Following Dawn
-VI-
Footsteps pounded down the stairs somewhere in the distance, most likely alerted by her horrified scream, but Yuffie could barely hear them. Her throat, raw from screaming, seemed to be having a hard time taking in air as she stared transfixed at the boy she had met only a few days before, the boy who no longer existed beyond his lifeless body on this earth. The room had not stopped spinning, and Yuffie found herself stumbling back into something hard and warm – a person. Whoever it was caught her arm, but she didn't have the heart to check. Her mind, already light headed enough, was preoccupied in sorting out the images she was seeing before her.
"That's the man we've been looking for… and that's…" a voice said, which quickly trailed off. There was a shout, and Yuffie realized there were now quite a few people in the room, two of whom were picking up Axel by the arm and dragging him up. The person holding Yuffie still hadn't let go of her, though they were tightening their grip on her arm.
"Let's go," a familiar voice said in her ear.
"No… they're taking him," Yuffie said, looking around wildly to see where the men had taken Axel. "What are they doing?" The men, actually officers, were both leading him up the stairs, though she had the feeling that they weren't doing it out of kindness. They were going to question him, even after his seeing such a horrible scene. How could they do it? Did they suspect him?
She turned around and looked up into the face of Leon, who was looking at her with concern, though his own was decidedly pale and shaken. Without realizing it, Yuffie leaned into him, the images of the dripping blood and the boy's lifeless face too much for her. She had to get out of this basement. She could almost smell the smell of blood following her out of that horrible room.
"Let's go," Leon said again, more gently, and this time Yuffie complied. There was nothing she could do. They pushed past officers who were running towards the room, already speaking into their radios for backup. Yuffie was pressed up against the dry walls of the narrow hallway more than once. The basement just wasn't big enough for all of them. But Leon kept a firm grip on her arm, which he slowly moved lower to her wrist for convenience's sake, and led her up the flight of stairs to the light.
The reporters that had been outside had infiltrated the building; apparently the behavior of the police officers, which they had seen through the glass walls of the agency building, had been too tantalizing to resist. They crowded around the lobby now, and though some of the police officers were trying to herd them off, the damage was already done. Leon cursed under his breath and didn't let go of Yuffie as he took her around the back door towards the parking lot closest to the building, reserved for the models. She barely even knew where they were going – she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of that building.
Once they were outside in the air, Leon dropped her wrist. Her mind was clearing slowly, and in the fresh summer air, she felt like she could breathe again, despite the cold images that haunted her mind.
"I can't believe it," Yuffie said, speaking first. It had been the boy she had originally asked for help when Leon had been on the beach photo shoot. Somehow, his death, seeing his body in front of her, seeing his stunted youth, struck her much harder than the simple news of Kreya's murder. Here, blood had been spilled. Yuffie shuddered, feeling chilled even under the warm summer sun. "I can't believe this."
Leon was watching her as if he was expecting her to pass out any second. Any twinges of humor that Yuffie might have felt from his expression were quickly suppressed, thinking of that boy. "Thank you," Yuffie said gratefully to him. He looked surprised. "For taking me out of there. I don't know if I could have moved on my own," she explained. Leon simply nodded in response, and Yuffie smiled.
It didn't feel strange to her that Leon had grabbed hold of her. Somehow, it seemed natural. Even though he had caught her angrily twice in a bad place, and he had even scared her at times, Yuffie knew that wasn't all he was. She felt like she knew him well already, even if she had only known him for barely a week. Yuffie wondered if he felt the same, and then pushed the thought from her mind. Leon didn't seem the type of guy to feel those sort of things.
But neither of them could say anything else, because at that moment two reporters appeared at the same door they had just exited from, ready to ask them questions on what they had seen, no doubt.
"You're Godo's daughter! What were you doing down in that basement, do you have any light to shed on the situation?"
"I…" Yuffie said uncertainly.
"It's Squall, right?" one of the other reporters said to Leon. "And what were you doing there? Do you have any thoughts on the situation?"
"What situation?" Leon responded coldly, then looked towards Yuffie. "Come on."
Yuffie, not wanting to be left to the sharks, followed him to his car. He unlocked the doors and opened the front door, while Yuffie stood uncertainly next to the car. Did he seriously want her to go with him? He looked at her expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Get in."
Shrugging, Yuffie opened the door and slipped inside. She wasn't sure if this was okay – leaving with Leon. After all, Vincent was used to picking her up, but not only that, her father would no doubt be looking for her when he heard the news of what she had seen, and the fact that she had been in the basement at all. For once, she knew more than him on a situation.
Now that they were in the car together, questions came up in Yuffie's mind. Why are you doing this? Where are we going? being the foremost questions she could think of. Yuffie decided to ask neither.
"Did you know him?" she asked as Leon pulled out of the parking lot. He nodded, keeping his eyes carefully fixed on the road.
"I did, but not well. He was one of the newest ones at the agency."
Yuffie nodded and rested her forehead on the cool window, deciding not to speak on it anymore. After what seemed like only a few minutes, when Yuffie was blissfully half asleep, Leon's voice broke through into her dreams.
"Which way do I turn here?"
"Huuuh?" Yuffie asked sleepily.
"I'm taking you home."
Yuffie sat up and realized they were approaching a red light up ahead. "Turn left."
Leon did so, and Yuffie directed him the rest of the way to her house. He pulled into the driveway and idled there, studying the architecture of her home with mild interest. Yuffie reached out to open the door but stopped and turned to look at Leon.
"Why did you do it? Bring me home?" she asked curiously. Leon had to know that she got her rides with Vincent. Even if he didn't, he must have assumed she got home some other way.
Leon smiled slightly. "Bye Yuffie."
Yuffie looked at him with confusion, then narrowed her eyes at him. He wouldn't tell her, huh? Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of begging him to tell her. Yuffie got out of the car and watched Leon pull out and drive away.
It was barely the afternoon yet, and she was already done with work. As she walked up to the door and got out her keys, she thought about something she hadn't before. The state she had found Axel in hadn't surprised her when she first found him. Yuffie had figured he had been so stunned and disgusted that he had been crying like that, and she had felt the same and hadn't had time to think about it at all. But his reaction, and his statement "he killed him, he killed him"… Yuffie wondered whether he actually knew the boy who was killed.
She sighed as she opened the front door and locked it behind her. Normally she wouldn't take the extra couple seconds to do so, but she was feeling more insecure as far as safety was concerned as the days passed by.
As soon as she had taken a quick shower and changed into some sweat pants, Yuffie went into the kitchen to get a snack when she noticed the blinking red light of the answering machine, signaling two new messages. She pressed the play button and rummaged through the fridge, looking for some comfort food.
"Beep. Mr. Kisaragi, this is Mr. Davis responding to cancel a previous business proposition. Sorry for contacting your home phone – I couldn't get through to your cell—"
Yuffie skipped the message, not really caring, though she could only imagine how her father would respond when he heard that message first thing when he came home. As she pulled out some chip dip, a message from her father started playing.
"YUFFIE. Where are you? You just disappeared out of no where! It's insane over here, people are relating you to the accident, I'm up to my ears in complaints and—"
Yuffie angrily pressed the delete button on the answering machine and listened with simmering satisfaction as the neutral male's voice spoke, "Message deleted." First of all, if he was relating that obvious murder to an accident, he was insane, and after what she had seen, he was only concerned about his image? Yuffie felt so disgusted she didn't even feel like eating chips anymore, and shoved the dip back into the refrigerator.
Instead, she decided to watch T.V. and quickly pressed 'power' on the remote control as she plopped down onto one of the leather couches after entering the den. Before she could see the picture on the screen, she was hearing the dialogue between two news anchors.
"We have breaking news that the police have arrested a suspect involving the RM agency case. Local police involved in the investigation say a young man found at the scene of the crime may in fact play a key role in breaking the case – if he is not the case breaker himself. While his identification has not been revealed, our news channel has an unreleased photograph, exclusive here on News Channel 7."
Suddenly, a picture of an unmistakable man popped onto the screen. It was Axel.
Yuffie stood in front of the garage door as it slowly pulled up and retracted into the ceiling. A few cars came into view – cars covered in plastic to keep the dust off, although it would have been fairly obvious to anyone that no one had touched these cars in years, so there was really no point in keeping the covers on them.
She really had no idea what she was doing, other than get into one of the cars and start driving. All Yuffie knew was that she needed to clear her mind. She was angry. Angry at her father, angry at Axel, angry at the news anchors for being imbeciles, and angry at herself for even being angry in the first place.
The roads were relatively empty, even as she drove downtown and followed the roads wherever they led her. She tried paying attention to the road while getting caught up in her thoughts at the same time. How could they have arrested Axel? If she hadn't discovered the boy's body – besides Axel of course – then maybe she would have believed he could have something to do with it. But the state she had seen him in, and what he had been saying before his police escort – no. There was no way he did it. He cared about that boy, whoever he was. Surely, the police would realize that, too.
Before she knew it, Yuffie was in front of the agency. She couldn't remember how long she had been driving, or even what time of day it was. It could have been after closing hours for all she knew. Either way, she parked behind the building and walked through the back doors, which weren't locked. Those really need to be locked up, Yuffie thought to herself, thinking with a chill how easy it would be for any insane person to walk into the building without anyone knowing any better.
The hallways were empty, but that hardly surprised Yuffie. They always were. Still, images of the dead boy haunted her thoughts as she traversed the darker parts of the building. The lobby didn't come into sight quickly enough, but before she could step into the light, someone stepped in front of her vision.
Yuffie gasped and stepped backward, but the person held their hands up quickly. They also took a step backwards, but they stepped into the light. A tall, slender man with dark brown hair parted deeply on one side stared at her with a slight smile, light blue eyes bearing into hers. He looked rather familiar, though she was certain she had never met him before. Or had she?
"Yuffie," the man said warmly. "Don't be afraid. I don't bite. Don't you remember me?"
"Remember you?" Yuffie asked, crossing her arms without realizing it. "No, I've never met you before in my life."
"Oh no, you have," the man said humorously, as if he found this amusing. "Although, to be honest, you probably were too young to remember it… and it has been too long. How long have you worked here, and we still haven't met formally?"
Yuffie remained silent. He laughed lightly and extended his hand. "I formed Rain Models with your father, Yuffie. I'm Laguna Loire… remember now?"
She nodded and took his hand, shaking it once. She did remember the name, though it was rarely uttered within her household. Not for any reason Yuffie could think of; Godo just never seemed to think mentioning his co-owner was very important. Yuffie smiled back at him, for he was beaming now, as if he had just revealed something very special.
"I know now probably isn't the best time for introductions, what with all of the commotion going on, but when I saw you coming I decided to stop you. Ah, you've really grown into a beauty. Hope I didn't scare you too much!"
Yuffie shook her head, embarrassed. Well, this one was a talker. "Oh no, you didn't scare me. I was just… I came back because Go—my dad left me a message at home."
"Oh, I see. Godo's pretty busy right now, meeting with some of the investigators, actually. He should be free soon. I'm a bit busy myself, so I better get going. Well, it was nice meeting you, Yuffie… again."
With that, he winked and walked away. Yuffie stared after him, unnerved. He had seemed so familiar to her (in both meanings of the word – he certainly was friendly), and he had said they'd met before, but at the same time, that had been years and years ago. She watched him walk up the staircase to the second floor and observed he was very good looking. Yuffie wondered if he had ever been a model himself.
"Yuffie! Where have you been?!" a voice called from across the lobby. Yuffie jumped at the tone of the person's voice – the voice of her father.
"Dad! I thought you were in some kind of meeting," Yuffie said uncertainly, walking over to meet her father, who was storming over to her quickly. "I just met Laguna Loire." Good girl, Yuffie. Try to change the subject.
"Do you have any idea what people have been saying? About how you were with that—that scum when he was discovered with the body?!" he asked angrily, ignoring her last statement. Yuffie sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Who cares what they say? What does it matter?"
"What does it matter? It matters to this business! The reputation of this business and me!"
"The only thing that's ruining this business' reputation is all these murders. Did you know that the backdoor to the building was unlocked, Dad? Anyone could come in here and just kill someone if they wanted," Yuffie said, getting angry now. "Don't blame me for walking into a murder scene. I didn't intentionally go looking for the body of a person that I hadn't even known had been killed."
Godo stopped his yelling, but he didn't appear too appeased. "I can see it's no use talking sense into you. You better just be careful, Yuffie. And tomorrow, there is a party you have to be at."
"If I remember correctly, I told you I would never go to one of your parties again."
"It isn't for me, it's for Leon. As his assistant, you need to be there. He might need something, and they might take a few shots of him if they like him. It will be high class. You'll need a nice outfit."
"Dad – just go, okay? Stop dictating to me what I need or do not need to do," Yuffie said just as she started walking away.
"Whether you like it or not, I'm your boss now, Yuffie – more of your boss than even Leon is. And I'm your father. Never forget that."
Yuffie was already a few feet away from him, when she remembered something and turned around. "Axel didn't do it. You better tell the police that. I know he didn't."
Godo smirked. "Did you know that Axel has a history of committing arson and has been evaluated for pyromania? Did you know that he may have set that fire behind the building?"
Yuffie stopped, her jaw dropping slightly. She specifically remembered Axel mentioning that fire before he slipped away. Now she was uncertain – but at the same time, even if he did set fires, did that necessarily mean he would kill someone in cold blood?
"Setting fires doesn't correlate with murder the last time I checked," Yuffie said coolly, though her fists were clenched tightly behind her back, betraying her frustration and anger. "Whatever, Dad. I was there. I saw his reaction. He didn't kill him!"
"Didn't he, though? Did you know the relationship between Axel… and Roxas?"
"Roxas, the boy who was murdered?" Yuffie repeated. "What?"
Godo shrugged, as if he was nonchalant when Yuffie knew he was so far from it. "I heard rumors that Axel… isn't such a womanizer as he would have others believe. That he had something for the boy Roxas. It was a one way street, though."
Yuffie looked at him, stunned. If what Godo was saying was the truth, then she never would have guessed Axel liked men. But when it came to her father, she never knew what was true and false. "Why are you so adamant on blaming Axel? Who cares who he liked and didn't? Who cares what he does as long as he's a good person and doesn't do it anymore?"
"Because, if Axel did indeed commit these crimes, then he needs to be punished. I hired him knowing his criminal history, and I never should have. I'm sorry, Yuffie. I knew you were friends with him."
Yuffie glared. She hated when he did this – switched his moods like this. She shook her head. "I'm leaving. For real this time."
She didn't wait for his reply and walked back towards the hallway she had come from. Coming to the agency had been a mistake. The only thing she had accomplished was meeting the man who had started this stupid agency with her father in the first place.
The text came in late the next day.
Godo told you about the party? It's fancy. Dress well. Meet you there.
Yuffie stared down at the text from Leon and snapped her phone shut. She had to go to a party today of all days. She sighed and stared at her wardrobe, wishing she had picked up something nice. Yuffie also wondered how fancy was 'fancy?' Did she even have anything suitable?
She thumbed through her outfits, finally settling on a form fitting black dress that stopped right above the knee and a pair of heels. The dress lacked sleeves or support of any kind – it stopped a few inches above the swell of her breasts, so she put on a matching jacket for good measure; the kind that stopped near her ribcage. It was a very put together, fancy look – and Yuffie could only claim this because she hadn't been the one to fit them together. Her father had bought it for her from a designer a few years back, but she had been too young to fill out the chest part.
Now as she was turning and looking at herself in the mirror, she realized the dress looked really good on her. Thank god I have boobs now. Otherwise this top would keep falling off… like the last time I tried to wear it…
Yuffie applied a bit of dark eye makeup and lip gloss and pushed a thin black headband in her hair. It was finally finished. She looked like a classy woman ready for a stuffy tea party.
"And stuffy tea party I'm going to get," Yuffie muttered to herself under her breath as she waited for Vincent to come pick her up. She waited outside on the curb then hopped in as soon as he pulled up. Vincent barely even glanced at her when she climbed in.
Yuffie could hardly bear it, even after a minute or so. "Well, aren't you going to comment on my appearance?"
Vincent looked at her from the mirror. "Cute," he said, in such a way that it made Yuffie think he thought otherwise. Why was it that he always made her feel so stupid?
"Thanks Vincent," Yuffie replied.
It didn't take very long to arrive at the hotel the party was hosted at. She could see a few people, mostly couples, walking into the hotel, looking very elegant, and making Yuffie feel that much more childish and out of place.
Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm not one of the models here, I'm just an assistant. I'm allowed to look less nice than them! Hmph.
Yuffie waved to Vincent and walked towards the doors, her heels wobbling slightly as she stepped towards the doors. She wasn't used to wearing shoes with height. Two men dressed in uniform opened the doors for her, and she thanked them, ducking her head in embarrassment; those smiles on their faces had to be laughter at her inexperience in heels.
The whole ground floor of the hotel had been taken up by the party. Clusters of people stood around chattering, holding glasses of wine, champagne, or some other kind of alcoholic beverages, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. Why did Yuffie have to come again?
She stepped further inside and walked around, trying to find a familiar face and felt a sense of déjà vu from the last time she had done the whole party scene.
"Yuffie," a voice said behind her. Yuffie stopped and turned around, finding Leon standing behind her in a tuxedo and holding two glasses of something bubbly. He handed on to her and Yuffie took it uncertainly. "You look…"
"Silly?" Yuffie filled in, the glass cold in her hands.
"…nice," he finished, looking slightly amused. "Did you just get here?"
"Yes…" she said, frowning. "Do I really have to stay long? I don't see any other assistants here. Everyone looks so…"
"Didn't Godo tell you?" Leon asked, looking suddenly uncomfortable. Yuffie was filled with a sense of dread.
"Tell me what?"
"Nothing. Make sure to eat and drink as much as you want before it's all gone. I'll be around."
Yuffie nodded and took a big sip of the drink in her hands. The bubbles tickled her nose, but at least she felt a bit better having something to do with her hands. She walked over to the bar and sat down just as someone started playing the piano in the corner. The bartender was very busy mixing drinks and taking people's orders. Yuffie shook her head when he asked her if she wanted anything.
Yuffie drained her drink and realized she really had to go to the bathroom. She pushed herself off the barstool and looked around for the ladies' room, which would have been easy to find, if there hadn't been such a large crowd in the room blocking her view of the doors and walls. Once she found it she quickly shut herself off in a stall and pulled her dress up. There were a few other women in the room, and Yuffie was unable to bring herself to pee with them in there. It was a silly thing, but she couldn't help it. She hated peeing when others could hear her.
Thankfully, the women had already used the bathroom and were washing their hands. Yuffie waited, squirming impatiently.
"Did you see Leon tonight?" one of the woman asked to her friend, laughter in her voice. "Oh god, he looks delectable.
Delectable? Who the hell says that? Yuffie was only slightly uncomfortable listening to them speak about him that way.
"Mm, he certainly does. Too bad he's had a few women over his house lately. What do you think? Player?"
"I don't care what he is. I'm taking him home with me if it's the last thing I do tonight."
"Oh, you're bad."
Yuffie just about gagged as she waited for them to get out of the bathroom. So much for the classy image these women carried. They were just as trashy as some of the girls at her high school. Old high school, anyway – she was an alumni now.
Finally, they left and Yuffie could carry on with her business. Still, she couldn't help but feel annoyed with the things those two women had been saying. She would have to keep an eye out for any women hanging off his arm tonight.
Yuffie washed her hands, taking her time, and exited the bathroom just as she spotted Riku leaving the adjacent one.
"Riku!" Yuffie exclaimed with surprise. "You're out of the hospital!"
"Yep, good as new," he replied, looking her over. "Wow, you look great."
"Thanks," Yuffie replied, smoothing her dress down self consciously. "It's so stuffy in here. And I don't just mean the weather."
Riku snickered. "I know, but it can't be helped. I have to go find my date. If I don't, she might kill me. No… seriously."
Yuffie looked at him uneasily. "You heard about what happened when you were gone, right?"
Riku sobered a bit. "I did. The police came and found me at the hospital. My mom was pissed. I can't believe it."
"I know," Yuffie said, just as a tall woman walked up to Riku and placed a hand possessively on Riku's shoulder. His eyes widened meaningfully at Yuffie.
"Riku, what's taking you so long? Who is this?" the woman asked, eyeing Yuffie up and down.
"Yuffie, Cecilia, Cecilia, Yuffie."
"Riku, let's go. I'm due to play piano in ten minutes."
Riku waved at Yuffie, looking a bit annoyed at his date, but followed her anyway. Yuffie sighed and went back to the barstool, which was still empty, surprisingly enough. She didn't know what to do with herself. Riku was busy with his date and Leon… she didn't have the heart to go find him. She hadn't been at the agency long enough to know anyone else, other than Axel, and she wasn't even sure he was a model.
In order to have something to do, Yuffie ordered a drink – she couldn't even remember what she had asked for – and started drinking. And she wasn't the only one. Even rich people like free things, and the bartender was being worked to the bone with the amount of drinks he was making. That didn't stop Yuffie from ordering another, then another. She wasn't trying to drink, in fact, she had never been a big drinker. It just so happened that it was a lot better to sit alone and drink than sit alone and stare around at all the other people sitting near her.
The woman next to her struck up a conversation with her, and soon they were laughing with each other like they had been best friends for life. She ordered different drinks for Yuffie, forcing her to try different things once Yuffie told her she wasn't a drinker and was, in fact, underage. The woman seemed to be making it her mission to show Yuffie the world of alcohol, and with three drinks already under her belt, Yuffie was loosened up enough to go along with it.
While Yuffie was getting drunk, the party had escalated from a high class gathering to something a little more loose. Quite a few of the groups had used the drinks to their advantage as well, and the piano was ditched for something a little more interesting.
Most of the lobby had been turned into a dance floor, and Yuffie's new companion (she didn't even know her name) dragged her out and started dancing. Yuffie giggled and joined in, mixing with other groups of people and eventually separating herself from her companion.
Someone pushed Yuffie, whether purposely or accidentally, but either way she found herself in the arms of a man, and dancing with him not soon after. Yuffie wondered to herself why she had hated this party in the first place. She was having a great time, and this man was such a nice dancer…
Yuffie lifted her eyes to his and realized she was dancing with Leon. Something in her mind was trying to shake some sense in her, but her thought were foggy. She just wanted to dance. Leon seemed to be just as uninhibited as she was, and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck in response and followed the beat of the music. She couldn't remember letting go of him the whole night – except to dance with Riku, but that hadn't lasted very long, since his date intercepted not very long into it.
Eventually, though, midnight came and it was then that Yuffie realized how late it was. Wasn't Vincent waiting for her? She couldn't remember, and as soon as she thought of it she had already forgotten him. Many people had already left the party, probably on to better prospects.
"Let's go," Leon said to her for the second time that week, and she followed him willingly to his car. He was drunk, but not too drunk to walk, and he led Yuffie out to the car, who was stumbling a bit. She got into the car and he went around to the driver's side. As soon as he was in the car, Yuffie leaned over towards him. He had been so nice to her tonight. She was hot from dancing, and he had been such a nice dancer. Maybe…
Yuffie put her lips on his, not knowing what she was doing, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and he responded, kissing her back with equal energy. Yuffie put her hands in his hair and he groaned into her mouth as he kissed down her neck. Yuffie sighed and turned her head to allow him better access, but it wasn't long before she was really uncomfortable kissing him over the seats.
Yuffie put her hand over his face and clumsily pushed him away. "No… let's leave."
She didn't have to say much more than that. Leon started the car and pulled out of the hotel parking lot. It could have been five minutes or fifteen minutes when he finally stopped the car. Yuffie hadn't been keeping track. When she opened the car door she nearly fell out onto the pavement. Leon helped her to the door. She had no idea where she was, but that wasn't on her mind. She just wanted to get inside.
Yuffie felt herself fall into another time lapse, and the next thing she knew, she was on the bed, kissing Leon, with no idea of how she got there. She ran her hands over his bare chest and realized she was lying on top of him, her hips straddling his. What was she doing? Were all her clothes on? Yuffie wracked her brain but it was hard to think with his lips all over her. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into him.
Sorry this chapter is a bit late! So. Yuffie's not behaving very well. I guess we'll see what she's done in the next chapter, right?
Please review! I've worked really hard to make sure I got this chapter up before I went to bed (it's four AM over here). It won't take much energy on your part, and I'd be so grateful. Even constructive criticism will do. Pleaase?