack; her slurs were different now. It was as if her voice didn't want to speak into the receiver of the near broken phone. Yuffie hated this, she hated Axel, she hated herself, she hated alcohol.
She missed Kairi.
"Well, you know... I was gonna go there... I just thought, it would be nice..." To pretend none of this happened and we were still super close and promised to never forget each other?
When did Yuffie become so damn whiney?
"... I'm really busy, Yuffie..." You were always busy, Kairi. That never stopped-
"I totally understand. Totally." Yuffie forced her voice to be casual, as if this wasn't some important, buried matter that had been weighing on her mind for as long as she's been drinking.
And she's been drinking for a long time.
"It was nice to hear from you." It really was. Was it? Yes.
"...If you're too stubborn to call a taxi, drink a lot of coffee before you decide to drive." Ha.
"I will." Yuffie always drinks a lot of coffee. The alternative was passing out; who really wants to sleep anyways?
"Maybe some other time." Yuffie's voice was casual. "''Night, Kai."... ri. "Bye."
"...Goodbye, Yuffie." Kairi hung up the phone. Yuffie dropped hers on the bar.
"I am never giving you alcohol again, Yu."
Kairi hung up her phone, but that didn't stop her from staring at it for many moments. Her studies were dull, boring, and monotonous.
That was not.
That was a waste of time, is what that was.
Kairi quietly placed her phone on the desk in front of her, right next to her keys, a bare ring with only a car key, a door key, and a small, tiny moogle.
One that was a gift.
Kairi returned her tired, delirious eyes to her very costly, nearly worthless book. She just had to get her studies done. She resumed her reading, searching for anything that could be used as a note. It was just very difficult with her eyes wandering towards her keys.
"No." She said out loud, to nobody but herself and the walls. "I have to study."
She tried reading again, but her eyes soon glanced at her keys again. That stupid moogle was mocking her.
"No." She repeated, and got up from her uncomfortable chair. She turned and walked towards her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
It was silent for a long time.
Until she opened the door with a bang and walked back towards her study station. Why is goat herding so boring?
Her eyes glanced at her keys one more time.
-End-
Author's Notes:
So, I've had this story unfinished in my computer for about...3, 4 years now? I just came across it again and decided what the heck, I might as well finish it (it was literally mid sentence). I tried to keep their personalities a little in character, but I totally understand that it doesn't come across like that at all. Either way, if it seems like the writing style changes, that because well... my writing style changed? Anyways, review please. Tell me how awful/amazing/existing this story/my writing is!
/I do not think my writing is amazing, don't worry.
:D /USecrets