A/N: So here it is… the next chap… Riku's POV, because even Riku needs some lovin': )
Familiar Faces
Riku smirked from his seat at the bar as Kairi and Sora made their way back towards their seats at the table in front of the stage, Sora's arm hanging loosely around Kairi's shoulders and both teens smiling ridiculously at each other. Riku rolled his eyes and sighed into his empty beer bottle as he turned back towards the bar in front of him, "Finally…"
He was relieved that he would no longer have to hide secrets from his two best friends… and judging by the goofy grin plastered across both of their faces, Sora was no longer hiding any secrets from Kairi. He laughed a little and shook his head as he sat his empty bottle on the bar top, Who would have guessed that Sora would have been to one to get the girl… While growing up on Destiny Islands, he had always battled with Sora for Kairi's attention. And despite constantly defeating him in races and sparring, Kairi always seemed to end up watching the sunsets with Sora… or walking with Sora back home… or going to Sora when she felt like she needed someone to talk to… or laughing at Sora's corny jokes….
Riku was truthfully happy that they had both 'found each other', but secretly he longed to be as close to someone as Sora was to Kairi. If he could find someone to look past his sarcasm and moodiness, they might actually find out what kind of guy he is…
As Riku mulled over his thoughts, his mind a million miles away, he twirled the empty bottle on the bar until…
"Hello…. Are you okay?" a feminine voice called out beside him as a hand tapped his shoulder hesitantly.
Startled, Riku lost his balance with the bottle and it went crashing to the hard floor, breaking into a million shards of broken glass. "Shit…" Riku cursed as he backed his stool away from the bar, his eyes staring at the floor littered with the broken glass as the female voice next to him gasp.
"Oh! Here, let me get a dustpan!"
"No no…" Riku replied as he jumped from his barstool and began picking up the broken pieces and piling them in his hand, "It's fine… I can get it."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone bend down beside him and start brushing up the pieces of glass with a dishtowel. "Well, at least let me help… It is kind of my fault…"
"Huh?" Finally Riku glanced up at the source of the voice beside him. What he saw, honestly, took his breath away… A pair of long ivory legs reached down from a short black skirt wrapped around hips that were currently stuck in the air while the owner of said legs was bent over picking up the loose pieces of broken glass.
"I said that it's kind of my fault…" the girl craned her neck around her ankles to face Riku. He recognized her as their waitress from earlier, but suddenly found no words to even acknowledge her presence… or her help with picking up the glass.
"Oh… uh… T-thanks…" he stuttered as he quickly averted his eyes to the floor. Please tell me she didn't just catch me staring at her ass… He continued to fumble with the glass and pile it in his hand, completely unaware of the thin trail of blood that oozed around his knuckles as he gathered the broken pieces.
"Hey!" he heard her exclaim as she kneeled down beside him. "You cut your hand…"
He shook his head as he stood up and dumped the pieces of loose glass on the bar top, "It's fine really…"
"Don't be ridiculous," she said as she grabbed his wrist. "Come on… I think I have some band-aids in my purse in the break room," she called over her shoulder as she pulled him through the crowd of people surrounding the bar. Riku followed behind her, silently cursing himself that he wasn't better with names. Damn it… she's hot! How the hell did I already forget her name?! He realized that they had made it into a small room at the back of the bar that was currently empty of any occupants, but jam packed with boxes from floor to ceiling. She led him over to a small round table in the middle of the room and motioned for him to sit down before she pulled a red purse from a locker and fished out a few bandages.
"So… you got a name?" she smirked as she sat down beside him and nodded towards his hand, "Here, let me see that…"
"Huh? Oh…" Riku lifted his hand to the table and sat it down in front of her while she started wiping away the blood with a clean damp towel. "Uh… Riku."
"What?" she stopped scrubbing and glanced at him.
"Riku… My name is Riku," he repeated. Her soft hands felt warm around his wrist and he could swear his heart rate increased the slightest bit at the physical contact. "Sorry, I know you told us your name earlier but…"
"Shai," she interrupted. "And it's okay, don't apologize. You definitely wouldn't be the first customer to forget my name."
"Oh…" Riku nodded slightly as Shai finished cleaning his hand and put two small bandages over the cut across the back of his hand. Riku just watched her, awkward silence filling the room around them as he struggled with a way to start a conversation. "So uh…"
"There!" she interjected, "Good as new!" She smiled warmly as her emerald eyes glanced up from his hand.
Riku smiled back and outstretched his hand out in front him, "Let's see…" he mumbled playfully as he admired her handy work. "Yep, looks pretty good to me!" He smirked as he plopped his hand back down on the table.
Shai smirked through long blond bangs as she relaxed into her chair. "Yeah… I think that you just might live!" she joked back.
"Right…" he smirked. "So, Shai… how long have you been waiting tables here?" Damn… is that seriously the best pick up line I could come up with?? That's almost as bad as 'so… you come here often?'
"Not long really. About four months." She answered back as she straightened her apron around her hips, "This was actually supposed to be my last night here."
"Really? How come?"
"Well… I was supposed to be leaving for a tournament tomorrow," she replied.
"A tournament? What kind of tournament?" Riku asked as he poked at the sides of the bandage.
"Hey," Shai pulled his fingers away from the bandage, startling Riku. "Don't do that. You'll mess up the adhesive and it won't stay on!" she scolded. Riku laughed, but before he could respond she continued, "There's a tournament held at the Olympus Coliseum every year, but…"
Riku waited patiently for Shai to finish, when she didn't, he asked, "But… what? What's wrong?"
"Well… I'm not even sure I'm going to get to go. My team backed out on me and now I don't even have a way to get there."
"Olympus Coliseum, huh?" Riku rubbed his neck as he pondered that name. He knew it from somewhere… "Oh! I think my friend Sora has fought in those tournaments before!"
"Yeah well… not that it matters now…" she mumbled as she stood up, frowning. "Sorry Riku, I need to get back to work before my boss starts yelling at me."
"Hey Shai…" Riku said as he stood up. "You know… I have a gummi ship, and if you need a ride to Olympus…"
Shai stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly to meet Riku's aquamarine gaze, "Are you offering to take me to the tournament?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him questionably.
"Well… yeah…" he replied as he nervously played with the edges of the bandaging again.
Shai sighed and gave him a look that plainly told him to stop messing with his hand (which he did) before she replied, "Well, that's very sweet of you. But I have to have at least two other people on my team to be able to enter and…"
"I'll be on your team!" Riku interrupted eagerly. "So will Sora… And I'm sure Kairi will start in with her whole 'I'm not a damsel-in-distress' crap and enter too!"
Shai giggled at Riku's pitch as he imitated Kairi's voice, "Well… okay then! If you can promise me that your friends will enter the tournament with us, then I can promise you the trophy…"
"Oh really?" Riku narrowed his eyes playfully while he walked across the room to stand beside her. "The trophy huh? Alright then… a promise it is!" he extended his hand.
She glanced down at his outstretched hand before looking back up at him, "Meet me here tomorrow morning at sunrise. The tournament starts in two days, so we need to get to Olympus and start training." With that she turned on her heels and walked out the door back into the busy bar, leaving Riku standing there with his hand still outstretched in front of him awkwardly.
"Um… okay then… See you tomorrow morning." Riku mumbled to himself as he lowered his hand back to side and followed her out the door.
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"I can't believe you guys are leaving already! You've barely been here a week!" Yuffie whined as the group waited outside the bar for the blond waitress.
"We'll come back Yuffie!" Kairi smiled as she hugged her ninja friend. " Promise!"
"Oh, ok." Yuffie replied back sadly as she pulled out of Kairi's hug, and wrapped her arms around Sora's waist eagerly. "If you promise then…"
"Well guys… safe trip and all that…" Leon said shortly as he pulled Yuffie from her death grip on Sora. "We've got to get to the restoration site."
"Yeah," Aerith smiled warmly as she hugged Kairi and Sora, one arm wrapped around each teen. "Be safe and come back to see us soon."
"Will do!" Sora replied as he noticed Shai round the corner down the street. "Hey Riku, she's here…"
Riku's ears perked up and sure enough, Shai was making her way towards them, lugging two over-packed suitcases behind her. Her black uniform from last night was replaced with pair of grey shorts and a white spaghetti-strap shirt. He jogged over to her to help her with her bags, "Here let me get those."
"Oh… uh, thanks." She smiled as she handed him her bags while they made their way over to the group.
"Guys… you remember Shai from last night?" Riku introduced as he nodded to each member of the group respectively. "Shai, this is Kairi and Sora… Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie."
"Hi," Shai smiled at each introduction. "Sorry to be pushy guys, but we really need to get going. We have to be there by noon to sign up for the tournament, and it's a least a three hour flight."
"Oh… uh, yeah! Of course!" Kairi nodded as she turned towards Sora. "Shall we?"
Sora grinned and heaved his and Kairi's bags over his shoulder, "Of course! Let's go!" And Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Shai made their way to the gummi ship on the edge of town.
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A/N: Next chapter goes back to Sora and Kairi… promise!! So what do ya'll think about Shai?? I tried to make her sweet but demanding, and independent and all that. I'm trying to make her personality compliment Riku's…
I just couldn't put Riku with any of the characters already out there, so I made up my own. So let me know what ya think!! REVIEW: )