Flipflops From the Dollar Store
Notes: Hi everybody! For those of you who have read this over already, I'm sorry for the late explanation. If you were confused, I hope this might help clear things up a little! "Flipflops From the Dollar Store" is a story based of an RP between me and Annjirika. As such, there might be relationships between different characters that will confuse you because we developed them primarily in the RP. I'll try and help you out a little!
This story is about a group of friends on their highschool graduation trip (although its not neccesarily a Highschool fic. xD). The RP begins with these characters in college. Yuffie and Riku are best friends who are tipping towards being more. That's the relationship I meant to explore in this fic; Yuffie and Riku beginning to notice that they might be looking a little too long at each other. However, they're both in other relationships. That's why the genre of this fic is friendship/romance, as opposed to just romance. Hopefully, this will all become more clear as I write more...and if not, I hope you'll enjoy the story anyway!
P.S. Annjirika rocks my socks. It is my intention to kill her with this fic. I hope I don't go to jail if I succeed.
Chapter One:
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Sunday, March 15th, 2004. 9:32 AM.
Yuffie Kisragi was hesitant as she gathered her things. Her carry-on bad had slid under the seat…she couldn't find her wallet…there were too many people reaching into the overhead compartments. The plane had only just landed and its passengers were eager to leave, pushing and shoving down the central aisle, gabbing noisily. Yuffie was excited, but it had been a twelve hour flight and she was tired. Maybe it was possible for her to lose him in the crowd…maybe…
"Yuffie!" Riku, tall and grinning, all but launched himself over his seat to reach her. Yuffie scowled to herself, pondering secretly if Riku had suspected she would try to avoid him. "Do you know where we are? Do you? I think you don't because you're wearing your grumpy face."
"There's no grumpy face," Yuffie replied, daring him to oppose her with a glare. Riku was incorrigible, though, and she knew that he knew that she knew that, and forgave him for it. Most of the time. "Rikuuu. I'm tired."
"So I'll carry your bag for you and then you may be free to be excited. Like me." Riku winked and grabbed Yuffie's carry-on from her hands. They'd been friends long enough that Riku knew he had to be quick to get anything out of Yuffie's grip if she didn't want to give it to you. He pulled it over his shoulder, and Yuffie noted with amusement how much larger his bag was compared to hers.
"You're so gay," she teased, poking Riku's bag. "Whatcha got in there? A super jumbo mega box of tampons?"
"I need certain things to be comfortable," Riku sniffed, pushing her forward by the shoulders. "My entire collection of porn mags, for example."
"You're gross and gay," Yuffie turned, following Garnet Bloom up the aisle. "And I can't be excited like you. It's impossible."
She was saved from Riku's reply when the pair of them reached the front of the plane and met up with Selphie. The animated brunette was already in shorts and a halter top, sunglasses perched over her pig tails. She shrieked at them happily, grabbing Yuffie's hand, who grinned. Yuffie was a little more willing to encourage Selphie than Riku. Together, they waited out the end of the line and thanked the attendant. Selphie laughed as Riku nearly launched himself down the stairs.
"Whoa, aloha!" he yelled, ecstatic. Yuffie could see his tanned—even during TraverseTown's notoriously cold winters—arms and freckles and bright, bright hair in the sun, and noticed him. If you've ever noticed a person who you've had memorized for years, you know that it's a strange feeling. It's even stranger if you've been doing it more and more lately, and Yuffie had. "Yuffie, my gorgeous, best friend of friends. Where are we?"
"We're in Mexico," she responded, weirded out (by herself) into obedience. She allowed Riku to pick her up and swing her around once she reached the bottom of the stairs. "And it's hot. And you're sweaty and gross. Put me down."
Riku squeezed her waist and smiled up at her. Yuffie blamed her sudden breathing problems on the heat.
"Riku!" Reno crowed from the top of the stairs, startling both of them. Riku set Yuffie on her feet and turned, waving his arms wildly at the red head. "Do you know where we are, baby cakes?"
"I swear he gets queerer every time I look at him," Seifer muttered, appearing at Yuffie's side from nowhere. He set his bag down at Yuffie's feet and paused to swipe his sweaty hair back. Yuffie sighed with relief, taking her boyfriend's hand. Seifer was just as tired as she was, and they both hated the heat. He was a lot easier to deal with than Riku
"Who?" Selphie inquired with her mean face on. "Your reflection in the mirror?"
"Hey, Selphie," Seifer smirked. She was his favorite person to make fun of in person. "How's your mom?"
Yuffie sighed. Maybe not after all.
Sunday, March 15th, 2004. 2:08 PM.
Yuffie wasn't awoken by the sound of the door being knocked, but by Seifer's irritated growl in her ear as the door was pounded again and again. They were tangled in the blankets, Seifer having stolen all the pillows for himself. Blearily, Yuffie glanced at the clock. They'd only been napping for two hours.
"You gonna answer the door?" Seifer mumbled, blinking green eyes open and quickly shutting them again.
"Why would I do something like that?" Yuffie closed her eyes again, too, poking his leg with her toe. "That's your job."
"S'not."
"Is."
"S'not."
"Is."
"Kisaragi, don't make me hurt you."
Yuffie sighed and pushed the blankets off her legs, ignoring Seifer's smug look at having won the argument. Yuffie would be disgruntled but not surprised to find her best friend at the door. She knew what Seifer was like when he was sleepy, and much as Riku was being a pest (probably on purpose), she didn't want him to get his face smashed in.
"Whaaaaat?" she yelled through the door, provoking an irritated grunt from Seifer on the bed. "Riku, if this is you, prepare your face to be smashed in!"
There was a brief pause in the knocking, and then it resumed twice as forcefully.
"Don't hurt me. This face costs thousands of dollars." Riku threw his hands over his face as Yuffie threw open the door. Yuffie wasn't amused. She wished Riku wouldn't grin like that. "Babe, what are you doing sleeping?"
"Fuck off, fairy man."
All the mirth left Riku's face and he glowered over Yuffie's shoulder, as if expecting Seifer to get up and appear there. There was no love lost between Seifer and Riku. Yuffie and her friend had barreled through the biggest fight they'd ever had, over her boyfriend. But that had been months ago, and Yuffie knew that Riku would behave himself better now. Or at least not say anything.
"We're sleeping because we're tired," Yuffie explained, stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind her. Their resort was filled entirely with high school and college students celebrating their graduation, and the hallways already smelled like booze and puke.
Riku rolled his eyes. "You have to get used to the time difference," he advised. "You'll just be tired all the time if you sleep now."
"You're probably right," Yuffie nodded, and stretched. "But I don't care. I'm tired now, so I sleep now."
Yuffie stilled when she noticed Riku's eyes linger on her briefly exposed stomach. "What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms over herself. That gaze had left a flash of heat in her that had nothing to do with being in Mexico. She didn't like it. "I'm not unpacking your suitcase for you."
"I want you to come down to the ocean with me," Riku grinned. "Selphie and everybody are already down there. There's a live band playing. And hot dogs."
"There are live hot dogs playing…" Yuffie yawned again, shaking her head. "Maybe later, babe. I'm too tired."
"Please? You can sleep on the beach." Riku never hesitated before unleashing the full power of his pout on her. But it wasn't his pout that convinced Yuffie. She knew that in a matter of hours, Riku was going to burn himself out. And then she would have her revenge.
"Fine," she sighed, turning to open the door. Seifer had turned the T.V on, anyway. "Just let me grab my suit."
Sunday, March 15th, 2004. 4:56 PM.
"Selphie, you're a lobster!"
Everyone glanced up as Selphie waddled up from the ocean, bright red and fried looking. Irvine smirked at her, satisfied. The two of them were in an off-again part of their on-again off-again relationship, and earlier than day Selphie had refused to allow Irvine to put suntan lotion on her. She groaned as she flopped herself down on her towel.
"Hey, we match," Reno said cheerfully, resting his bright red head on her bright red back. Selphie squealed in pain and swatted at him until he moved away from her.
"How'd you get so tan?" Yuffie asked Riku suspiciously, sliding her pale arm next to his. They were lying on their stomachs, sharing a towel. Riku was reading Harry Potter and Order of the Pheonix, despite the fact that he'd never finished the first book, because Selphie was making him. Yuffie was picking at a plate of fries. "You look tanner than you did this morning."
"Hmm," Riku mumbled thoughtfully, turning a page without looking at her. "Some of us don't have to wear SPF 4000, darling."
"Yeah, and some of us go to salons to tan and get our nails done," Yuffie retorted, miffed. It wasn't her fault she had a pale complexion. That was all her father. "Is Harry dead yet?"
Riku glanced up, startled. "He dies?!"
"Yuffie, shut up!" Selphie lifted her head and grinned. "Don't spoil the ending!"
"Sorry," Yuffie grinned back, not sorry at all.
"Screw that," Riku muttered, flipping through the pages until he'd reached the final chapter.
Yuffie smiled, stretching her arms out as she looked at the ocean. The waves were low, crashing quietly against the sand. The sun would begin to set soon.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" Irvine inquired, flipping his sunglasses on to his head.
"We can get in for free at Senor Frogs tonight," Reno replied, the richest of them all and ever the master of social planning.
"Senior whata?"
"Senor Frogs," Reno rolled his eyes. "It's a club, guys. Come on."
"Yeah!" Selphie lifted her head. "We can dance and all get really smashed and watch Seifer get really smashed."
Yuffie tried to look defensive but couldn't quite pull it off. Seifer was famous at their school for being an entertaining drunk. Whether it was a fight or his very own personal rendition of Stop! In the Name of Love. Yuffie liked it best after they'd left the party, when Seifer was mumbly and open and cute while they lay in bed. She wouldn't tell the others about that, though.
"I hope he pukes," Riku muttered, but the grin was back when Yuffie shoved his head into the sand.
"I better go find him," she said, getting up. Riku frowned in disappointment but didn't say anything. "I'll see you guys later?"
"Later."
Riku continued to frown at his book while the others looked at each other pointedly and rolled his eyes.
"He so does not die," he mumbled, a few minutes later. "Lying whorebag."