Ahhh… it's pretty late, and I haven't even been up for twelve hours. And I'm hungry. And I'll stop bitching now and start with my intros and the chapter…
Thanks to the wonderful reviewers, as I didn't expect this many. Eight reviews for a prologue? Wow! You like me! You really like me! *giggle* Okay, okay, okay… I'm done now. I really am. (P.S: Snowri, I would love to see that picture… email it to me whenever is good for you!)
I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It's as simple as that. In a chapter or so, I'll begin abusing people about it! FEAR THE VL!
~*~
"Think of an excuse, think of an excuse, think of an excuse," Yuffie muttered to herself, pacing back and forth in front of Aerith's door. She had knocked a few moments ago and was told to wait whilst her friend got some clothes on. She wanted to talk to her about changing rooms, as she couldn't stand to room with Squall any longer. The door opened, and a sleepy-looking Aerith appeared.
"What did you need, Yuffie? Come in and sit down," she offered, voice gentle as usual. The young ninja nodded, stepping into the room and closing the door.
"I wanna room with you again," she begged, sounding more like a hurt puppy than the "Greatest Female Ninja Ever." "Squall's driving me insane, what with him and his new name, and telling me to do things all the time and criticizing the way I fight—" with Yuffie, anyone criticizing the way she fought was as bad as accusing her of murder. The fact that Squall was doing so crushed her, since all she ever wanted to do was to please him but no matter what she did, it seemed that he would persist in hating her. "Plus, he always calls me a brat."
"Yuffie, you know I just wanted you to be safe, and—" Aerith began her broken-record explanation of why she had made Yuffie share a room with Squall. Yuffie exploded in her face, interrupting her rudely and stumbling out of her chair as she lurched to her feet.
"No! Not again! I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone to protect me!" She yelled. "I know that, and you know that, and even Squall knows that and I hate that you treat me like a little kid and I hate that he treats me like a little bug!" There was no stopping her now, Aerith knew. Instead, she sat quietly and listened. "I wanna get away from him! I can't stand him and he definitely can't stand me!" She boomed, then crossed her arms over her chest and glared venomously at Aerith, who's expression was unreadable.
"I only wanted to do what I thought was best for you." Her voice was even and her eyes unblinking.
Yuffie didn't realize what she'd done until after she had done it. She had grabbed Aerith by the arm and shoved her backwards, making her stumble into the table and fall down, hitting the back of her head on the edge. Then she ran out of the front door into the nearly-abandoned streets of the Second District.
The streets and alleys were silent and empty, although every so often she would hear the skitter-scatter of sharp little Shadow Heartless claws on the stone ground or the loud clank of the armor that covered the big, clumsy Heartless called Defenders. She wrinkled her nose, remembering the first time she had seen one. It shot fire from the red gems that served as the eyes on the canine-like shield and nearly caught her clothes aflame. She'd turned tail and run, and had been scared of fire ever since. She never told anyone else about it, though; she was afraid that they would laugh and think she was a baby.
The steady clanking of the Defender was getting louder, and Yuffie stopped, looking back and forth over her shoulders trying to locate the source. It was nearby—she knew that much.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
It was getting closer. On instinct, one hand went into her pocket for a shuriken. She wanted to be ready when this big, stupid, clumsy creature came along. Her agility would be enough to keep her well out of harms' way if it decided to charge, but if it fired from its' shield, she didn't know what she would do.
Clank. Clank.
"You really shouldn't wander alone," someone said. Yuffie jumped a mile in the air from fear and spun to face whomever had snuck up behind her. The look of fear on her face turned into an angry frown when she saw Squall standing nearby. The clanking she had heard, she decided, was not from a Defender Heartless but rather from the heavy metal pendant he always wore about his neck. At least she had been correct about her stalker being big, stupid, and clumsy.
"Why do you care?" She asked, annoyed, and hiding the fact that her heart was racing and her mind was spinning and her thoughts were now all focused on him. "Aerith sent you to find me, didn't she?" She asked.
A headshake was her answer as he nonchalantly leaned on a building and crossed his arms. He turned his head down, eyes now hidden by his long hair. "I was in the Waterway. I came back out and saw you here alone… you and I both know it isn't safe to be out here alone. The Heartless keep getting stronger and stronger."
"Then why were you out alone?" She snapped.
He didn't answer. He just kept his gaze pointed at the ground.
"See?" Yuffie growled. "You can't tell me to do anything unless yer willing to do it, too. Yer a damned hypocrite is what you are!" He didn't appear to be listening to her yelling. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yea…" he said. "'Damned hypocrite,' go on." He was letting her comments slide off of him like water off of wax, and it drove her crazy.
"You… I hate you!" She lashed out with one fist to hit him in the jaw, but he caught her hand by the wrist and stopped her from doing so. Then he lifted his head up and away from her as she struggled to get her hand back.
"Don't try that stunt again," his voice was low, threatening, and had a tone to it that definitely meant business. She pulled harder to try and get him to release her, flailing and trying to slap him with the captive hand. She could do no such thing, and he spun her against the wall and pushed her into it so hard that she squeaked. Deep blue eyes locked onto hers and he whispered in that venomous voice of his, "I said not to do that again."
Yuffie gave one last attempt to free herself and managed to do so. She clenched and unclenched her fist to regain the feeling in her hand and glared up at him. She tried to look threatening, but she doubted that it was working. He was so close to her, having pinned her against the wall and keeping her from going anywhere, and she felt that her heart was beating so quickly that it was surely burst at any time.
Squall leaned in, making her feel dizzy and giddy and scared all at once. He whispered her name in her ear and his lips brushed her neck; Yuffie could barely keep standing. Had she not been leaning against the wall, she figured that she would keel over because her knees had turned to pudding. How was he doing this? He must have known some sort of mind-control.
When she reached up one shaky hand to put it around his neck, he jerked backwards as if the contact burned his skin like acid. It gave Yuffie back the brief willpower to slip underneath one of his arms and free herself.
"Keep away," she warned him, taking a few steps back so that he wouldn't have this effect on her. He didn't bother moving, merely watched her from where he stood with an intense look in his eyes. Or at least… she thought it was an intense look, as mostly his eyes were hidden beneath too-long bangs. Frightened, she turned and made a dash for the back of the hotel, where she could be alone with her thoughts for a while.
Why had he acted the way he did? She knew that he couldn't stand the fact that she even existed, let alone having to share a room with her and be with her every day. She could've been devoured by a mad pack of Shadows or trampled to death by a Defender and he wouldn't give a damn.
…so why did his eyes burn when he had looked at her and his voice been so husky when he breathed her name in her ear? It made her brain hurt and she tried to stop thinking about it before she had an aneurism.
Stop it, Yuffie! She told herself. Don't chase something you'll never get or else bad things will happen!
Suddenly, she was put in mind of one of her mother's moral-stories about a dog who tried to steal a bone from another dog, only it was merely his reflection in a lake, and the stupid dog had leaped into the water and drowned himself. She felt not unlike that right now, only drowning didn't appeal to her.
The last thing she wanted to do right now was face Squall, or worse still, Aerith, so she went right past the hotel and made it into the safe haven of the First District where she slept on the balcony over the café… alone.
~*~
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Okay, two reasons for me to scream. One is that I'm so freakin' sick and I can hardly swallow and I'm losing my voice and I can't afford to miss school so even if I was dying my mom would make me go anyway. The second thing is that I think this chapter sucked. But that's just my opinion. Squiffie-ness will be coming in the near future, so keep your eyes open! And can't you smell that lovely love-hate relationship unfolding here? Ahh… sweet romance…
