"Come on out, Rikku!" Tifa yelled.
"No!" The blonde replied from behind the bathroom door.
It was going to be her first day of school the next day, under her father's orders.
"If you don't go to school, you'll never be a proper leader!" Her dad yelled at her.
"I don't need damn school to teach me things!" She retorted. "Besides, who said I even wanted to be leader of the Al Bhed in the first place!?"
"Your mother would be very disappointed in you,"
She bit her lip to keep from crying at the mention of her mom. "My mom's dead! What would she care?" She regretted the words that just came from her mouth. 'I'm sorry, mom. I didn't really mean it. I'm just frustrated at dad right now. Please forgive me?' That was her silent prayer she had sent to her mom. The sound of her father's footsteps going away was her answer that she had been forgiven.
All of AVALANCHE was in the room outside of the bathroom in the ShinRa manor. Including Vincent. Tifa sighed and turned to Vincent.
"Think you can get her to come out and show us her new school uniform?" Tifa asked. Vincent nodded and went up to the bathroom door, knocking on it.
"I said I'm not coming out!"
"Rikku, it's just me. They all left,"
Rikku snorted. "I'm a thief, Vincent. How stupid do you think I am?"
Vincent shook his head.
'Host, try the doorknob. It isn't locked,' Chaos told him. Vincent nodded and put his hand on the doorknob. But before he could turn it, Cid's voice bellowed behind him.
"Rikku, get yer ass out of th' bathroom or I'll have Vincent here rip the door off its' hinges!"
"No! This door was just fixed! If you have him do that, you gotta pay for the new door!" She yelled back.
Vincent shook his head once more and turned the doorknob, pushing it open. Rikku turned around and looked at Vincent in shock then to the people behind him. "H-How…?" She purposely trailed off once she saw Yuffie try and peek around him. She frowned, pulled him in and slammed the door shut. "How'd you know the door was unlocked?" She asked, still frowning.
Vincent smirked a bit, but it was hidden by the collar of his cloak. "Chaos,"
"How'd he know it was unlocked?"
Vincent shrugged and looked at her uniform. The skirt was just as short as her normal one, only it was plaid with the colors red and black. The jacket was the same style. Underneath the jacket was just a white undershirt. Rikku shook her head.
"I am NOT going to school tomorrow, you know that, right?"
Vincent sighed. "Rikku, your father – "
"Who cares about my father? I'm not going!"
"I see that. But at least go one day, and if you don't like it, then you can drop out, okay?"
Rikku sighed, blowing a braid out from her face. "Alright."
"Now, the others really want to see your uniform, so c'mon."
The blonde groaned, which made Vincent chuckle a bit, and followed Vincent out of the bathroom.
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After her uniform was awed over, she plopped down on the couch, leaning her head back so she could see who all was behind her. "Okay, so who's all staying for dinner?"
"I can't. Shera's waitin' fer me, so I gotta go," Cid answered and headed for the door.
"I can't either. I promised Marlene and Denzel that Cloud, Barret and I would be back by six." Tifa said and followed after Cid.
"I don't have anything planned for tonight, so I guess I'm staying!" Yuffie smiled and sat down next to Rikku. The blonde smiled over at her and waved good-bye to the others as they left. "Dinner for three. That shouldn't be so hard to make, should it?" Rikku started to get up, but was stopped by Vincent, who put a hand on her shoulder and sat her back down. "No. I'll make dinner; you guys go and do whatever you want for the evening. Be back by seven, though."
Rikku smiled, pushed his hand off her shoulder and stood up.
"Thank you, Vincent," She wrapped her arms around his neck, having to stand on her tippy-toes to do so, and hugged him. She gave him a soft, but quick, kiss on the cheek before letting go of him. If Yuffie saw, she didn't quite care. And he if he was blushing, she didn't see it because her mind was whirling around. Yuffie's voice made her snap out of her thoughts.
"Aw! Now I wanna hug," She smiled and hugged Vincent also. Rikku giggled and headed toward the door, grabbing her sweatshirt and pulling it over her head. "Okay. Come on, Yuffs! I think it'd be really pretty tonight on Nibelhiem Mountains!"
"Coming!" She broke away from Vincent and followed Rikku outside.
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Vincent blinked and watched the girls go.
'Just watch, host. Rikku will come back in three, two one,' Chaos told him. Sure enough, after Chaos said 'one', Rikku came back and went upstairs then came back down with her daggers. Vincent looked at curiously. "Can't be too prepared!" She said as she darted back out of the door.
'How the hell do you know those kinds of things?' He asked Chaos.
'I just do.'
Vincent shook his head and went into the kitchen to start dinner.
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The two girls raced each other to the top, sometimes having to stop because of the monsters that attacked them. Rikku got to the top first and leaned forward, setting her hands on her knees, panting. "I made it first…!"
"I know. Hey, what time is it?" Yuffie asked.
Rikku shrugged and took out a mini cell phone-like thing and opened it, looking at the time. "It's 6:30,"
"That little clock is so cool!"
"I know! And look," she closed it and showed her the front of it. "It has a little penguin face on it!"
"Aw! It says 'Friends', too…It's one of those best friend charms where two best friends each have one, isn't it?"
Rikku nodded. "Yup!"
"Where's the other one? I mean, who has it?"
The blonde smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling out an exact replica of hers, only it said 'Best' on it instead of 'Friends'. "You do." She handed the clock to Yuffie.
"Seriously!? Thank you!" Yuffie smiled brightly and hugged Rikku tightly[OMG it rhymes xD]. Rikku hugged back just as tight.
"Hey, I have something to tell you, Rikku." Yuffie said.
The blonde tilted her head. "Yes?"
"Please don't get mad at me, 'cause I know you like him, too – "
Rikku giggled, interrupting her. "You like Vincent." She finished for Yuffie.
"Yeah. How'd you…?"
"I've known since I saw you tackle him down the first day I met AVALANCHE. He just barely took one step in and WHOOSH, you came and tackled him down, exclaiming 'Vincent!'. I'm sorry, but I just laugh so hard at that now-a-days." She smiled at the ninja.
Yuffie rubbed the back of her head nervously, smiling sheepishly. "I guess it was kinda obvious, huh?"
"Duh!"
Yuffie checked the time. "Omg! It's 6:50! Vincent is soo gonna kill us if we're late!"
"Funny how times flies when you're having so much fun, huh?"
Yuffie nodded. "Race ya again!"
"Alright! On your mark, get set, go!"
Both girls took off running back to the manor.
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Vincent looked up as he heard the front door shut and Rikku's and Yuffie's voices.
"Death Penalty is heavy!" That was Yuffie's voice.
"You actually got that away from him long enough to lift it?" And that was Rikku.
"Yeah! Haven't you?"
"No, just Cerberus."
"When was that?"
"When…well, I'll tell you later. Vincent's in the kitchen and probably heard our whole conversation." Rikku peeked into the kitchen and nodded. "Yup, I was right, he is."
Yuffie smacked her forehead. "Would've been nice to know that a bit earlier, huh?"
Rikku shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs. "And we weren't even one minute late, Vincent. See? Even thieves can be on time!" She smiled up at him. Vincent looked over at her and nodded. She frowned and turned him to where he was facing her.
"No cloak in the house, Vincent," Vincent blinked as she started undoing the buckles on his cloak. Once all the buckles were done, she removed it from his shoulders and walked out of the kitchen with it. Yuffie got up and followed, talking to her in a hushed whisper.
"You were mothering him," Yuffie said.
"So?"
"It also looked as if you two are dating. Are you?"
Rikku blushed and shook her head. "No. I just live here because I didn't have any other place to go and because he was kind enough to let me live here. We're not dating." 'No matter how much I wish we were…,' she added in her mind. 'Wait! Why'd I just think that? I don't – no, can't, wish that. Yuffie likes him, too, so I gotta think about her feelings, since we're best friends,'
She hung up the cloak in the closet, cursing under her breath when it wouldn't stay on the hanger. "God damn – Vincent! I'm putting your cloak in your room since it won't stay on the hanger! 'Kay?" No response. Rikku shrugged and put it on his bed. She then went back downstairs to the kitchen. She went to rub her forehead with the back of her wrist, but found that she still had her uniform on. "Sh – Be right back! I gotta go change out this uniform!" She darted back upstairs, her door slamming behind her once she reached her room. She searched around for something to put on – her room was such a mess! She found a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt that read, 'WARNING: Dangerously Hyper'. She loved that shirt. She quickly put on the jeans and T-shirt and went back downstairs.
"Okay! Done!"
Vincent looked up. "Right on time, Rikku,"
"And once again, I'm not late!"
Yuffie giggled.
Rikku looked over at her. "What?"
"Your shirt,"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"It's funny."
"Thank you."
Yuffie
looked up at Vincent. "Did you see her shirt?"
Vincent shook
his head.
"Then read it!"
Vincent turned around and read over Rikku's shirt, letting out a low chuckle after he finished. "Dinner's ready," He placed a plate in front of Yuffie and one in front of Rikku then placed one down for himself and sat down. Ring ring. Now who would be calling at dinner time? "I'll get it!" Yuffie said as she jumped up out of her chair and picked up the phone. After a few moments, Yuffie turned to Rikku. "It's for you." The blonde blinked and took the phone, walking out of the kitchen. Vincent looked up at Yuffie. "Who was it?" He asked.
Yuffie shrugged. "Her father's assistant or something."
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"H-He's what?!" Rikku whisper-shouted into the phone.
"I'm sorry, miss Highwind, but we found him on the floor near his desk dead."
Rikku fought back the tears. "A-Alright. Is there a date yet for his funeral…?"
"If you want a funeral for him, you'll have to make the arrangements, since you're now the leader,"
"I don't – no, can't – be the leader! Find someone to substitute me until I can, okay?"
"Anyone in particular you'd like to take over?"
"Gippal's mom, Christine."
"Alright. We'll have her put on the throne until you're ready to take it yourself,"
"Thank you, Leah." She hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen.
"Who was that?" Yuffie asked.
"Leah, my dad's intern, organizer; whatever you wanna call her. She helped him with events and stuff."
"Why'd she call?"
She fought back more tears and took a deep, shaky, breath. "She called to inform me that…my father's. . .dead." She heard her voice break as she said the last word. Not wanting to cry in front of them, the blonde ran up to her room, shutting the door behind her. Yuffie blinked and looked over at Vincent. ". . .We need Tifa."
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A/N – Okay, so end of chapter one of my new FanFic! I think I might've confused some of you with the time period, correct? Well, this takes place a month after my other one, Face Down, Gippal, [since this is the sequel]. Rikku has already had her abortion. Aand I think that should clear things up, no?[: R&R!
