On second thought, this story is going to be uploaded completely unedited from it's original state.
SOmeday I may go back and redo it. Prolly not.
One little thing you should know about people's age (or maybe two tidbits): Selphie is like, Rikku's age, which means two years younger than her age in the game (and Leon.) Sorry to any hardcore Selphie fans who are upset by this.
Okay, from here, you can make up what ages they are, but I'll tell you what grade they're in: In grade 11 (11th grade) is: Cloud, Leon, Sephiroth, Brother, Tifa, Aeris, ...Seifer, and anyone else who should be their age, I guess... You can figure it out... AND IRVINE. :)
Grade 10 (10th grade): Gippal, Yuna (But she's a year younger), Tidus&Shuyin, Sora&Ryo, Riku(he was born like, right before the cut-off date), Wakka(Also born before cut-off date),Um... Lulu, Paine (born right after the grade 9 cut-off date, so younger than the rest), and pretty much...other people their age. Oh, yeah... Yuffie, too. Kairi as well.
Grade 9 is just like, Rikku, Namine (Grr...), Selphie, and... um... (I'm trying to think here!) Well, I'll get to that when they actually come into the story... Oh. Seymour's in the 10th grade too... :)
My apologies for this horrendously long author's note... I hate them, but this fic is so confusing, I kind of had to put it in...
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LIFE FROM ALL SIDES
CHAPTER 06
Grinning, Tidus headed to the spot where Yuna was standing. Just as he came to a stop in front of her, she slammed shut the tiny book she was writing in, and looked up with frustration. Quickly, her look turned to embarrassment.
"Oh! Tidus," she said, "You're... Right there. What a surprise..." Slowly, Yuna smiled at him.
"Uh... Yeah. So Yuna... How come you're going on the bus? Don't you usually get a ride with Rikku?" Tidus asked.
"Oh, that," she replied, "Well, see, Rikku's in a bit of trouble and has to stay after school, and Brother... He's... got some... friends coming over, see? I don't want to get a ride with them when Rikku's not there..."
Tidus thought for a moment. "Even so, you shouldn't go on the bus. It's where all the smokers and perverts go, you know? They get all touchy and they hassle you and stuff. Couldn't Cloud give you a ride?"
"Well... His car is full," Yuna replied. The hurt in her eyes was obvious to Tidus. He doubted it was a matter of Cloud's car being filled.
Tidus thought hard. Yuna would have to walk. He could not allow her to go on the bus. Not just because he cared, either. He knew how upset Cloud, Sora, and Ryo would be if they found out she was on the bus with the Perv Gang, which is what the called the perverts in the school.
"Hey! Yuna, how about I walk home with you? I'm going to your place, anyways, and it'd be a lot less dangerous for you!"
Yuna grinned. Jumping forward, she said in an extremely excited, girly voice, "Really? I mean... You'd do that?" Her face fell. "Oh, but it's so far."
Tidus blinked. He knew Yuna lived quite a bit away, but it wasn't really THAT far. They could make it with half an hour walking. Actually, they could walk to his house and call Cloud for a ride!.. And maybe do some stuff in between. He smiled.
"I have another idea!" he exclaimed. Yuna looked at him. Just as Tidus was about to elaborate for her, Sora walked up.
"Yuna," he said, "What are you doing at the bus stop?" Yuna told him about Rikku and Brother, and Sora looked like he would burst out laughing. "Yuna! Why don't you just come with us? Jeez. Must girls always complicate things?" He shook his head.
"But, Sora," Yuna persisted, "Cloud's car is FULL. There's no room!"
Sora blinked. She was right.
"Well... In any case, you're not going on the bus. Come." Sora grabbed Yuna by the elbow, motioned to Tidus and headed towards the car. Tidus frowned. Sora had ruined his plan. Slowly, he trudged after them.
As they reached the car, Cloud looked up and raised an eyebrow. "She's going with you," Sora said. "I'll walk... Tidus. You- come with me." He then grabbed Tidus by the elbow and then began walking... Back to the school?
"Sora!" Tidus shouted, "Stop! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Behind him, Tidus could hear all occupants of the car begin to laugh. He threw a desperate look over his shoulder. Everyone but Ryo and Yuna looked like they thought his distress was hilarious. Yuna just looked really nervous, and Ryo... Well, Ryo and Sora were always coming to school at different times in the morning, and they had different classes, but other than that, they were practically always together.
Tidus heard the school doors swing open, and Sora marched straight through the school. Finally, they came out back to where the football field was. Sora let go of Tidus' arm, and began walking towards the fence at the other side of the school grounds.
"Are you coming?" he asked Tidus.
"Well," Tidus replied, "No. I wasn't planning on it." Sora turned around and glared at Tidus and he decided that he'd better follow. Something about the glare told him he had better follow. Once they'd reached the other side of the field, Sora began to climb the fence. "What are you doing?" Tidus burst out at him.
Being careful not to fall, Sora swung around to face him and said with an extremely calm voice, "Taking a shortcut. Come on."
He continued to climb and Tidus soon followed suit. As he made his way up the fence, Tidus realized that he had to do something before Sora became a mini-Cloud. When Sora had explained his fence-climbing reason, he'd sounded... Cold. Sora wasn't like that, but Cloud was. Tidus didn't like Cloud. Well, he was okay. Sometimes. Maybe.
Sora easily leaped off the other side of the fence, and Tidus struggled to repeat the action. Clearly, Sora had come this way more times than anyone realized. Which meant more than zero.
"Sora, man," Tidus complained, jumping off the fence, "How do you know this is a shortcut? You always get a ride with Cloud. You never have a chance to take any shortcuts."
Tidus waited with unease, but Sora never answered. Tidus followed Sora through the woods for a long time in silence.
After what Tidus presumed to be about 7 minutes, Sora said, "I don't use it as a shortcut. Just as a... walking path."
Tidus knew that was all the answer he'd be getting, true or not- although something in Sora's voice told him it wasn't- so he didn't push. Sora continued to weave around the trees ahead of him, taking turns, and going this way and that. Tidus decided that they had to be lost, but soon realized he was wrong. After a twenty minute walk from when they'd left the school, Sora pushed through some trees, and Tidus found himself in the backyard of a fairly nice-looking house. They walked past it, and Tidus jumped when he heard yelling from inside.
"...Sora?" he started, but was cut off.
"Ignore it," Sora said and continued walking. Tidus frowned. The house was certainly nice, but the family inside didn't sound too kind. Tidus was surprised when they walked to the front yard. They were just down the street from Sora's.
"Dude," he breathed. "THAT'S LIKE, TEN MINUTES CUT OFF THE WALK!"
Sora turned to look at him. "I know."
Sora walked off, and Tidus followed. When they got to Sora's house, and entered the large room that Sora had claimed as his 'music room' Tidus' visit was short. As soon as he entered the room, he was dragged out by Ryo.
In the hallway, Ryo nervously started to talk. "Okay, Tidus, I know I wouldn't tell about the Yuna thing- and I won't- but... About the Jewel CDs. I just..." Ryo frowned. "Who told you?" Ryo threw a nervous glance over his shoulder. He looked at Sora, whose face was inches away from Riku's, glaring almost angrily at him.
Tidus watched Ryo and followed his gaze to see Riku and Sora locked in what appeared to be a death-match staring contest. They tended to be over-serious about... Everything when it came to outdoing each other. He looked back at Ryo and instantly felt a slight pang of guilt.
"Hey, Ryo," he started, "Don't worry. Sora didn't tell me." Ryo looked surprised that Tidus had known what he was thinking, so he continued. "I have a twin, too. I know what it's like... To, you know, be upset over that sort of stuff."
"Right," Ryo said. Then, his expression changed. "Wait. YOU have a twin. Twins tell each other most everything... Well, you know in my case, I know not all twins get along so famously... But... Yeah!" Ryo stamped his foot on the ground. "Shuyin! HE told you. Oh..." Tidus frowned. Uh oh. Tidus hadn't told Ryo that Shuyin had told him but now Ryo knew anyways.
"Uh.." he began, but before he could finish Ryo had plastered a look of no emotion on his face and waked back into the room. Tidus could tell that he was up to no good, so he quickly followed. As he walked in, set on following Ryo, he felt a tug on his sleeve and found himself being dragged to the platform that the instruments were on. As he helped plugging in amps, he realized that if Shuyin and Ryo got in a fight, it would be his fault. Shuyin hadn't exactly told him, so much as been forced to spill the beans. Tidus had heard a bit about the Jewel thing when Sora and Ryo were talking near him one day, and had decided he'd wanted to know the rest. Nervously, he watched them as he set up.