Standard disclaimers apply.
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Chapter Three; Post - Almost Victory Party
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"Hey, great game!" Key called out cheerfully as Rikku left the locker room with Yuffie. The sound of his footsteps on the floor signaled both of them that he was hurrying to catch up.
Rikku sighed, slightly exasperated. "What'cha want, Key?" she asked wearily. "I've had a long week and just want to go home and sleep. I just moved into Wutai yesterday."
Key smiled charmingly at her. "Yeah, I would have remembered a pretty face like yours around town." He had caught up and was leaning against the doorframe, dark hair wet and eyes bright with youthful exuberance.
"Thanks," Rikku murmured, aware that she was blushing slightly. Which, she thought furiously, had nothing to do with Key. All girls liked to be complimented on their looks.
"Hey, why don't you come over tomorrow?" Yuffie asked brightly. "Rikku and I are going to have a post-game almost victory celebration -"
"I thought we were doing that tonight," Rikku interrupted, her forehead slightly creased with a frown.
Yuffie shrugged. "I thought that we were going to postpone it because you're tired. I mean, you just said that you 'had a long week and just want to go home and sleep.'"
Rikku snorted, a very un-lady like gesture. "I suppose I did say that. But, you know, the best time to have a almost-victory celebration is right after we almost win." She brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "We might as well keep going on like we had planned and..." She smiled brightly. "I can always rest tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" Yuffe asked.
"Am I still invited?" Key asked. "I would love to come -"
"Yeah, I'm sure and we should invite the whole team - kinda make it a tradition. When we don't get our butts completely kicked, we celebrate together."
"I'll let the rest of the team know," Yuffie called over her shoulder, running back into the locker room and leaving Rikku alone with Key.
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Two hours later, the entire Wutai blitz team was gathered at Turtle Paradise. They were seated around a new large oak table and clearing the remains of food from their plates.
"We played good tonight, but it could have been better," Yara announced. She brushed her chestnut colored braid over her shoulder and signaled the bartender for another round of drinks. Classically beautiful, Yuffie and Rikku felt slightly out-classed sitting beside her.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Rikku announced in a soft voice. Fred had began to rag on Yuffie's goal, claiming that she had been playing out of position. In the future, he recommended that she be punished for such disregard to the rules.
Yuffie watched Rikku slip into the ladies room and sighed. She was going to have to fight this battle alone. "Fred, Fred, Fred," she said in parental tones, shaking her head in disappointment. She allowed herself a mental grin when he looked at her startled.
"What?" he asked.
Then she let loose. It wasn't in her nature to stand there and let him ridicule her. No one got away with making a ninja mad and he was certainly no exception. "How dare you accuse me of playing out of position!" she shouted. "I scored the final goal of the game, a goal that allowed -"
"Yeah, but it was still not right," Fred continued, his cornflower blue eyes narrowing in preparation for a battle.
"I'm going to check on Rikku," Key murmured softly, departing from the table quietly.
Mori caught him by his elbow. "Key, she's in the girls bathroom." She glared at him from under a curly mass of coppery curls. Her sea green eyes reprimanding him. "You can't check on her."
"Oh, Fred, you're sooooooooo stupid!" Yuffie screamed at the top of her lungs.
Mori glanced at her and then back to Key, letting Yuffie and Fred continue their argument. "I'm watching you," she warned. "If you go into the girls room -"
"Let him be," Yara ordered sharply, tipping her glass back and wiping her mouth. "Rikku invited him into the bathroom with her. She's waiting for him."
Mori frowned, "I don't think that she - "
"Precisely why you're still a child, Mor," Yara said simply. "They like each other and are going to be 'naughty' in the bathroom."
Yuffie missed the conversation between the two girls. She had been throwing onion rings at Fred, imagining them to be shuriken.
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Rikku was feeling strange again. Her vision had been warbling on and off throughout dinner, alternating with the cold clamping feel in her stomach. Then her wrists had began to ache, which was a strange sensation and one that she was unfamiliar with. It felt like needles were pulsating in them making little gray spots dance before her eyes.
She leaned against the walls, staring at her reflection. She was just noticing that her skin seemed a little pale when the door opened.
"Give it to me," a cold masculine voice ordered.
She caught a glint of silver as a sword was raised in a threatening gesture. It didn't bug her too much. She had been in plenty of fights and was sure she could take on the 'legendary' bathroom thief.
She spun, slipping her claw out of her bag and on to her hand. "And who the hell are..." her voice trailed off with a startled gasp as a fresh wave of pain shoot through her body. Dimly, she realized that her knees had crashed painfully onto the tiled bathroom floor.
Cruel, calculating green eyes bore into her. She saw the man's lips curve into a smile - a smile that was more of a cruel smirk. He stepped foreword, sword tilting menacingly. "Give me the Black Materia," he said glacial tones.
Okay, she thought, it's not the 'legendary' bathroom thief. It's the really stupid, stupid, picked the wrong target thief. And I can still beat him easily. She came to her feet and leaned against the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said calmly. "In fact, I think you should leave, this is the GIRLS bathroom and you are a man, you know."
She tried to be lazily irritated with the silver haired man. It didn't work, she detected a note of trembling fear in her voice, but it had been worth a try.
He threw back his head, letting loose a bark of soulless laughter. "I know where I am, what I am, and I know that you have what I need."
Rikku cocked her head to the side. "Do you?" she asked, both eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Well, I suppose you also know what your name is, why the sky is blue, and....hmmmm, let's see..."
"I am Sephiroth," the man said shortly.
From his tone and manner, Rikku devised that he assumed his name to be off some importance to her. He expected her to tremble in fear and....hand over whatever it was that he wanted. "Sorry, am I supposed to be impressed?" she asked mildly, noting his green eyes narrowing as she spoke.
Before she could blink, it seemed that he was in front of her. He placed one hand on the side of her face, tilting her head up towards him with his thumb under her chin. "You should know me," he said softly and dangerously.
Rikku froze, unable to move as terror coursed through her body. How could she had been so stupid as to not see him coming? He was just a man, nothing as scary and powerful as Sin. So why did he scare her worse then Sin had?
He was looking at her eyes intently, sending alternating surges of fear and confusion tingling along her spine. "Your eyes," he murmured softly. His head dipped closer to hers, one hand - the one with the sword - pressing against her bare belly to keep her from moving. The sword pointed harmlessly away from her.
Rikku knew that he had never seen an Al Bhed before in that moment. That meant that he was from the Planet. Everyone in Spira - with a few exceptions - knew that all Al Bhed babies were born with green eyes. And not just any green eyes either. They didn't have regular pupils, they were swirled, like a pinwheel, throughout the entire eye.
He was still getting closer. She could feel his breath, hot upon her lips. He's going to kiss me, she thought stupidly. She tried to pull back, but his hands restrained her. His hands and the fluttering feeling of fear inside her.
Bang, bang, bang! Someone was knocking loudly on the door outside the bathroom. Sephiroth jerked his head back, and spun in a fluid motion, hefting his sword carelessly. Rikku sank down the wall, too freaked out to move.
"Rikku?" Key questioned. "What's going on in there? Why'd you lock the door?" He pushed at it again, a motion evident by the slightly moving of the door against and chair jammed under the handle. "I didn't even know that these doors locked," he added.
Sephiroth frowned. "Give me the Black -" he said, turning towards Rikku. He had a mad glint in his eyes now. He strolled towards her, thrusting his sword towards her heart.
Her fear reached a boiling point and seemed to drain away, leaving her empty and in survival mode. She realized distantly that she would die if she attempted to fight him now. She rolled away from the wall and plaster flew everywhere.
Sehpiroth pulled his sword out of the wall, swinging it towards her in a deadly arc. "I want my materia back NOW!" he shouted the last word as his sword smashed into the sink - through the sink. Water sprayed everywhere.
Key's pounding on the door increased. "RIKKU!" he shouted.
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Yuffie was winning. Fred didn't stand a chance against her superior throwing skills. She was pelting him mercilessly with onion rings, breaded mushrooms, peas, and anything else leftover. Heck, she was grabbing the food that he threw at her and whipping it back at him with deadly accuracy.
Mori and Yara were both watching from a safe distance, slightly amused with the childish food fight that Yuffie had initiated. Then they heard Key shout Rikku's name.
"What's going on?" Yuffie asked, her eyes falling onto Key's empty seat. They quickly traveled to Key, standing in front of the girls bathroom door, banging loudly. She hopped off her chair and sprang over to him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, giving him a shove.
Then she heard a voice from inside a bathroom. A voice that she didn't ever want to hear again.
"Shut up," came Sephiroth's muted voice. Then his deadly mursame cut through the door, skewering the spot where Key had been standing mere moments before.
It's not him, she thought furiously. "It's not him," she said out loud, trying to make the statement true with denial. She reached for her PHS unit, recalling as her fingers met the white fabric of her shorts, that she had leant it to Tifa a couple of months ago and not picked it up since.
"Rikku's in trouble," Key was saying. He smashed his fist into the door repeatedly. The others were heading toward the door now. Yara looking superior, Fred looking like an exotic food monster, and Mori looking slightly puzzled.
"Stay back, Sephiroth's in there," Yuffie heard her voice emerge, cold and dark. It frightened her, but not as much as her words frightened the others.
"No, Cloud Strife killed him," Yara said firmly, but there was a tremble in her perfect voice and she started backing away from the door.
"I'll get your Conformer," Mori said simply. The pixie like girl spun and ran out of Turtle Paradise without so much as a hitch in her step.
Key backed away from the door. "Rikku......" he whispered, eyes intent on the door. For one wild moment, Yuffie thought that he was going to try and bust into the room and save her. He liked her after all. It made sense that you would defend someone you - But no, he turned and ran out of Turtle Paradise. Maybe he went to hide under his bed. Yuffie had the feeling that he had hidden throughout Meteor's flight towards the Planet.
Fred had an entirely different reaction. "Hah!" he exclaimed. "You expect me to believe that!" he snarled into a sudden silence that fell over the restaurant and bar.
Yuffie ran to the door, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She could feel her body pulsating at her throat, she could hear the blood gushing to her head. Then she had an ear against the cool wooden door.
Inside, she could hear the spray of water and nothing else. "Rikku," she whispered. She stepped back from the door, feeling wetness at her feet.
The water was pooling out of the bathroom. Her eyes widened in horror as she noted the crimson tinge to the water.
"Rikku!" she screamed.
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Author's notes;
For accuracy's sake, does anyone know what color Yuffie's eyes are? All I can tell from the game is that they're a dark color. I want to say that they're brown, but.....if anyone knows, tell me.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
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Chapter Three; Post - Almost Victory Party
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"Hey, great game!" Key called out cheerfully as Rikku left the locker room with Yuffie. The sound of his footsteps on the floor signaled both of them that he was hurrying to catch up.
Rikku sighed, slightly exasperated. "What'cha want, Key?" she asked wearily. "I've had a long week and just want to go home and sleep. I just moved into Wutai yesterday."
Key smiled charmingly at her. "Yeah, I would have remembered a pretty face like yours around town." He had caught up and was leaning against the doorframe, dark hair wet and eyes bright with youthful exuberance.
"Thanks," Rikku murmured, aware that she was blushing slightly. Which, she thought furiously, had nothing to do with Key. All girls liked to be complimented on their looks.
"Hey, why don't you come over tomorrow?" Yuffie asked brightly. "Rikku and I are going to have a post-game almost victory celebration -"
"I thought we were doing that tonight," Rikku interrupted, her forehead slightly creased with a frown.
Yuffie shrugged. "I thought that we were going to postpone it because you're tired. I mean, you just said that you 'had a long week and just want to go home and sleep.'"
Rikku snorted, a very un-lady like gesture. "I suppose I did say that. But, you know, the best time to have a almost-victory celebration is right after we almost win." She brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "We might as well keep going on like we had planned and..." She smiled brightly. "I can always rest tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" Yuffe asked.
"Am I still invited?" Key asked. "I would love to come -"
"Yeah, I'm sure and we should invite the whole team - kinda make it a tradition. When we don't get our butts completely kicked, we celebrate together."
"I'll let the rest of the team know," Yuffie called over her shoulder, running back into the locker room and leaving Rikku alone with Key.
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Two hours later, the entire Wutai blitz team was gathered at Turtle Paradise. They were seated around a new large oak table and clearing the remains of food from their plates.
"We played good tonight, but it could have been better," Yara announced. She brushed her chestnut colored braid over her shoulder and signaled the bartender for another round of drinks. Classically beautiful, Yuffie and Rikku felt slightly out-classed sitting beside her.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Rikku announced in a soft voice. Fred had began to rag on Yuffie's goal, claiming that she had been playing out of position. In the future, he recommended that she be punished for such disregard to the rules.
Yuffie watched Rikku slip into the ladies room and sighed. She was going to have to fight this battle alone. "Fred, Fred, Fred," she said in parental tones, shaking her head in disappointment. She allowed herself a mental grin when he looked at her startled.
"What?" he asked.
Then she let loose. It wasn't in her nature to stand there and let him ridicule her. No one got away with making a ninja mad and he was certainly no exception. "How dare you accuse me of playing out of position!" she shouted. "I scored the final goal of the game, a goal that allowed -"
"Yeah, but it was still not right," Fred continued, his cornflower blue eyes narrowing in preparation for a battle.
"I'm going to check on Rikku," Key murmured softly, departing from the table quietly.
Mori caught him by his elbow. "Key, she's in the girls bathroom." She glared at him from under a curly mass of coppery curls. Her sea green eyes reprimanding him. "You can't check on her."
"Oh, Fred, you're sooooooooo stupid!" Yuffie screamed at the top of her lungs.
Mori glanced at her and then back to Key, letting Yuffie and Fred continue their argument. "I'm watching you," she warned. "If you go into the girls room -"
"Let him be," Yara ordered sharply, tipping her glass back and wiping her mouth. "Rikku invited him into the bathroom with her. She's waiting for him."
Mori frowned, "I don't think that she - "
"Precisely why you're still a child, Mor," Yara said simply. "They like each other and are going to be 'naughty' in the bathroom."
Yuffie missed the conversation between the two girls. She had been throwing onion rings at Fred, imagining them to be shuriken.
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Rikku was feeling strange again. Her vision had been warbling on and off throughout dinner, alternating with the cold clamping feel in her stomach. Then her wrists had began to ache, which was a strange sensation and one that she was unfamiliar with. It felt like needles were pulsating in them making little gray spots dance before her eyes.
She leaned against the walls, staring at her reflection. She was just noticing that her skin seemed a little pale when the door opened.
"Give it to me," a cold masculine voice ordered.
She caught a glint of silver as a sword was raised in a threatening gesture. It didn't bug her too much. She had been in plenty of fights and was sure she could take on the 'legendary' bathroom thief.
She spun, slipping her claw out of her bag and on to her hand. "And who the hell are..." her voice trailed off with a startled gasp as a fresh wave of pain shoot through her body. Dimly, she realized that her knees had crashed painfully onto the tiled bathroom floor.
Cruel, calculating green eyes bore into her. She saw the man's lips curve into a smile - a smile that was more of a cruel smirk. He stepped foreword, sword tilting menacingly. "Give me the Black Materia," he said glacial tones.
Okay, she thought, it's not the 'legendary' bathroom thief. It's the really stupid, stupid, picked the wrong target thief. And I can still beat him easily. She came to her feet and leaned against the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said calmly. "In fact, I think you should leave, this is the GIRLS bathroom and you are a man, you know."
She tried to be lazily irritated with the silver haired man. It didn't work, she detected a note of trembling fear in her voice, but it had been worth a try.
He threw back his head, letting loose a bark of soulless laughter. "I know where I am, what I am, and I know that you have what I need."
Rikku cocked her head to the side. "Do you?" she asked, both eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Well, I suppose you also know what your name is, why the sky is blue, and....hmmmm, let's see..."
"I am Sephiroth," the man said shortly.
From his tone and manner, Rikku devised that he assumed his name to be off some importance to her. He expected her to tremble in fear and....hand over whatever it was that he wanted. "Sorry, am I supposed to be impressed?" she asked mildly, noting his green eyes narrowing as she spoke.
Before she could blink, it seemed that he was in front of her. He placed one hand on the side of her face, tilting her head up towards him with his thumb under her chin. "You should know me," he said softly and dangerously.
Rikku froze, unable to move as terror coursed through her body. How could she had been so stupid as to not see him coming? He was just a man, nothing as scary and powerful as Sin. So why did he scare her worse then Sin had?
He was looking at her eyes intently, sending alternating surges of fear and confusion tingling along her spine. "Your eyes," he murmured softly. His head dipped closer to hers, one hand - the one with the sword - pressing against her bare belly to keep her from moving. The sword pointed harmlessly away from her.
Rikku knew that he had never seen an Al Bhed before in that moment. That meant that he was from the Planet. Everyone in Spira - with a few exceptions - knew that all Al Bhed babies were born with green eyes. And not just any green eyes either. They didn't have regular pupils, they were swirled, like a pinwheel, throughout the entire eye.
He was still getting closer. She could feel his breath, hot upon her lips. He's going to kiss me, she thought stupidly. She tried to pull back, but his hands restrained her. His hands and the fluttering feeling of fear inside her.
Bang, bang, bang! Someone was knocking loudly on the door outside the bathroom. Sephiroth jerked his head back, and spun in a fluid motion, hefting his sword carelessly. Rikku sank down the wall, too freaked out to move.
"Rikku?" Key questioned. "What's going on in there? Why'd you lock the door?" He pushed at it again, a motion evident by the slightly moving of the door against and chair jammed under the handle. "I didn't even know that these doors locked," he added.
Sephiroth frowned. "Give me the Black -" he said, turning towards Rikku. He had a mad glint in his eyes now. He strolled towards her, thrusting his sword towards her heart.
Her fear reached a boiling point and seemed to drain away, leaving her empty and in survival mode. She realized distantly that she would die if she attempted to fight him now. She rolled away from the wall and plaster flew everywhere.
Sehpiroth pulled his sword out of the wall, swinging it towards her in a deadly arc. "I want my materia back NOW!" he shouted the last word as his sword smashed into the sink - through the sink. Water sprayed everywhere.
Key's pounding on the door increased. "RIKKU!" he shouted.
************************************************************************
Yuffie was winning. Fred didn't stand a chance against her superior throwing skills. She was pelting him mercilessly with onion rings, breaded mushrooms, peas, and anything else leftover. Heck, she was grabbing the food that he threw at her and whipping it back at him with deadly accuracy.
Mori and Yara were both watching from a safe distance, slightly amused with the childish food fight that Yuffie had initiated. Then they heard Key shout Rikku's name.
"What's going on?" Yuffie asked, her eyes falling onto Key's empty seat. They quickly traveled to Key, standing in front of the girls bathroom door, banging loudly. She hopped off her chair and sprang over to him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, giving him a shove.
Then she heard a voice from inside a bathroom. A voice that she didn't ever want to hear again.
"Shut up," came Sephiroth's muted voice. Then his deadly mursame cut through the door, skewering the spot where Key had been standing mere moments before.
It's not him, she thought furiously. "It's not him," she said out loud, trying to make the statement true with denial. She reached for her PHS unit, recalling as her fingers met the white fabric of her shorts, that she had leant it to Tifa a couple of months ago and not picked it up since.
"Rikku's in trouble," Key was saying. He smashed his fist into the door repeatedly. The others were heading toward the door now. Yara looking superior, Fred looking like an exotic food monster, and Mori looking slightly puzzled.
"Stay back, Sephiroth's in there," Yuffie heard her voice emerge, cold and dark. It frightened her, but not as much as her words frightened the others.
"No, Cloud Strife killed him," Yara said firmly, but there was a tremble in her perfect voice and she started backing away from the door.
"I'll get your Conformer," Mori said simply. The pixie like girl spun and ran out of Turtle Paradise without so much as a hitch in her step.
Key backed away from the door. "Rikku......" he whispered, eyes intent on the door. For one wild moment, Yuffie thought that he was going to try and bust into the room and save her. He liked her after all. It made sense that you would defend someone you - But no, he turned and ran out of Turtle Paradise. Maybe he went to hide under his bed. Yuffie had the feeling that he had hidden throughout Meteor's flight towards the Planet.
Fred had an entirely different reaction. "Hah!" he exclaimed. "You expect me to believe that!" he snarled into a sudden silence that fell over the restaurant and bar.
Yuffie ran to the door, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She could feel her body pulsating at her throat, she could hear the blood gushing to her head. Then she had an ear against the cool wooden door.
Inside, she could hear the spray of water and nothing else. "Rikku," she whispered. She stepped back from the door, feeling wetness at her feet.
The water was pooling out of the bathroom. Her eyes widened in horror as she noted the crimson tinge to the water.
"Rikku!" she screamed.
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Author's notes;
For accuracy's sake, does anyone know what color Yuffie's eyes are? All I can tell from the game is that they're a dark color. I want to say that they're brown, but.....if anyone knows, tell me.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan