A/N: Long time, no update. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details.

DISCLAIMER: Look. I don't own anything but Akurei/Rae, so don't bother coming after me with lawyers. If you do, the most you'll be able to get out of me is pocket lint, and unless you have a pocket lint fetish, there's really no reason for legal action.

Life or Something Like It

Chapter 14: As You Sleep

It'd been a couple of hours since she'd found those papers in Squall's room.

And the longer she sat alone in her room, the more she began to believe that she really was sick. Stupid Squall, playing mind tricks on me, Yuffie thought miserably, pulling the sheets tighter around her. A few moments later, she decided that shivering, despite the many quilts and blankets she was covered with, was not healthy. Finally she resolved to swallow her pride and go find that Tylenol. The second she stood up, her vision swam before her eyes and her steps were unsteady and shaky. Somehow, some way, Yuffie managed to get to the bathroom and found herself kneeling in front toilet, emptying her stomach of the day's earlier meals.

"Yuffie?" A worried Squall knocked at the door. Yuffie opened her mouth to answer, but had to promptly shut it when as she felt a wave of nausea sweep through her. When he didn't receive an answer, Squall came into the bathroom. "Are you--oh no."

Wiping at the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, Yuffie gave him a weak smile. "Did you know that there are a bunch of ways to say 'throw up'?"

Squall sighed. "Come here, I'll get you something."

Yuffie shook her head and hugged the toilet as if her life depended on it. "No, the floor's moving too fast," she answered solemnly.

He stared for a moment, trying to determine whether that was a joke or the truth. Judging by her extremely pale cheeks and slightly glazed over eyes, he came to a conclusion. "You're delirious, aren't you." He didn't even need to ask; he knew the symptoms of a high fever.

"Maaaaybe."

He hoisted her into his arms and carried her back to his room while Yuffie went on about...something. "Upchucking, tossing cookies, tangoeing with the toilet, blowing chunks, hurling, and, my favorite, technicolor yawning. That's...eighty-nine different ways to say barf. Wait, that makes eight...eighty...eighty-ninety and one."

"Try seven," Squall muttered as he laid her down, fighting the urge to massage his temples.

"Y'know, Squallie, you're very smart," Yuffie commented off-handedly. "And not too bad on the eyes."

"Thanks." He'd thought that dealing with a delirious girl would be the same as dealing with a mental patient but, once again, Yuffie had proved him wrong.

"No I mean it. I had a dream about you once."

"Really." Squall straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I'm going to get you that Tyelnol now--"

"--I was little, and these monsters were after me. I asked you to help me, but you helped this prettier girl instead."

"Yuffie," he began.

"But you're a jerk too, Squallie," she said emphatically, beating his chest with her tiny fists. "You're keeping secret papers on me as if I'm some sort of..." But the girl had babbled herself into a gentle slumber. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Squall sat down on his mattress, suddenly feeling the fatigue catch up with him. He knew he should've gotten Yuffie some medicine, that he'd forgotten to set his alarm, but sleep beckoned him, and Squall could do nothing but answer.


The sun rose and shone a little too brightly for the teen's taste. She felt as if she'd been hit by a truck. Groaning, Yuffie shifted and cuddled into the warm pillow beside her to avoid the light. Mmm, this is nice. Wait, black sheets? She didn't remember black sheets on her bed...her grip tightened on her pillow, which emitted a soft sigh and tightened its grip on her.

Whoa, wait a minute.

Her eyes snapped open. This wasn't her room. And, because pillows don't have arms, this certainly couldn't be her pillow. Blinking a few times, she realized that the Squall was the owner of the arms that were so securely wrapped around her. Personally, Yuffie never would have thought Squall to be a cuddly sleeper. But she couldn't bring herself to complain; he was much warmer than his personality.

Suddenly, Squall sat up abruptly, still holding Yuffie rather tightly in his arms. "What time is it?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

Because Yuffie's face was very much nestled against the hollow of Squall's throat, all she could really do was shrug. After a moment, it finally seemed to occur to Squall that he was holding Yuffie in a rather compromising position. "Uh, sorry about that," he apologized as he released her quickly, almost as if he'd touched fire.

"Um, how'd I get in here?" Yuffie wondered.

Squall thought for a moment. "Last night you got sick and I found you 'tangoeing' with the toilet. So I brought you here to get something for your stomach and fever but you'd already fallen asleep."

Yuffie yawned before a lazy grin stretched across her face. "So, how'd you end up here?"

"Please. Don't flatter yourself." He stood up and stretched. "Go get ready for school. We'll leave in 30."

She sighed, rolling out of bed. And she was getting used to this softer, nicer Squall, too. That's when her gaze landed on the alarm clock on his bedside table. "It's ten-thirty," Yuffie informed.

"What?"

"That caught your attention, didn't it?"

Squall cursed angrily. "If you'd just taken the damn Tylenol last night..."

"Hey, I was going to, until I found--" she cut herself off.

"Until you found what?" Squall prompted.

"Nothing. I'll go shower."

"Not so fast." He held out an arm and blocked her exit. "Until you found what?"

"Just forget I mentioned it."

"Were you going through my stuff again?" he demanded.

The word 'no' died on her tongue. What was wrong with her? She'd been able to lie through her teeth to Ansem more times than she could count; her lying technique had been perfected. How did Squall manage to just...mess all that up with one question? "Yes," she heard herself mumble.

"What'd you--"

"A folder," she snapped, "with my name on it." Her voice grew stronger as she continued. "You're keeping some sort of journal on me, as if I'm some kind of patient or crazy person. I don't want to be your charity case, all right?"

"You're not a charity case. You're an orphan who needs a little guidance."

"I don't need your pity."

"Believe me, I have none for you," he replied coldly.

Yuffie glared. "Then what's with the stupid folder?"

Squall seemed to struggle with answering. "Don't tell her I told you, but Aerith asked me to keep an eye on you."

"By stalking me?"

"By observing you."

"Didn't know you got off on watching girls prance around your apartment."

"Look, it's way too early for this, I haven't even had coffee yet."

"Finally, something we can agree on. Now, if you'll excuse me," she made a grand show of rolling out of bed, "I'm going to take a shower. You are going to stay here and NOT 'observe' me while I shower."

"I never--" But by the time he opened his mouth, she was gone. Whatever. Like he'd want to observe her, anyway.

Of course you wouldn't. Watching's not your kind of thing. You're more of an action kinda guy.

Wait, what? He reached up and rubbed his temples furiously. It really was way too early for this, his brain just wasn't reacting properly to the situation.

It's not your brain that's reacting...

Coffee. That's what he needed. And lots of it. He could already tell it was going to be one of those days.


Finally. She'd gotten their attention, and now she could explain the latest formula to the rowdy class of juniors. Tifa sighed. This class would be the death of her. "If you'd turn to page 394, you'll find all the vocabulary for the chapter. Today we'll begin by..."

The door swung open, and a very disgruntled Yuffie Kisaragi walked in. The class grew noisy again at the sight of the newcomer. Tifa sighed inwardly. "So nice of you to join us today. Do you have a pass?"

The girl didn't even spare a glance in her direction. "No."

Casting a glance towards the almost out of control class and becoming even more frustrated, Tifa decided that she should show some kind of discipline, otherwise they'd walk all over her. "No pass? Detention."

"Whatever."

Tifa frowned. "And I'd like to see you after class as well."

All Tifa received in response was a shrug. She turned back to the class. "Anybody else want to pull another stunt to piss me off?"

Reluctantly, the students returned to the lesson. Tifa mentally wiped away sweat from her brow. Finally, peace.

Yuffie sighed heavily, pulling out her text book and notebook from her knapsack. She turned to Rae. "What page are we on?"

"394." Rae hesitated before asking, "Um, are you okay?"

"I'm--fine," Yuffie answered, turning the pages with so much force they were almost torn from the book. She grit her teeth, trying to will away the pounding in her head.

"If you say so."

She turned a few more pages before turning back to Rae. "Why did you tell me that?"

"Tell you what?"

"You know...about Riku."

Rae shrugged. "Because it's true."

"No, it isn't. I made an ass out of myself yesterday because I listened to you."

"Believe what you want. I heard what I heard."

Yuffie turned back to her text and sighed again, her mind slowly making its way back to the day's earlier events. She had to admit, she could get used to waking up like that every morning. She shook the thought away as quickly as it came. This wasn't the time. She inwardly chuckled. When would it ever be the time to think about him anyway?

After drifting in and out of focus for the remainder of the period, the bell rang. She slowly packed up her things as the class left in a rush. Rae glanced at her and gave a sympathetic shrug. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing...well, nothing that I know of yet."

"And you aren't going to say anything about it?"

Yuffie grabbed her backpack and shrugged. "What's the point? I'm always blamed for stuff I didn't do. You get used to it after a while."

Rae hesitated, about to say something more when Tifa called Yuffie to the front of the room. "See you in detention. We'll have a barrel of laughs today; we're cleaning out toilets."

At the word "toilet", the memory of last night's "tangoeing with the toilet" came to mind. Yuffie thought she was going to be sick again as she felt her knees weaken.

"Yuffie!" Tifa called again, a bit more insistently this time.

Taking in a deep breath, Yuffie muttered, "Gotta go," and gave a small wave. She stopped in front of the large oak desk, awaiting the tongue lashing Tifa was sure to give her.

"Are you okay?"

Yuffie blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Um, I'm fine, thanks."

"You seem tired."

"I didn't get much sleep," she lied. And what a lie it was. Last night she'd gotten the best sleep in her seventeen years, and an even better awakening in the morning.

Tifa nodded. "Perhaps that's part of the problem."

"Problem?" That doesn't sound good.

"Yeah. Your chemistry grade is...slipping."

"You mean I'm failing?"

"Yes, but it's far too early in the semester to worry too much. This is more of a head's up, you know? If you still have trouble with the formulas during this week's lessons, you might want to find a tutor."

Frankly, chemistry was the last thing on her mind at the moment. "Yeah, sure. Uh, thanks for the warning, I guess."

Tifa gave Yuffie a sympathetic look. "You really should get some more sleep. I'll give you an extra day to finish tonight's assignment."

"Thanks again."

Somehow, the school day became just a bit more bearable for Yuffie after that conversation.


"Hey Riku."

The older boy, hunched wearily over the hood of an old Camry, looked back at his friend for the hundredth time. It was nearly five o'clock, he'd been working on this same damn engine for nearly two hours, and Sora kept pestering him. "What?" he asked exasperatedly.

"What do...ah, nevermind."

As he threw down the monkey wrench in his right hand, he decided that he'd had enough. "Dammit, Sora! If you have something to say, can you please say it?"

"Girls like you!" Sora blurted out suddenly.

"Your point?"

"What do you do? I mean, how can you tell if a girl likes you?"

Riku couldn't stifle the chuckle that escaped his lips. "Kairi and Sora, sitting in a tree--"

"Just answer the question," Sora cut him off sternly.

"Ooh, touchy." Riku straightned up and wiped the grease off his hands with a rag. "Look, if she didn't like you, why'd she seem so eager when Yuffie suggested that you shadow her?"

"Well, I dunno..."

"Why'd she let you walk her home?"

"Maybe..."

"If she didn't like you," Riku said seriously, "why would she invite you inside next time you go out to visit her?"

Sora felt the blood to face as his jaw dropped and worked noiselessly. "But--when?--where?--how?"

Riku smirked. "I tailed you a couple of nights ago. You're hopeless."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Sora admitted, looking down at his shoes. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Were you ever this hopeless?"

Riku laughed and ruffled Sora's hair, an action that annoyed the younger boy. "Of course not. I could never stoop down to your level." His thoughts strayed to Yuffie and their last conversation. "Well ok, maybe just a little bit hopeless," he amended, resuming his work on the Toyota.



A/N:
Um, yeah.Kind of a "blah" chapter. I'm actually posting anotherchapter right after this one to make up formy unexpected hiatus.Review and stuff. It really does keep me going...albeit slowly, but hey, better than nothing.