Ya-haw! 7th chappy out! Wow, I'm really working fast here, already the 7th chapter is out (although I'm happy bout that :p) maybe I should take a day or two off. Just kidding ^^ Hope you guys like this one! I made it more lighter than the last chappy (cuz it's so dark, in my point of view ==) Enjoyyy!
CHAPTER VII: Bonding Time With Big Sister Fang
It was very quiet in the Farron household. No sound could be heard throughout the house. Serah wasn't used to it. She was lying on her bed playing with her laptop but isn't really concentrating on whatever she is doing.
Geez, it's so quiet without Claire around... Serah felt unnerved by the rare silence. She liked it better when the house is noisy. She knew her sister and Cloud is at work, and Hope had gone out shortly after they left.
Hmm, where is that boyfriend of mine? Serah wondered where Snow was. She had last seen him going to the garage with Sazh. What was it they were doing? Oh yeah, Sazh said something about repairing Claire's hovercraft...
A few more minutes passed by and Serah finally sighed. No point just lying around here now, maybe I'll go watch the T.V...Maybe Desperate Girlfriends is on... Serah got off her bed and walked downstairs.
When she entered the living room she saw Fang was lying on the sofa and reading a book. She had an opened box of cookie on the floor. Finally, someone I can talk to!
"Hey Fang, what're you doing?" Serah walked towards her.
Fang noticed Serah's presence. "Hey there Cherry-berry, I'm jes' doing a little light reading here." Fang waved at her with her free hand.
Cherry-berry? "Um I see...so what're you reading there?" Serah sat on an armchair next to her.
"Just a little sumthin' sumthin'." Fang mumbled.
Serah stared at the pink book and realized what it was. "Fang! That's Claire's diary!" Serah gasped.
"Yep." Fang replied simply, crunching into a piece of cookie.
"B-But you said you were doing some light reading!" Serah looked at her in horror.
"I am. 'Light' 'reading'. Get it?" She chuckled at her own joke.
"T-That's wrong Fang! You can't read someone's diary! It's a breach into their privacy!" Serah reasoned with her.
"C'mon I'll put it back to where it was and she'll never know about it." Fang waved her off.
"B-But..." Serah tried to say something but Fang held her finger in front of Serah's mouth.
"Look, it's been bugging me how Light really feels about Cloudy Boy kay'? So I'm digging around for information and I found this piece of gold mine. C'mon, you want to know about it too right?" Fang winked at her mischievously.
"I dunno..." Serah frowned. She was torn between her respect for her sister's privacy and the curiosity of wanting to know about her love life.
"If we get caught I'll tell her I forced you to read it." Fang told her.
"Okay then, let's read." Serah replied happily. As long as my name is out of the way...
"Damn girl that's a fast reply!" Fang smirked. "Kay' sit beside me here, let's read it together." Fang got up and Serah moved to her side.
"This is the first page of the diary..." Fang turned to the earliest page.
Dear Diary,
My life in New Cocoon had somewhat been normal after the incident. Everyone's living normally and I had settled down with my sister in a new house which we bought in the suburban area of New Cocoon. I'm currently on a break until the Guardian Corps HQ is being built and spent the days playing with my sister and antagonizing her boyfriend, the big oaf Snow. Today I-
"Hold it! This is the boring part so let's skip a few pages to the more recent ones." Serah flipped through the pages impatiently while Fang merely chuckled.
"Okay here we go! This one's about a month ago..." Serah muttered.
Dear Diary,
I met a colleague of mine from work today at Cocoon Shopping Mall. It was nice to see his face again but do you know what he did? He tried to hit on me! He was flirting and such and bragged to me how strong he is and oooh how he was the one who saved Cocoon. Talk about a total dirt-bag, I was cursing him in my mind and decided to leave it at that and do you know what he did after telling me that lie? He put his arms around me! He rubbed me slowly and tried to sneak in his hand into my vest! Of course I blasted him with my gunblade before he could do anything though. Last I heard he got warded into the hospital with his hair on fire. *Giggles*
"That sounds like Claire alright." Serah sighed grimly.
"Is the only way for that girl to say she's not interested is shooting every guy that tries to pick her up?" Fang scratched her head. "And what's up with the '*Giggles*' line?"
"Maybe Claire thought it was funny..." Serah sighed again.
"Kay' give it to me, my turn!" Fang took the book from her hand and flipped through the nextcouple of pages."Whoo, this sounds interesting..." Fang cleared her throat and read it out loud.
Dear Diary,
Today began as usual with nothing unusual happen. By unusual I meant Snow barging into my room and began causing a ruckus. He was excited about showing me his goatee which he had kept and brushed his stupid hair all over my face. Throughout the day he kept talking how smooth it is and how manly it makes him feel. I don't think Serah liked his new look so when that idiot was sleeping on the sofa I might have 'accidentally' shave it all off. I might have also 'accidentally' drawn on his face with permanent marker. Sazh caught me in the act but he thought it was fun and joined me too. It was satisfying to see the ogre waking up and have less hair on his vandalized face. Trouble is I actually thought he looked better after we sketched on his face. Makes him look more intelligent. *Giggles*
"So that explains why Snow's new fashion statement didn't last a day..." Serah muttered. "Well, I like him better without the beard and I guess I have Claire to thank for. But why'd she have to do something like that to Snow? It took him a week to get all those caricatures off his face..." Serah remembered how he looked like. Claire and Sazh had drawn him a crowbar moustache and other things that looked slightly vulgar.
"Funny how she leaves the evidences in this little book..." Fang wondered why Lightning, the silent, paranoid leader of their past adventure would write her feelings down into a defenceless little book.
"Well, that's the point of a diary isn't it? You write your thought down and express your deepest emotions in it. It's like telling your closest friend your secrets." Serah explained happily.
Fang raised her eyebrows. "So do you have a diary?" She asked casually.
"Of course I do, everyone has... Why do you ask?" Serah looked at her suspiciously.
"Just asking." Fang shrugged. Mental note: Check Serah's room later...
"Right, let's read on then, my turn!" Serah took the book and turned the next few pages. "Right..." Serah read the page out loud.
Dear Diary,
Today I caught Serah and Snow lying on top of each other on the sofa! Really! I just went out to buy grocery and I come back seeing my sister in her lingerie lying on top of-
"OOOOOO-KKKKKK, I think we don't have to read this entry!" Serah covered the rest of the page with her hands, blushing furiously.
"No-No, it just got interesting read on!" Fang moved her hands away and continued reading it.
-that big oaf! Never would I have thought my sister would be that bold! I was so angry that I blasted half the living room off! I can never sit on that sofa again after what they did although Serah cried to me later on and said they weren't doing anything serious... I believe her so I forgave her right away although it's a different matter with that ogre. The next time I get my hands on him I'll cut his manhood off! *Giggles*
Fang finished reading it out loud and looked at Serah. She was covering her face and blushing like mad. "Sooo, Cherry-berry likes to play kinky games..." Fang smirked.
"N-No it's nothing like that! W-We were just...fooling around!" Serah finished that sentence then slapped her own face.
Fang wolf-whistled at her. "So this the sofa you guys were fooling around on?" Fang eyed the sofa lusciously.
"N-Nooo don't look at it like that!" Serah tried to block Fang's eyes and then covered her own face.
"Nothing to worry about, we all like doing something naughty every once in a while, even Light." Fang winked.
Serah peeped through her fingers. "C-Claire does something like that too?" Serah asked in a soft voice.
Uh-Oh gotta lie about this one. "Sure hun, I mean she can't be THAT uptight all the time right? There must be a time that she does something naughty to herself, call it 'Lighttime' if you want." Fang comforted her.
Serah looked more relaxed at her words. "S-So do you do stuffs like that too?" She asked.
She is so innocent. Fang thought to herself. Look at her looking at me with that smiley face, ark! I can't resist her! "Sure I do. I do it with Vanille sometimes." Fang shrugs.
Serah gasped. "Y-You and V-Vanille?" She repeated.
"Yup. Sometimes when I'm stressed up or just wanna have some fun..." Fang told her.
Serah gaped at her. "A-Are you two together or something? Vanille never mentioned it to me..." Serah played with her side-ponytail.
Fang looked at her. "Course' we're together, for a few hundred years in fact and- waitaminute, you mean together together?"
Serah twirled her side-ponytail faster.
Fang patted Serah's head tenderly. "You are sooo innocent Serah." Fang chuckled. "I'm not a lesbian, well maybe a lil' bit." Fang winked at her.
"You're not? Pheew!" Serah let out a sigh of relief.
"What? You got something against lesbians or something?" Fang smirked.
"N-Not particularly. I'm just afraid if Claire would swing that way..." Serah twiddled her fingers together.
"If all goes well between her and Cloudy Boy then all your worries won't come true." Fang turned back to the book. "Let's read on shall we? My turn again!"
Dear Diary,
Something wonderful happened to me today! At first the day started off as usual with Snow barging into my room and during breakfast he ticked me off on his comment about me not having a boyfriend! Can you believe it? Well, I did feel kinda down afterward and secretly I do wish I have someone like Serah has. I mean, Snow IS and AM an idiot but he's always there for her. I want someone like that too... And then I met Cloud...He's kinda unique...and I like how his eyes sparkle under the Sun...Wait, getting off-character here! Anyway Serah revealed to me just now that I have a crush on Cloud! Maybe she has a point but I dunno... Oh well, only time will tell! *Giggles*
"O.K. what's up with all the *Giggles* here? Is this really Light's diary?" Fang turned to the front page, frowning.
"She sounds like an excited 13-year old girl. Oh Claire..." Serah sighed happily as she read her sister's last diary entry.
"Well at least I found a few interesting things in here..." Fang tapped the book. "Better put it back before Lightning finds out..." Fang mumbled and went upstairs.
Serah took out her own notebook when she saw Fang disappeared. She quickly writes down something. Fang: single...Remember to find a date for her...Check. Serah quickly hides the book in her pocket back when she heard Fang coming down the stairs.
"Welp, I put it back in Light's room. Under the bed pfft, so original." Fang shook her head and jumped onto the sofa.
Hmm, I wonder if my show is on... Serah flipped the remote control and switched on the T.V. "Cool, G.C.I. is on!" Serah said happily.
"G.C.I.?" Fang raised her eyebrows.
"Guardian Corps Investigation. It's a pretty popular show. It's about murders and crimes and such." Serah explained to her.
Fang merely shrugs. "So this what you do everyday Serah?" She looked at Serah.
"Not really, I usually download the series online but I never came around to watch it." Serah answered her.
"No-No, what I meant was what do you usually do around this time?" Fang asked her again.
Serah thought hard on that question. "Hmm, I'm usually spending time with Claire and Snow. I always try to get them to be nice with each other by playing a board game or something. Usually they'd get into a fight and we can never really get anything done." Serah giggled, remembering something funny. Then she hung her head low. "But now Claire's gone back to work and Snow's busy with whatever he's doing...I feel left out..."
Fang patted her head. "There there, you can spend some time with me today." Fang soothed the younger girl.
"Um by the way Fang, where's Vanille?" Serah wondered where her younger companion went. She had never seen them apart before.
"Vanille? She's in the garage with Sazh and that boyfriend of yours. She wanted to spend some time with Sazh, the girl's grown attached to him." Fang answered casually. "So that's why you're gonna be my toy for today." Fang smiled at her slyly.
"R-Right, I s-see." Serah looked at Fang nervously. Is she really straight?
"Ha ha, you don't have to be so stiff!" Fang laughed and patted her back.
Serah cringed at the word 'stiff'.
"What, something I said?" Fang asked her.
"N-No of course not!" Serah replied nervously. What was I thinking? Is my mind in the sewers?
"Right, bonding time with Big Sister Fang." Fang clapped her hands. "So Serah, what made you chose Snow as your boyfriend?" Fang asked her directly.
"W-What? W-Why're you asking that?" Serah sputtered.
"C'mon now, I'm just curious. Why'd you chosen him? Is it cuz' of his looks, or money..." Fang knew how ridiculous her hints are but she just wanted to get the younger girl talking.
"No! Nothing like that! I-It's because well... He's supportive of me... Back then, I was shy when it comes to talking to other guys so..." Serah began opening up to Fang.
Fang listened to her words intently, as she asks more questions.
XXX
"Oooh yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Sazh grinned.
"S-Sazh, it hurts!" Vanille squeaked.
"Just a few more push Vanille. You can take it girl." Sazh groaned back.
"O.K... deeper, deeper Sazh c'mon you can do it!" Vanille encouraged him.
"Yes I can do it! Yeeeeaaahhh!" Sazh pushed with all his might.
There was a loud spluttering sound and the engine roared to life.
"Yes! You did it Sazh!" Vanille cheered happily, jumping up and down.
"Whew, yes I did. Man is that engine heavy!" Sazh stretched his arms. "Damned thing got stuck when we tried to put it in..."
"My poor little arms hurt..." Vanille mumbled, massaging her arms.
Snow slid out from under the hovercraft. "Whew, changed the Gra-Dev from under here. Seems that's what's caused this baby to malfunction." He threw a part of the hovercraft to Sazh.
"Alright now that we're done here...Wanna go grab a drink?" Sazh asked Snow.
Snow thought for a while. "Sure, I could use something hard right about now..." Snow answered him. "We could go have a drink at Gadot's place, he's got a lot of alcohol."
"Great, let's go." Sazh got up.
"Ooh Ooh I wanna go too!" Vanille chimed in, raising her hand.
The two men looked at her.
"Uhh, Vanille? Are you old enough to drink?" Snow scratched his head.
"Of course I am." She harrumphed, putting her arms on her hips.
"You sure? Lemme see your I.C. now." Sazh held out his hand.
"I-I don't have an I.C..." Vanilled replied softly, twiddling her fingers.
"See? How can we know you're of age to drink?" Snow folded his arms.
"W-Well I was born in Gran Pulse! I've been in crystal stasis for hundreds of years, c'mon guys!" Vanille looked at Snow with pleading eyes.
"Hmm, I don't really mind you coming along but you have to ask permission to go out first." Sazh told her.
"What? But I don't need any permission to go out!" Vanille protested.
"Uh-Ah-Uh. No permission from Fang, no going out with us. Besides, it's almost night-time already." Sazh waved his finger, making a 'no' sign.
"Hmph fine...I'll go ask Fang..." Vanille hung her shoulders low and went inside.
"And ask her if you can stay up late! We're gonna come home waaayyy after your curfew!" Snow reminded her.
"Really!" Vanille frowned at them.
Vanille found Fang inside the living room, talking with Serah.
"Fang! Can I go out with Snow and Sazh?" Vanille interrupted them, short on time.
Fang raised her eyebrows. "Where to?" She asked back.
"We're going to someone named Gadot's place, we wanna go get a drink!" Vanille told her happily.
"Drinking? And who the heck is Gadot?" Fang frowned at the orange-brown-haired girl.
"Gadot's a close friend of Snow, he's O.K." Serah told Fang.
Fang scratches her head and then finally relents. "Alright you can go...But be back before midnight." Fang told her.
"B-But Fang!" Vanille protested.
"Uh-Ah, no buts young lady, be home or you're grounded." Fang told her.
"Geez, O.K..." Vanille slouched and grumbled all the way out.
Fang chuckled and turned back to Serah. "So where were we just now?"
XXX
Hope was sitting inside the cafe along with Lebreau and Rikku. He returned with a boxful of potions which he had bought using all of his spending money.
Dad's gonna make a fuss about it but who cares. Hope smiled to himself.
Rikku was running around the cafe, inspecting each and every mechanical gadget in there.
"Ooh ooh! What does this do?" Rikku pointed to a coffeemaker excitedly.
"That's a coffeemaker, it makes coffee. Here have a taste." Lebreau chuckled and handed her a cup of coffee.
Rikku took a sip and beamed. "Hope Hope! This 'coffee' thing tastes bitter, but I think I like it!" She waved the coffee at Hope.
"R-Really? G-Glad to hear that." Hope told her awkwardly. He had been thinking about her confession for some time now. My head hurts every time I think about it...
Rikku noticed Hope's reaction and pinched his cheeks. "Hope, I told you not to make a sad face!" Rikku puffed up her cheeks. "...E dumt oui ed'c ymnekrd, oui tuh'd ryja du drehg ypuid yhcfanehk sa oad. (...I told you it's alright, you don't have to think about answering me yet.)" She smiled at him warmly.
She's so nice... "Yeah, I know...Thanks Rik." Hope smiled back.
"Hey, you gave me a nickname!" Rikku jumped excitedly.
"Yeah, is it O.K.? I mean, your name is kinda long to pronounce..." Hope chuckled.
Rikku bounced around the cafe. "Of course it's O.K.! Hmm, I'll give you a nickname too! Let's see let's see..." Rikku contorted her face and thinks real hard. "Hmm...How 'bout Hopey?"
"That sounds like the dog in a Saturday morning cartoon..." Hope told her.
"Aww, but it sound's kinda cute! Hopey Hopey!" Rikku repeated that name over and over again jovially. She took his hands and danced around the cafe.
Hope laughed with her and spun around the lobby.
Lebreau watched the two as they laugh and joke with each other. "Sigh* I just love watching people in love..." She sighed and smiled as she turned on samba music for them. They danced in the cafe, geeting a lot of applause from the other customers.
After a while, Hope noticed that it was already sunset.
"I have to get home fast or Dad'll have a fit..." Hope scratched his head nervously.
"Going home? Careful on your way now, don't let those thugs ambush you." Lebreau warned him kindly. "Here, some extra snacks for you to eat." She handed him a box full of sweets.
"T-Thanks Lebreau." He thanked her. Hope didn't know her very well before, but he knew she was part of Team NORA. Now he looks up to her as his big sister.
"Somethin' to give to you too darling, enjoy." Lebreau smiled as she handed a similar box to Rikku.
"Yay! Sweets!" Rikku took the box happily.
"Anyways you got a place to crash Rikku?" Lebreau asked her.
Rikku shook her head.
Rikku doesn't have anywhere to go to...She's from another planet! Hope thought. "Um, can she stay at your place Lebreau?" Hope asked her.
"Don't look at me, I'm living with three guys for Maker's sake." Lebreau raised her hands.
Looks like there's no other choice... "Rik, you can come with me if you want too." Hope invited her.
"Really? I can stay with Hopey? Yay! So we're going to your home then?" Rikku jumped with joy.
"Err...Not exactly..." Hope smiled nervously.
XXX
"I knew you could do it!" Lightning smiled at Cloud.
He had passed the exam with flying colours and was given his own official Guardian Corps uniform.
"Thanks..." Cloud ruffled his hair, wearing a customized version of his own uniform. He wore it the exact same way as he would wear his old clothes, with the exception of the Guardian Corps symbol on his left shoulder and the light-colored clothes.
"I prefer black..." Cloud muttered, observing his brownish-white uniform.
"It looks good on you." Lightning insisted.
"Hmm...So I have to report for duty starting tomorrow... No more late night outs for me huh?" He joked.
"Sometimes we have night shift so don't bet on sleeping early." Lightning smiled slightly.
Cloud merely chuckled in response.
"Anyway let's go home, it's getting late." Lightning looked at the darkening sky.
She switched on her hovercraft and they took off together.
XXX
When Lightning arrived home, she heard noises coming from the dining hall.
"Serah, I'm home. What's going on?" Lightning walked into the dining hall. Inside she found an unknown girl hugging Hope, her sister giggling at them, and Fang grinning evilly. What the heck is going on here?
"Claire! You're back!" Serah greeted her happily.
Cloud arrived after her and raised his eyebrows. "...Is there a party going on here?" He asked, confused.
"L-Light! I...Well...Uhh..." Hope was wrestling for the right words to say to her.
"Serah, an explanation please. What is going on in here? And who is that girl?" Lightning pointed at the blond-haired girl.
"So hysa's Rikku, hela du saad oui! (My name's Rikku, nice to meet you!)" Rikku introduced herself to Lightning.
"What did she say?" Lightning looked at Serah, perplexed.
"Who knows? She's speaking a foreign language and only Hope knows what she's saying." Serah replied, still giggling at them. Aww, they look so cute together!
Lightning turned to look at Hope. "...Hope?"
"Uhh she says her name is Rikku, and she said nice to meet you." Hope translated for her.
"Quite the cutie this one." Fang eyed her interestedly.
"And where did she come from?" Lightning folded her arms.
"Uhh...Outer space?" Hope laughed wryly.
Lightning gave him a death stare.
Hope cringed back. "I-It's the truth! She came down from the sky like a meteor!"
Cloud became interested in the conversation. "...She's from a different dimension?" He asked curiously.
"Uhh, yeah. She said she came from somewhere called Spira." Hope recounted.
"So why is she here?" Lightning asked him suspiciously. I get the gut feeling he's gonna say what I think he's gonna say...
"Uhh well, y'see my dad won't be too happy with me if I go back home late and...bring a girl home so..." Hope twiddled his fingers nervously.
Here it comes~ Lightning braced herself.
"Can she stay here?" He blurted out.
Cloud chuckled while Fang and Serah high-fived each other.
Maker, why are you doing this to me? Lightning thought miserably.
