Angel of Decadence

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII

Culprit

Her dark eyes were lit up with fire at the prospect. This opportunity was perfect. Sure, there was always the risk that it would backfire and that Squall would never want to see her again but even with that weighing up against her, she couldn't simply let this chance slip through her smooth fingers. She was so enthralled that she even neglected to consider how she would explain the large black bird she had perched upon her shoulder.

With all but her memories of Squall banished from her mind, she ran down the stairs and through the long hallway until she found herself back in the living room where Squall sat back in the armchair she had first seen him in. He was still shirtless and his glazed eyes seemed to brighten at her presence. He gestured for the girl to sit on the couch beside his chair. She slowly approached him to do so. "That jacket actually looks really good on you" the brunette said.

"Thanks" The raven haired girl replied, slowing down as she neared him.

"I didn't actually think you'd pick it."

"You can have it back if you want" she told him, somewhat defensively. "I was just trying it on."

"No, keep it."

"Are you sure, it looks expensive."

"Nah, you go on and have it. It was a gift but I can't see myself ever wearing it."

"Really?" the girl asked. "I think you'd look pretty good in this jacket."

"I doubt it" Squall laughed, dismissing the compliment. "A leather jacket is a pretty big statement. I just don't think I could pull it off."

"I wouldn't say that. I can just see you in this."

"Whatever" Squall replied, dismissing the thought light-heartedly. Just then, his eye darted toward the girl's right shoulder. "Is that your pet or something?" Rinoa's eyes widened and she looked to the crow. She hadn't given any thought toward explaining him away. The bird silently clicked its beak, indicating that it was fine to go with such a cover.

"Ah, yeah, I got him just recently. He must've seen me through your window so I opened it and he flew right on in. I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine… Did anyone else see you?"

"Ah, yeah, they did… actually."

"Oh, I see" Squall replied somewhat morosely.

"I caught your neighbour staring at me. He seemed to be doing so quite intently."

"Oh, you mean the old guy next door in that brick house?"

"Yeah."

"I see… this could be bad. He's gonna think I've had a girl in my room while I'm home alone."

"You don't live here alone?"

"No, I'm here with my father…" Rinoa froze dead "but it tends to seem that way sometimes. I may as well live alone if you look at it fairly. He's away on business right now and won't be back until at least the start of the next school year." Unnoticed by Squall, Rinoa breathed a secret sigh of relief. Squall's father was not someone she particularly wanted to run into anytime soon.

"Squall?" Rinoa began, a little uncertainty showing through her voice as though it were transparent. "Do you… do you have any idea who I am?" Although he was asked the question, Squall needn't have answered. His blank expression hurt the raven haired girl more than words ever could have.

"Uh… no" he admitted. The girl gave another short sigh.

"Well, it's me" She said quietly. "I'm… Rinoa." She waited for the fact to sink in but her heart sank when she saw that same expression on his face. It remained blank, void of recognition. Doesn't he even remember me? She despondently questioned herself."I knew you in Winhill. We were good friends, up until… you know, with your mother."

"Rinoa… I know that name but… wait…" Suddenly, Squall's eyes widened. "That girl from Winhill, that was you?" The girl's eyes lit up and her lips curled upward in a smile she couldn't contain if she'd tried.

"Yeah, I promised your mother I'd look out for you and we promised each other that we'd be friends forever… but it didn't work out that way" she sullenly admitted. "I'm so sorry."

"After my mother died… was killed… you disappeared." Rinoa froze once more, her breath caught in her lungs.

"Do you know who the killer was?" she asked, both hoping and dreading the outcome.

"No. My father told me a little, but all I know is that she was a woman and was brought to justice."

"That's a lie" Rinoa snapped darkly.

"Excuse me?"

"I… I know who her killer was… and I know for a fact that she got away with it. She literally got away with murder." Squall leapt across the room and gripped her by the shoulders. The crow only just managed to fly out of the way in time to avoid being hit.

"Who is she?" he asked her desperately.

"I… I'm sorry. I've been lying to you ever since we first met. Do you remember that woman I told you was my mother? She had silver hair and an eye patch."

"I think so."

"She was not my mother… but she is the murderer of yours… She is the one who killed her… and it's all my fault. I'm so sorry." The girl's chocolate eyes dropped to the ground. "If you hated me… I wouldn't hold it against you. Because of me… she… I don't deserve to be in your presence." She dropped her gaze. "If you want me to, I'll leave you alone. I'll… I'll just leave." Squall narrowed his eyes in bewilderment

"How is it your fault?" he asked in confusion.

"Your house was targeted because of your father" Rinoa explained. It was a burglary gone wrong. I was indebted to them… the ones I told you were my parents. Believe me, I didn't want to go along with it, I didn't!" she repeated, her face contorted with emotion. "They tricked me!" The brunette didn't respond right away and when at last he did speak, his voice was a monotone. His face was hung, his eyes staring intently at the floor, not looking at her. Truthfully, the raven haired girl couldn't blame him but she still needed to appeal her case. She wanted more than anything to be forgiven but if life wasn't willing to give her that respite then at the very least she would give Squall someone to blame.

"Is that true?" he asked?

"Yes!" she answered at full volume, the excitement and fear within her restricting her self-control. "It's been so long since I've seen you but I couldn't just not tell you. I know I've ruined our friendship now. If you want me to, I'll just go."

"And people have called me an idiot. Just how stupid can you be?" Squall asked; his voice still void of any emotion.

"I know. I was naive and foolish. I shouldn't have listened to their lies. I made a mistake and because of it… you're the one that had to suffer."

"That's not what I meant" Squall replied monotonously. His head was bowed so that Rinoa couldn't see his eyes. "You've carried all this guilt for this long but it was all a mistake, right? You were fooled."

"Yes."

"Then I don't see how you are at fault. It's this other woman. She is the culprit. You were only a kid. How could you have known?"

"So… you don't blame me?"

"No." All around the raven haired girl, time slowed to a crawl. She was beginning to feel an emotion she had almost forgotten about, an emotion she had never truly felt since the last time she was with Squall.

"You… you don't hate me then?" Squall couldn't help but laugh.

"We were best friends, Rinoa. I could never hate you." He loosened his grip on her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace."

"Were?" she whispered, taking notice in and pointing out what she assumed to be the keyword in his sentence. Needless to say, it stunted the happiness she should have been feeling.

"What?" Squall asked; the confusion evident in his voice.

"You said we were friends. Are we still friends now?"

"Yes. We said we'd be friends forever, didn't we?"

"Thank you, Squall" the girl replied, her voice showing genuine happiness for the first time in a while. She wasted no more time in returning the friendly hug, squeezing him much tighter than he did her. "Now I can fulfil the promise I made to your mother. She told me to always be there for you. No matter what happens, I intend to keep that promise."

"Whatever happens, I intend to help you keep that promise." Squall ended the embrace, stepping away from the girl.

"Thanks, I've been carrying a heavy burden all my life. I feel so light now. I feel like I could fly." Squall smiled.

"Don't worry about it" He replied. His smile lingered for a while but soon faded. "There is a problem however." Rinoa's eyes widened yet again, this time in panic.

"What is it?" she cautiously enquired.

"You said something about being seen."

"I know. If he tells anyone, it could be unfortunate." Squall nodded.

"Id prefer it if my father didn't find out about you being here."

"Especially seeing as it's me" Rinoa agreed.

"What do you mean?" Squall asked bemusedly.

"Don't you know? I was never exactly a welcome guest in your house. You and your mother are alike. The two of you were always kind to me. However… your father is different. He always hated me and he always will. If he ever finds out I'm here, things could get rather uncomfortable for us both. He may attempt to turn you against me or failing that, separate us so that you may never see me again. I won't let that happen, not again."

"Seriously? I can't imagine that he hates you. He's just not one to show emotion."

"He does. You'll have to trust me on that."

"I… I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that but can I ask you something?"

"Shoot" the girl replied nonchalantly, closing one eye and forming a gun with her finger as though shooting him in the head.

"You said I'm like my mother. Did you really mean that?"

"Of course, you even resemble her in appearance, especially in the eyes." Upon hearing that, Squall couldn't keep from smiling. He took it as a compliment and it seemed to make him so happy.

The crow flew down and perched on Rinoa's shoulder once more. The two teenagers had completely forgotten about him. Squall gave a short laugh. It was clear that the black bird had ruined the atmosphere but neither minded in the least. "You are becoming distracted. Do not do something you will regret" the crow said into her mind.

"Shut it" Rinoa curtly replied in her head. "I know what I'm doing. Just leave me alone for a while."

"Fine, why bother listening to you your spiritual guide? You've been awake for almost twenty minutes now. You know what's best, right? I'll leave your ultimate destruction to your own divine construction." With that, the crow took off and perched himself on a high up shelf.

"Does he always fly off like that?" Squall asked.

"I don't know really, I only got him after coming here to visit Timber."

"Oh, so you don't live around here?" Squall asked, failing to keep the disappointment out of his voice. It didn't go unnoticed.

"No, I live up in Deling. I just came down here for a little break."

"Oh, sorry about that" Squall sympathised. "You come down to Timber for a holiday and this happens."

"Don't worry about that, Squall. I'm glad. Because of what happened, I got to meet up with you again."

"Oh, well, how long have you been here?"

"I dunno. How long was I in that alleyway? That happened maybe a few hours after I arrived."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, do you have anywhere to stay; or do you have to go back now?"

"No, I don't really have any particular curfew on this."

"Really?" the brunette asked. "When does school start again in Deling?"

"Oh, actually it's year-round. We don't get summer off."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Like I said, I needed some time off. Things were getting a little too stressful."

"You can't just take time off school! I'm pretty sure there are laws against that."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I don't go to school… and you could say I'm between jobs at the moment but I've saved up quite a bit over the last few years so I'm just gonna take some time off and relax. There's a hotel around here, right? I think I'll stay there for a few nights. Then I was planning on taking the train to Dollet." That was the truth. After dealing with Birds of a Feather she had planned to relax in Dollet for a week or two.

"Oh… I don't suppose you'd want to stay here instead. I mean, I know it's not much and I don't have a spare bedroom but you won't have to pay me or anything. "Just then, Rinoa began to feel lightheaded.

"You mean it's really alright for me to stay here?" she asked. Upon hearing the answer, her eyes widened from surprise and joy.

"For as long as you like, until school starts again or my father comes home. Whichever happens first… that is, if you want to?"

"Are you kidding, I'd love to. Thank you!" she cried happily, jumping at him and bringing him into a tight hug, looping her arms around his neck and swinging him around on the spot.

"Hey, take it easy" Squall light heartedly joked, although he did not resist her actions in the least."

"I'm sorry" Rinoa apologised, letting him go a moment later. "It's just that I'm so happy. We're finally together again. We're friends again."

"We were always friends, Rinoa."

"I know, but we've been apart so long I was starting to worry that you'd forgotten about me."

"Well, we'll have time to talk about that later. We need to organise all this first. I don't suppose you want to sleep in my father's bed, do you?"

"Not particularly… but I will if there's no other option."

"Alright then, there's no other option."

"I see" Rinoa replied. She was not ecstatic about the idea. She didn't want to share sheets with that conceited monetary prick.

"You can have my bed…" Rinoa's eyes widened.

"Ex… excuse me?"

"You can sleep in my bed. I'll take the sofa or the chair or something. I've been sleeping out here for a while now, ever since I was taking care of you, so that I could watch over you."

"No, no… I'm just a guest. I'll sleep out here."

"But you are a guest. That's why you must be made comfortable. I'm sleeping out here and that's that."

"Come on, Squall. I'm just an old friend. There's no need to make such a fuss."

"Just a friend; because you are a friend, that is all the more reason to make a fuss."

"I have an idea" the crow piped up, inside Rinoa's head. "How about you just kill the fucker and be done with it? Problem solved, simple as that." Rinoa responded with a glare.

"Rinoa, is something wrong?" Squall asked. "Why'd you give your bird such a dirty look?"

"Oh, well, I was just thinking. Maybe he should go outside for a while. I mean… this is a nice house. I don't want it to all be ruined by the bird shi… ah, I don't want him making a big mess… you know what I mean?"

"Oh, right" Squall agreed but before either of them could do so much as make a move, the doorbell rang.

Shit! Rinoa screamed inside her head. "That old guy, he's here." Squall's eyes widened.

"The neighbour that saw you?" The girl nodded. "What now?"

Neither knew what to do but both had identical thoughts running through their differing minds.

– This was bad!

Preview:

"May I come in?" he asked. Squall tried to swallow with his desolate-dry throat before stepping aside to let the man in. Once he had stepped over the threshold, the brunette closed the door. "I wish I could say this was a friendly social call but unfortunately…" he caught Rinoa's eye "There is something going on that I must get to the bottom of. For starters" he said, switching his gaze back to Squall "I take a look out my window this morning and what should I happen to see but a beautiful young woman, completely nude. Not only that" as he spoke, his tone became even more serious; if that were even possible "she just so happens to be in what I know to be your bedroom."

"Yeah" Rinoa indignantly interjected. "I saw you peeping on me. You didn't seem to be complaining then, judging by the look on your face. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were enjoying the view."

"Preposterous" the man argued with a single word. "I know what this looks like and as an upstanding citizen; I cannot allow it to go on."

Next chapter:

Act 15 – Unwelcome Company