A/N: I've noticed I've put a lot of unnecessary shit into this story. And I thought I was going to maybe consider changing it, but then I realized that I don't care. There are also small references to the band Phish in this story. I don't own them, either. Oh yeah and if anybody ever watched Cowboy Bebop…cough

Good morning beautiful

--By Divine Right


"Rinoa," Squall said with a smile. "Alright, alright, you don't have to if you don't want to." Squall backed away from her, taking his hand out from under her shirt

And then there was the seemingly endless buzz of ringing from his alarm clock, and with all of his energy, he sat himself up on his bed and pushed the snooze button.

"God damn it."


Quistis stood outside Squall's crusty bedroom door pounding her fist into the nearly decayed wood. "Wake up! You have a job now!"

Squall rubbed his eyes, remembering this "job" of his. He chuckled. "Oh yeah. Rich people are waiting for me." He rolled off his bed and walked quickly to the door. He opened it, brushed passed Quistis, and walked into the kitchen where Selphie sat. She was on top of the white counter messing with a Rubik's Cube.

"Boy man," she said, grasping the toy firmly and chucking it across the apartment.

"And that's how this place became a hellhole," Squall said to Quistis, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

It was the time of morning that gave you the fresh and early feel. The time that no matter what time of year always feels cold. Just slightly beyond sunrise and 6 am.

"Get used to this, Squall, you have to get up this early just about every day now. You have a student. And go clean up, for heaven's sake. Grunginess can't be accepted much longer." Quistis glared at Selphie. "And you should clean up just because."

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door, followed by Irvine strolling in. "Howdy." He looked at Squall's unsightly form. "What are you still doing here? You were supposed to leave 20 minutes ago."

Squall let out a sigh. "Whatever." He padded off into his room, only to come back out 5 minutes later in proper attire.


"Rinoa!" Caraway hollered up the stairs to his daughter's room. "Rinoa get down here! He's going to arrive any minute now and you better be ready!"

Rinoa rolled her eyes. She was just trying to give her boring look some decency. She didn't want to look like a slob in front of the SeeD.

"I'm getting dressed! Hold on!"

She could hear her father's sigh all the way from upstairs. She didn't understand why he was such a grouchy old man. It's not like she had ever caused him trouble. It was clear that he was just a man with little care for taking care of a child, on a personal level that was. Everyone like Caraway was the same. They hired other people to raise their own children. It was disgusting, and Rinoa knew it.

She quickly grabbed her notebooks and ran down the stairs, nearly falling. "He isn't even here yet, so why do I have to hurry so much?"

Caraway let out a long sigh and walked away. Typical ignorance toward a question he simply could not answer. Rinoa waited by the door for ten more minutes, until Squall opened the door and stuck his tired head in.

"Hey," he said casually, stepping inside.

Rinoa hesitated. "..Hi." It was as if they were meeting for the first time. It had been a night, and the distance had settled in, making her shy all over again.

"So what are we going to do today?" Squall asked her, not making eye contact. Rinoa started to speak, but her father loudly walked into the room and put his hand on Squall's shoulder.

"You should be the one who is in charge of that, Mr. Kinneas."

Squall nodded and started to walk toward the courtyard. "Well…thanks." He motioned for Rinoa to follow him. Rinoa quickly trotted behind him until she was next to his ear.

"You can't be that casual with him, you know."

Squall turned to her and rolled his eyes. "What's he gonna do."

Rinoa stared at him, motionless. "You're unbelievable. Are you sure you're really a SeeD?"

Squall did everything he could to hold back his laughter. "No, Rinoa. I'm not. I'm just an imposter here for no apparent reason at all." He scoffed and opened the door for her.

"You're not being very nice today. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied, and started to whistle. He turned his head back towards where he had entered to see if her father was still standing there. He grabbed her hand quickly and walked into the courtyard. He looked behind himself to her and saw the smile that was growing on her face. "We can have fun."

She pulled her hand away from him. "That's all well and good, but don't just grab me like that. And don't be so unprofessional. I'm here to learn."

Squall chuckled. "Wow," he said under his breath. "I've never seen anything like you before. You're just unbelievable. Just relax for a few minutes, please?" He rubbed his chin. This was going to be impossible. He might as well just quit now.

"Be quiet. Just because I have morals-"

"Morals?" Squall cut off. "That's irrelevant, this is about how you can't just be a normal kid. Yeah, you heard me, you're an abnormal kid. And even better, yes. You are a kid. Embrace it."

Rinoa folded her arms and stared at him.

"Good, you have nothing to say. Let's get started."


Selphie and Irvine sat on the dirty floor of the apartment with their foreheads pressed together.

"Let's play a game," Selphie said, rocking their heads back and forth. "What we're going to do, is get our faces to melt into each other."

Irvine chuckled. "I've played this one before."

Selphie pulled away from him. "No you haven't, don't be ridiculous."

From a distance, Quistis could be heard letting out a heavy sigh.


Squall dug down into his memory as deep as he could to remember what sort of things he had learned at Garden. When he didn't want to remember anything, he turned to Rinoa and tried to think of things they could do to warm up to each other.

"Sit down," he said to her.

"You're rude," she said, but when he sat down, she did as well.

He smiled. He rubbed his chin slowly. "Should I shave?"

Rinoa gave him a weird look. "I'm not even going to answer that question. That's how utterly…immaterial it is. You're not a baby, you can decide that for yourself."

Squall didn't have anything to say back. "What about these pants, should they go? I'm not too fond of them myself. Or what about my hair. Should I keep growing it?"

Rinoa stood up and walked away. This was like a game of cat and mouse.

"C'mon Rinoa!" he yelled to her, and she whipped around.

"You're completely out there, you know that?"

"No I'm not, I try to get to know you, and you want nothing to do with it. To you, because I'm meant to be an instructor, that's where you have to draw the line. It can't go any further. We can't have a more personal relationship."

"No, Mr. Kinneas. We can't. You're absurd."

"I'm not absurd, Rinoa. I'm a normal person. I'm living life. And here I am, trying to help you live."

"Well I don't need help, alright? I've made it this far on my own, I still don't need anybody like you. You're here to help me get into a military academy, and that's all!"

"You may have lived like this all these years, but I guarantee you that it's been an unhappy experience. Day in, day out, you're daddy's little girl. You do nothing. You might as well be a fly on the wall."

Rinoa's mouth dropped opened and she turned away again. "Just go away."

"I can't. I'm here, and you're stuck with me. I know your dad well enough to know that he's too ignorant to even listen to you if you have a problem with me. So I guess you're just stuck with me. Maybe we should try something new, since this isn't working."

Rinoa's head dropped and she put her hands over her face. "You're right. What am I doing."

A pang of sorrow suddenly wiped over Squall. Ten bucks that her father borderline abused this girl into thinking she was a terrible person. Those fucking rich people. "It's okay..I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so harsh." He walked over to her and held her shoulders. They were quivering.

"No, you're right. I'm not happy. You're the closest to outside I have ever been." She took her hands and grabbed Squall's shirt and held onto it. "Please just help me."

Squall nodded. "That's what I'm trying to do."

Rinoa looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Squall's face grew into a frown and he suddenly got the look on his face that had been plastered to his face all those years at Garden, all those years as a motherless boy growing up in a world where all he could do was kill. The look on his face stayed until it felt natural once more, and then he let go of her.

It took her a moment to react, and then she said, "What's wrong?"

From that moment on, Squall couldn't remember why he had started the new life of his. He had gone from being a high ranking SeeD to a radical slob too lazy to even protest. Was it for the good, or for the bad?

"Rinoa..I'm not who you think I am."

Rinoa backed away a little bit, somewhat concerned at what he was about to tell her. His face was angry and serious, one that she'd never seen on him before. "What exactly do you mean?"

He shook his head and his shoulders dropped. His voice shook as he began, "Look at me, Rinoa." He lifted his head and made solid eye contact. He quickly walked towards her until he was literally looking down into her face, due to the height difference. "Can you see any story in my eyes? Do they tell you anything?"

Rinoa remained where she was. "I can see that you're sad," she quietly mumbled. Squall got goose bumps from the feeling of her warm breathe on his face that radiated from her voice.

"What the hell am I doing here?" he said, as he backed away.

Rinoa shrugged.

"Would your father get mad if I left for the day?"

Rinoa's eyes widened. "Well it's the second day, it's only noon, and you don't even have a logical reason."

Squall thought a moment. "Then come with me," he proposed, the expression on his face remaining the same.

"Where?"

Squall laughed and looked down. "I'm not sure."