Chapter 12
Squall's Departure
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The cool night breeze traveled gently through the large room as the eerie glow of the full moon shone freely through the opened balcony doors. Everything was calm and tranquil that even a drop of a pin could be amplified into a glass cup crashing onto solid ground. With the moon as the natural source of light, a fraction of the room was intensely highlighted white whilst the rest of the room was merely covered by the glow it produced. With that, a restless figure was easily seen turning around numerous times before settling into a comfortable position on the double bed.
Sighing aloud for the umpteenth time that night, Tidus laid on his bare back with his right arm propped under his pillow whilst his left arm spread lazily across his toned abs. His blanket was pulled all the way down to his waistline where his cotton pajama pants could be seen slightly. Lying there for two hours and counting, there wasn't a moment where an image or a thought that consisted of Yuna did not enter his confused mind.
What perplexed him the most was that every time the thought of her entered his head, his heart felt as though it would fly. And that's never happened to him before. For the past two years, Tidus had attracted more girls than honey would attract bees, but yet again, not one of them made him as confused as he was right now. He always thought of himself as an expert with this topic, but now, he felt like a deer caught in headlights.
Above all thoughts, above all images, there was one particular thing that never faltered to cause a smile to form on the blonde Blitzer's face. The kiss… if you could call it that. It was so quick and soft that it might've made more sense to describe it as a mere peck. But whatever it was, it was breathtaking… literally.
'Man, her lips were so soft and her hands, damn her hands were so smooth, it felt…' Thinking for the most appropriate words, his years of education finally came to use, 'fucking great.'
Again, a goofy smile stretched upon his face as he tried to recall the sensation of Yuna's cherry pink lips on his dry cracked ones. Subconsciously, his left hand traveled upwards until his fingers made subtle contact with his lips. However, this time, he allowed his mind to steer off track as he wondered about other possibilities. What if he had pulled her back? What if it was he, this time, who had kissed her? What if it wasn't just a shy peck, instead a full fledge kiss? What if she kissed back with the same amount of passion? What if..?
At this point Tidus couldn't continue anymore. Even without the presence of anyone his cheeks were burning and embarrassment overcame him. But in a good way. The goofy smile was no longer there; instead it had been upgraded to the point where his sparkling white teeth could be seen. The scenario he had created in his mind had made him so giddy that he did what girls would normally do when being questioned about 'boys'. He pulled his blanket over his head and started giggling. Yep, the almighty Tidus… giggling… under a blanket… over a GIRL!
And yes, if any of his guy friends knew about this, in no time he would be labeled as a 'Sissy.' But he didn't care; he loved this feeling too much to care. This feeling of warmth in his heart. This feeling of butterflies in his tummy. This feeling of excitement and being on top of the world… okay maybe not to that extent yet.
This feeling that only Yuna could make him feel.
Yevon did he want to see Yuna that very minute, even more, did he want to hold her in his arms. Well, there were a LOT more Tidus wanted to do with Yuna but those thoughts could be saved for later, much later. Yuna was different, different to all the other girls he had ever dated or wanted to date. Getting girls back then for him was like a goal, a challenge. They were no more than attractive girls with model figures. Not Yuna, she was more, much more. All his previous girlfriends didn't have what Yuna has. Personality.
Just as he was still thinking about the girl that makes his heart flutter, the loud rings of the telephone not only made him snap out of his reverie but also made him jump.
'Who the fuck can be calling at 3 in the mor- Yevon! What if it's Yuna? What if she wants to say that the kiss was just a joke? I knew this was too good to be true. Quick, just pick the phone up before it wakes Jecht up and then he'll answer it. Then he'll know it's Yuna and start pestering me with dumbass questions and lecture me about shit and how girls would interfere with Blitzball blah blah blah. Damn, the old man just pisses me off so much! I would hit him if he was right here right now then I'd-.'
'JUST SHUT UP AND PICK THE GODDAMN PHONE UP!'
'Right! The phone.' Just as he was reaching out towards the phone situated on his bedside tablehe paused briefly, 'Wait wait wait. Put on your sexy voice just in case it's Yuna!'
And with that out of the way, he lunged for the phone. Clearing his throat slightly he said, "Hello?" in a deep, husky and seductive voice. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would jump out of his chest.
"… Shit, is that you Tidus?"
He felt his face grow hot as he started choking rapidly on the phone. "S-Squall?"
"Who'd you think it was? Someone calling on those sex lines?"
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"Did you get it? Did you get it?"
"Yes yes yes! Gees! Here." Lulu cried, handing Squall a packet of jelly beans.
Grabbing it from her grasp, Squall held the shiny blue packet close to his heart as he sighed in relief. Tidus and Wakka slowly backed away from Squall after seeing his melodramatic reaction to the miniature sized chewy substances.
"What?" Squall rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, like you don't know how much my ears kill when the plane is rising or landing."
"Nah, yeah we do!" Tidus replied yet still jokingly backing away, "But you know, we don't really want to be seen with some cra-,"
"OUCH! Watch it Tidus! My toes!"
"Shit, sorry Rikku." He mumbled, stumbling to turn around.
Tidus looked behind the petite blonde before his eyes searched every direction until they landed back on her. "So um, come here alone?"
"Well because I got the call so late at night from Lulu I couldn't-,"
"Look where's Yuna?" Tidus interrupted.
"Nice to see you too," Rikku mumbled sarcastically, "Yuna couldn't make it 'cause she has this job interview that she's been waiting for like, three months." Rikku shrugged, "But Squall knows already, right Squall?"
"What? Oh yeah, yeah I do. Anyway I have to get going now so take care kiddos."
In a rush, Rikku and Lulu hurriedly walked over to Squall giving him a quick hug, "Take care Squall and come back soon!"
"Yeah I will, I'll come back right after my aunt gets better… a lot better actually." He said more to himself than to the group with the after thought. "It'll be soon so stop worrying." Squall reassured.
"I'm gonna miss you so much." Rikku muffled against his jacket.
"Alright alright, get off already." Squall laughed as he patted her on the head. "Stay outta trouble okay?"
"Pssh, try telling that to Tidus. He's the crazy rabbit when it comes to Yuna." She giggled.
"….. Did someone say my name?" Tidus asked, clueless as ever.
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Monday Morning – First period
"That's it! The next person to fall asleep on me will see me after school today. Got it?!" the teacher boomed, slamming a book down on the table with the intention of waking several students.
Fifteen minutes into the class and already nearly half the class had fallen asleep due to lack of rest from the previous week. Yuna nervously fidgeted with her pencil whilst her different colored eyes continuously glanced at the door. Every time the door creaked, Yuna's head would shoot up only to be greeted by the wind. Her spirits were beginning to fall as minute after minute gradually went by without the existence of another fellow classmate.
The female teacher's voice continued to boom across the room, oblivious to the fact that another three students had fallen into a peaceful realm of slumber. Yuna noticed that her voice was unusually low which made her question if the teacher was a transsexual. The question amused her so much that she accidentally let out a fit of giggles. Crap!
"Miss Yuna, may I ask you what is so funny?"
"I… um.. well-,"
"Morning Ms Mann. Sorry, slept in." Tidus yawned, interrupting the little interrogation.
She gave him a little glare before continuing her lecture. Yuna made sure to keep her face low as she knew her face was burning red from the embarrassment. As Tidus walked down the classroom, he kept his eyes firmly on the petite brunette, ignoring the other dozen sets of eyes on him. It took him.5 seconds to realize that the only seat left in the room was a seat away from Yuna, so he grudgingly sat down.
Yuna pretended to seem interested in what the teacher was saying, therefore acted as though she was taking down notes. Her heart was beating even more rapidly when in the corner of her eyes she noticed that Tidus had tapped the guy sitting next to her on his shoulder and whispered something. Trying to act as though she was unaware of the whole situation she continued taking down notes. In a matter of seconds, the guy willingly nodded before he got up and swapped seats with Tidus.
The blonde blitzer coolly sat down, subtly shifting his table closer to Yuna's. Against her own will, Yuna glanced up to see a set of ocean blue eyes staring straight at her. As fast as the speed of light, the blood in her body immediately rushed upwards to her face before she could hide it. Looking back at her notes, she winced in embarrassment. She heard Tidus chuckle but still refused to look up.
"Reciting the alphabet?"
Tidus had leaned in so close to her that his nose had brushed softly against her thin brown hair.
'Reciting the alphabet? What's he talking about?'
Then it hit her, she looked down at her A4 note pad and mentally kicked herself, "Oh my gosh." She whispered to herself. Throughout this whole time she had written out the alphabet six and a half times.
'Wow Yuna, you've never been so good at embarrassing yourself. Geez you deserve a pat on the back.'
"So how was the job interview?" he whispered, deliberately leaning in extremely close to Yuna.
Feeling a shiver run hastily up her spine, she unwillingly let out a little tremble. Once again she heard the low snicker coming from Tidus, the culprit to all her embarrassing and nerve racking encounters this morning.
'Why are you so nervous around him? Gosh I knew that kiss was a mistake. I don't even like him so why am I so nervous? Just breath and act normal. Just act like a bitch towards him so that everything would be back to normal. Okay so that's the plan, just act like you're top sh-,"
"I'm judging from your silence that it wasn't too good?"
"Um, no not really." She whispered back timidly.
'Yep that sounded like a bitch alright. Keep this up and he might even think of you as a chicken. Wow, think of that, what an improvement. Really, well done Yuna!'
She winced again as her plan just went down the drain.
"Not really as in 'No, it was good,'" Tidus mimicked in a girly voice, "or 'No it sucked shit?"
At this, Yuna couldn't help but let out another fit of giggles, "The second one."
The flirtatious blonde smiled as he finally leaned back in his seat.
'That went well.'
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"So Yunie, what's on your mind?"
"Nothing in particular, why?"
"Well you've been a bit quiet, so something must be up, spill it already!" Rikku continued as she and Lulu stood patiently by Yuna's locker, waiting for both her response and for her to finish collecting her books.
"Look it's nothing, so can we just…" Yuna finally closed her locker just in time to see Tidus standing behind the blonde and raven haired ladies.
"Hi."
Rikku and Lulu immediately turned around to the sound of a familiar voice, "Tidus, hey, what brings you here?" Lulu asked.
He scratched the back of his head out of habit before replying, "Um, Yuna, can I talk to you after school?"
Both heads turned to Yuna, anxiously waiting for her reponse, "… sure."
Tidus let out a sigh of relief, "Great, I'll see you then!"
As he walked down the corridor, countless girls did their daily ritual with him, bat their lashes, shift their skirts to reveal more leg or giggled loudly. Today however, there were also many girls who sulked around or even worse spent the whole day crying due to Squall's departure.
"Oh.. My… Gosh… Is there something we should know about Yunie?" Rikku asked whilst wriggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"Oh look at the time, I have to get going now." Yuna quickly turned around before Rikku could grab onto her and made a mad dash to fifth period.
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"Okay please tell me you're all on crack because honestly, that was a disgrace. So tell me for the love of Yevon that at least three quarters of you are on crack!"
The blitzball team remained silent.
"So you're telling me we dragged your sorry asses back from camp just to have you slack offs give me this shitty performance?!"
Silence.
"OH HOLY MOTHER OF FRICKIN YEVON!" He slapped his forehead.
"Does anyone by any chance have any bullets?" he groaned, rubbing his temples.
"… Why?" a voice questioned.
"Oh nothing," he replied with an overly sweet smile, "You see I have a gun but it seems to me that I forgot the ammo," He continued smiling like he was talking to a child, "Now if any one of you adorable little shits just so happen to have bullets with you, let me know. I'd like to shoot myself sometime today."
The entire Blitzball team rolled their eyes at his overreaction.
"Auron, we just came back. We haven't trained in a while. It's a Monday. Give us a break!"
"Shut up Tidus! You above all should know better."
"And you above all should do a better job at coaching." He mumbled.
"I heard that!" He looked at everyone, "Your defence was appalling, your accuracy of catching and throwing was beyond disgusting and…IN FACT does anyone of you's have enough bullets to shoot all of you in the head 'cause I can certainly do with that."
"Shut up with the shooting already. Can we go yet? School's about finished."
Grunting, Auron replied, "Yeah yeah, but I expect so see real Blitzball players tomorrow, not the sissys like today."
With that, everyone got off their seats from the stadium and made their way to the exit.
"AND IF ANYONE HAS ANY AMMO AT HOME, REMEMBER TO BRING IT NEXT LESSON!" Auron cried before they left.
"SHUT UP!" was the response he got from his team.
"pfft, whatever."
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Slamming his locker shut, Tidus quickly made his way to the car park where he thought he had told Yuna to meet him. With this hair still wet from a long session of Blitzball training, he shook his head slightly as he jogged his way through a pretty deserted hallway. Just as he was nearing the exit a hand stopped him from getting to his destination. He turned around to the feel of a soft hand wrapped firmly around his forearm before his eyes met a pair of hazel colored ones.
"Myleena!" He cried somewhat anxiously as he was eager to go see Yuna and confess his… Like… for her.
"Hey." She whispered back in a soft sad voice.
Turning around fully, Tidus let a little frown spread upon his face wondering why the girl in front of him was acting so unusual, "Is something wrong?"
"I… don't worry about it, you wouldn't even care." She started to turn away but Tidus stopped her.
"What do you mean I wouldn't care, you're like a sister to me."
"Sister?" She repeated, "Sister. I don't want to be your sister Tidus. Don't you get it?! I want to be your girl. I want you to be my boyfriend! Can't you see that?!"
Tidus merely stood there dumbfounded by her sudden outburst. He was expecting something along the lines of her feeling sick, but luck wasn't on his side today.
"I've known you so much longer than she has, so what is it that she has that I don't, because quite frankly everyone knows I'm the better looking one out of me and her!"
Tidus knew immediately who she was talking about, "Look Myleena, it's not about that. I've just never thought of you anymore than a sibling. I'm really sorry Myleena, I don't know what else I could say to make this easier for the both of us."
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'Was it just me or did Tidus not tell me where I was suppose to meet him?'
Yuna thought as her feet gradually led her down a hallway. The school was starting to get deserted as everyone was dismissed about fifteen minutes ago.
'I wonder what he wants to talk to me about?'
Although she didn't know what exactly this little meeting of theirs was for, she couldn't help but allow the outer corners of her small mouth to lift upwards.
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"I know a lot of things you could say to make things easier for the both of us."
"Myleena, I know you want to hear those words, and I could say it."
Within that split second her face lifted up one hundred notches.
"Yes, I could say it so easily..."
"So why don't you just-,"
"But I wouldn't mean any of it." He finished firmly.
"What? What are you-,"
He interrupted her again, "There is only one girl I can think, no, I know that I could say those three words to and mean it, and I'm sure you know who it is as well."
"… I see." She whispered, "Then there is just one last thing I want to ask you."
He waited.
"Could I have a kiss from you?"
His eyes widened from that unexpected request, "Um, Myleena I don't think that-," but before he could finish his sentence, she quickly grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down, her lips meeting his.
Before he got the chance to push her away, she let go and pulled away from him. He was about to yell at her for that behavior but his eyes fell upon a figure that made his blood cold, his body freeze and heart stop.
Her fist were tightly balled up as her entire body softly shook. She did not say anything. Her eyes did not leave his. Her body did not move… but her heart was shattering. Her facial expression spelt out 'Betrayal and hurt' and Tidus read it, clear as crystal. She had told herself numerous times today that she had no feelings for Tidus, that she did not like him one bit, that he was a jerk, that the kiss was simply a gesture of thanks, that she wasn't anticipating to see him throughout the weekend… so why did her heart feel like it had just been pulled out, stomped upon before being ripped apart?
She couldn't understand why, but her eyes were starting to sting. She knew if she stood there any longer she would regret it so she abruptly turned around and starting walking away.
Tidus didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he didn't like what he was feeling, the feeling of Yuna hating him, the feeling of Yuna hurt, but most of all, the feeling of knowing it was he who had hurt Yuna. As soon as he saw Yuna turn around and leave, he didn't give a shit if he was going to make matters worse, it was a risk he was willing to take. Without thinking, he hastily pulled away from Myleena and made a run towards Yuna.
"Yuna." He called, grabbing her arm gently to turn her around.
"It's not what you think it is." He explained urgently.
It wasn't like he was tired but for some reason he was panting, either from nervousness or anxiousness he didn't know… he didn't care.
There was a brief silence, "What makes you think I care?" Yuna softly hissed back, trying to sound strong and unaffected, but it only amplified the hurt in her.
"What makes me think you care? By the way you look, the way you're acting right now! That's what makes me think you care!!"
"Well you're wrong, I don't care. So don't mind me, you can go back and continue with whatever it was you were doing." The words were spoken calmly yet that only increased the level of pain evident in her voice. With that she turned, only to be pulled back by Tidus whose hand had not left her yet.
"Yuna believe me, what you saw, it was an accident, a mistake! I don't like her that way!" his voice was getting louder as frustration was starting to get to him from looking at Yuna's unbelieving expression.
The anger was mostly directed at himself as he found difficulty in expressing his feelings.
Yuna laughed bitterly, "You know, I actually led myself to believe that you've actually changed. Now I've realized how stupid I was." She replied cruelly.
Tidus finally let go of her arm, "What's that suppose to mean?" he asked, this time unable to hide the hurt in his voice.
"That means," her voice uncontrollably shaky, "that you haven't changed a bit. You're still the spoilt, arrogant, inconsiderate Tidus I met when you first walked into that class." She clearly articulated the three cruel and false words to Tidus. Her voice was still unusually calm but as she spoke, her words became more cruel, "All along I thought you were the one that had played all those pranks on me, up until a few days ago when I thought you had changed. But now I know, I know that it was you… Do you hate me that much? Do I bother you that much to the point where you feel the need to waste your time on something as petty as me?" she finished her taunting.
Tidus shook his head, "I don't hate you. I didn't pull those pranks on you and you're not petty. Yeah I admit I was probably once like that. But I changed Yuna, I changed because of you… But it doesn't seem as though you've noticed nor cared."
"No, you haven't changed, because if you did, I wouldn't of have to witness that before… another prank I'm assuming. Why? Is it fun to see my hopes crushed?" Finally she allowed her speaking volume to intensify, "Because if it is just say so, I'll get out of your face altogether if my presence upsets you this greatly." Yuna stated before she turned and walked away, this time no one stopping her, this time letting her tears fall.
Tidus merely stood there. No words could do justice to the anger, the loss, the frustration, but most of all, the hurt that was eating away at him.
Everything was right again. Everything was going according to plan. Myleena smirked.
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An: Come on guys, let's go egg Myleena!!!!! Anyway I would just like to say a big SORRRRRRYYYYY for taking me this darn long to update a damn chapter!! I just wasn't really inspired for a while, but worry not because regardless of how lazy I get I guarantee you readers out there that my next chapter will NOT take this long to update!! Anyway I hope this chapter has satisfied you guys for the time being! So give me a review and although we know Myleena's a !#$&!#$&!#$& bitc let us review in peace and avoid any murderous thoughts. :D 'Till next time (Hopefully soon)
Also I'd just like to say that the reviews have played a big part in helping me get on my computer and typing up the next chapter, so thanks to every reader and reviewer.
One more also: I mentioned before in previous chapters that this fic will NOT be discontinued till the very end! I plan to stick to it. So if ever I take a while to update, assume that I'm just being lazy because I have no intentions of giving up on this fic!! (What a long note, sorry bout that