Now don't start to think of that in any suggestive way. Just thinking of doing such a thing with him would cause her brow to furrow, her forehead wrinkling a bit in the process. She honestly didn't know how the idea could even be present in her mind. He was her enemy; he was a nuisance that had to be dealt with and nothing else. Her thoughts were then interrupted, though, by the boy in front of her beginning to chuckle. Well, she would describe it to be more like a cackle. The very sound caused a chill to run down her spine, her fingers tightening even more around the hilt of her precious weapon. Even though she wasn't a fan of hand-to-hand combat, unlike Terra, the key was needed to cast spells at her enemies, which she favored greatly.
The laughter went on for a couple of moments, the sound seeming to echo all around them in the sort of town-center they were standing in the middle of. They had run into each other during the middle of Aqua's search for Ventus, who still seemed too stubborn to actually show up again. Her back was only turned for a second yet somehow he managed to slip through her fingers once more. Wasn't she supposed to be a true Keyblade Master? Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort both approved of the decision, her past master immediately trusting her with a mission that shouldn't have been that hard to begin with. Somehow she managed to mess it all up, sadly, and it would take a lot of work to get everything back in order.
"Sputtering threats at me isn't going to help you, you know." he managed to get out between chuckles, an even larger grin appearing on his revealed face. His mask had been knocked to the side in a tussle they were having only a few minutes ago. Actually it was more like a lucky hit that had managed to keep him from chasing her down long enough to get a good amount of distance between them. Even then he didn't let the attack bruise his ego, instead flashing a smile at her like what had happened was the most amusing thing in all the worlds, which only caused the scowl on her face to become even more permanent-looking.
"Frowning causes wrinkles, in case you weren't aware." his grin then turned into a smirk, a certain twinkle in his eyes making her skin crawl at the sight, "I'd think that you'd be obsessed with keeping yourself presentable. A pretty face like your own couldn't possibly be made naturally, after all," a few seconds of silence ticked by before once again daring to open that big mouth of his, "Aqua." He seemed to be playing with the name, trying to say it in a way that made it seem as though he knew everything about her; there was nothing she could keep hidden from him.
"I don't need any of your fake compliments,-" the keyblade wielder cut off, unsure of what his name was. He may have said it before in one of their previous battles, but she hadn't exactly wanted anything to do with him at the time, causing her mind to pretty much go blank of any information about the infuriating boy. All she remembered of him was his cocky attitude and that mask of his that kept his face a secret up until then. Her free hand balled up into a fist at the thought of his harsh words, openly taunting Ventus without a care in the world. She absolutely hated that all-knowing look about him. His shoulders were pulled back far enough to make him seem intimidating, his legs stretching to add some more height to his form as well as his chin held up high, a smirk still spread across his face.
He didn't seem to be too affected by her sudden pause. It was almost as if he was expecting it. Still, the boy put on a mock look of surprise, a finger reaching up to point at his chest,
"You didn't even bother to learn my name?" he gasped before rolling his eyes, bursting out into another fit of laughter, "Why should I tell you? You're only going to die soon, anyway, so whats the point in it?" he said between gasps of breath, once again beginning to regain his composure. Aqua didn't bother to respond, though. Instead she flicked her hand, letting her arm stretch out beside her to fully show off the keyblade still in her grasp. Her eyes then narrowed at a look of interest that briefly flashed in his own before once again glowing with confidence.
"I'd prefer if I knew the name of my opponent, but I'm not going to bother trying to get it out of you. I've already learned from past experiences how stubborn you can get." she sighed, starting to lose interest in their little argument. Her own words only caused him to look more annoyed as he began to approach, his steps achingly slow as he made his way across the stone ground. She held out her key defensively, preparing herself for any attack he might throw at her. Aqua especially kept looking out of the corners of her eyes just in case he tried to teleport into a closer range. If that happened it would be pretty difficult to get herself a decent ways away from him to attack comfortably. Yet again she could always cartwheel her way around him and give out some blows, but that would be a last resort for her.
The boy was still a good amount of yards away when his body flickered, seeming to split up into many others before disappearing altogether. She swiveled around, expecting to see him attempting an attack from behind only to see empty space greeting her.
"Where-"
"Hey, there." a voice whispered right next to her ear, the person's warm breath brushing against her ear lobe and upper jaw, momentarily causing her body to tense up. It was only a second later, though, that she snapped out of it long enough to swing her body around, bringing the keyblade down upon the space she swore he was standing just a moment ago. Aqua then let her gaze scan her surroundings, a look of annoyance flashing in the blue depths of her eyes. Shes had enough of his games. It was about time she quit playing along and put an end to his "fun."
"I sure hope you're not running from me!" she yelled out, once again going back into a defensive position. Minutes then passed without another sign of him, having her start to believe that perhaps he ran off to cause mayhem somewhere else. She honestly wouldn't be that surprised. He reminded her more of a young child than what she figured his actual age was, which was probably somewhere in his early to middle teens. Maybe he was even older, for all she knew. It didn't exactly matter to her, anyway. After a few more moments of thinking it over she eventually eased out of her stance, allowing her keyblade to hang limply from her grasp. Her free hand reached up to her forehead, brushing off some beads of sweat as she closed her eyes, allowing her muscles to relax for a second before she headed off. Ventus and Terra still needed to be brought back home.
"Have you really given up that easily?" a voice chuckled behind her. Before she could turn around, though, a pair of strong hands clutched her shoulders, holding her in place as the voice's owner poked his head over her shoulder until a mane of striking black hair could be seen by her, as well as a pair of golden eyes looking over her face, that smirk still shaping his lips. Her body then reacted the only way it knew how at the time: spazzing out. She was able to free a shoulder, sending her hand across the pale skin of one of his cheeks while her other shoulder fought for freedom. Her mind was too intent on getting out of his reach for her to notice the mark that her slap had caused, much less his free hand reaching up to touch it, a look of shock on his face.
After a moment his eyes turned dark, his hand reaching around to wrap his fingers around her upper arm, preventing her from cartwheeling away. He pulled with a good amount of strength, causing her to fall into him, his hold easily keeping her from falling to the ground. That would have probably been better for her considering that the other option was his face getting dangerously close to hers, a rather fierce snarl seen as clear as day.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" he seemed to growl, his grip on her tightening as he held her ever closer to him, their eyes only a few centimeters apart. She still didn't answer, though. Instead she only stayed as still as she possibly could, hoping that he would calm down enough for her to use enough of her strength to get away before going all out on him with her keyblade's magic. At that moment all she did was stare straight into his eyes, trying to not show any emotion as she watched the rage slowly disappear from those golden orbs to be replaced by a different emotion, one she couldn't quite put her finger on. They seemed hungry for something. Probably revenge, knowing him. Aqua hadn't known him for long yet she somehow could tell these things about the boy.
Eventually his grip loosened enough for her to back away a bit, getting a few more inches of space between themselves. It was then that his grip tightened very briefly before he pushed outwards, causing the blue-haired girl to fly back a few yards, skidding across the hard ground before coming to a stop in front of a stone wall on the opposite side of the town-center. There were a few scrapes here and there, but besides that she was only a little shaken up, confused as to what he was doing. Well, what he was planning on doing. After a quick check she saw her keyblade a few feet away and began to half crawl/sprint over, only to be stopped be a pair of feet appearing right in front of her, causing to fall back on her bottom.
"What do you want from me?" she seemed to growl, trying to crab-walk backwards. He only kept walking after her, though, until her back hit the stone wall, forcing her to try finding another way out. She tried veering around him but all he had to do was stick his foot out in front of her, that smirk still refusing to disappear as he looked down at her like a piece of freshly cut meat. Aqua even considered dashing between his legs and making a run for it. Summoning her armor would be a pretty good idea, as well. Just as her hand rose to do so, she found him knealing before her, his fingers already wrapped around both her wrists to prevent her from doing so.
He rose his eyebrows at her, almost challenging her to admit to thinking of him not really knowing about the armor. Apparently she was wrong, though. Actually, she probably shouldn't have been that surprised. He most likely saw the other two summon their armor already.
"Do you really want to know?" he murmured, leaning closer towards her as he spoke, only a few inches away from her face. It was then that she really had a good look at his features. Before they had all been full of anger and were most definitely unappealing to her. At that moment, though, the childish look about him reminded her of Ven. She knew that he was actually far from being similar to her friend, but it was nice to imagine that perhaps it was him before her, not some ruthless boy that seemed to have far too much enjoyment out of teasing her and pretty much getting her all worked up over the stupidest of things he did.
Instead of replying, though, she only leaned closer, a glint in her eyes that caused the boy to momentarily pause, caught in her spell as her lips came ever closer to his. At the last minute, much to his obvious surprise, she spat right in his face. Her leg then shot out, making contact with a certain part of his body that caused his face to grimace, his eyes narrowing against the pain as she easily veered around him. His hands briefly grabbed at the air, almost as if shocked by her escape, before putting one hand against the wall as he peered over his shoulder, watching her sprint across the stone clearing.
Aqua didn't have to guess what was about to happen next. A few Unversed appeared in wisps of black, surrounding her in one large circle. Luckily she was able to get a hold of her keyblade in her grand escape, so a look of confidence could be seen in her tilted chin. All she had to do was cast a few simple spells and whisk her blade around for them all to disappear the same way they had come. Without wasting anymore time, the Keyblade Master reached up to touch the piece of armor on her shoulder, flashes of light appearing all around her as she felt her full armor beginning to appear, the added weight not bothering her one bit as she turned to have one last look at her enemy.
The boy seemed to have recovered rather quickly from her kick, a smile once again seen on his face. It wasn't exactly a smirk, though. There seemed to be more admiration behind it, but she was probably only imagining it. A little devil like him only cared for themselves and walked around believing they were the best, as if nothing could defeat them. Aqua had defeated him in the past, actually, but he definitely didn't let that get to him. She sent a scowl in his direction, only to realize that her own armor masked her face, leaving her looking like some sort of robot from the outside. She was practically trained to be that way, though. Her emotions forever hidden from the world. Having any sort of feelings for anyone outside her little group was forbidden in bother her mind and Master Eraqus's. That was just how things were.
"Hey!" she called out, causing him to snap out of whatever thoughts he was plagued with, his golden eyes once again connecting with her blue ones, "I'm still wondering what you wanted from me." Aqua mentally cursed herself for even talking to him again, even after what she was just thinking about moments before. Still, she couldn't help but be curious.
"I'll leave that answer for the next time we meet, princess." that smirk once again returned, flashing at her with all its annoying glory. She then only frowned in response, turning her head away as she summmoned her Keyblade Glider, jumping on with ease before lifting up into the air, causing rays of the setting sun to bounce off it. The boy lifted his hand to shade his eyes, watching as she disappeared to who-knows-where.
"We'll meet again, Master Aqua. I'll make sure of it." he murmured, beginning to laugh once more before disappearing, himself, his laughter left echoing around the empty clearing.