The Delinquent
I don't own ff8 or Rammstein. I dunno if you have to put that thing up if you only mention them but better safe than sorry.
Squall casually glanced towards the stop light that was preventing him from going home. His hand tapped against the steering wheel along with the intoxicating beat of the Rammstein that he was listening to.
Finally the light turned green and he was given clearance to at last start his trouble-free journey home. He'd been at Zell's listening to his mother lecture them both of the trouble that they were getting into. It was a pretty average one for ol' Ma Dincht, Squall was authorized to leave after only half an hour.
Once he got back on his boulevard he pulled over when he noticed Selphie and Rinoa walking down the street. They both had ice creams and still wore their school uniforms but without any shoes.
"What are you ladies doing?" Squall enquired.
Rinoa and Selphie walked towards the car, lapping up the quickly melting ice cream as they went.
"We decided that we needed an icy feast." Selphie proclaimed.
"Wanna ride?" Squall asked.
Rinoa nodded and dived in the front seat. Selphie jumped over her side and landed clumsily in the backseat.
"Did you have a good day?" Selphie enquired slyly.
Squall chuckled at that, of course he had. Not only had he saw the absolute defacement of the schools main symbol of impressiveness he'd heard his Principal have a breakdown.
"Yeah it was alright, nothing out of the ordinary, right?" Squall sniggered.
Selphie didn't answer but there was a proud smile upon her face.
Two days later
Squall grinned smugly as he walked towards Rinoa's house. Her plan of going for an entire week was going to be smothered in about two minutes. It was currently eight o clock in the morning and she would more than likely be still in bed.
They never really went to school until well after nine o clock, for an optimum school day you needed at least eight hours sleep and they were usually out and about late at night.
Squall opened the door and let himself in; he'd just watched Caraway pull out of the driveway and take off to work so he knew that that wasn't going to be a problem.
He silently crept up the stairs, he tried as hard as he could to stop the creak that always sung out when you pulled down Rinoa's stairs to her bedroom and was surprisingly successful.
He headed up then, noticing how brilliantly the sky light shone when it was the morning. Rinoa had been in his room tones of time but Squall hadn't really been at Rinoa's all that much. It seemed as though she didn't like having visitors but Squall understood, some people liked there privacy. He understood that but still didn't tie together the fact that sneaking into someone's room when they're asleep at eight in the morning might be an invasion of someone's property.
He chuckled quietly to himself when he noticed that Rinoa had a black mosquito net above her bed, he couldn't imagine her with anything like that.
He stood there for longer than he thought he would though, watching her body move up and down as she slept, silently staring at her hair spread out all around her pillow. Her lips were slightly parted and she was making something that seemed kind of like purring in her sleep. One hand lay beside her face, partially covering her face from Squall's view. She had a white t-shirt on that said "Daddies little killer" in bold black writing.
He couldn't see what was underneath that though, her duvet covered the rest of her body.
A slight breeze was blowing, making the scene all the more appetizing with the presence of the mosquitos net stirring faintly.
'This looks like a chocolate commercial…' Squall thought dazedly.
He was about to go and jump on her bed to wake her up but before he got a chance this hell-mutt wonder from the planet psycho came running at him. It barked viciously at him, baring its teeth and letting out the occasional growls.
"Oh shit…" Squall mumbled.
Rinoa was frightened out of her sleep and dived out of bed. She looked completely oblivious of anything going on and Squall noticed that she had grey and black chequered three quarter pyjama pants on underneath.
The dog barked and Rinoa was thrown back into reality.
"Angelo, no!" Rinoa commanded sternly.
To Squall's amazement, the once violent and fierce dogs he'd ever encountered… apart from the one at the junk yard… that was a scary dog… and that one on that old mans property… and Seifer's dog… REGARDLESS! This dog was definitely in the top fifteen, and it instantly backed off.
"That's a…" Squall squeaked out.
He coughed and took a deep breath, trying to get over the fact that this dog had nearly attached him and had been quite scary so that he could look at least half way tough in front of Rinoa.
"I know, he's so loyal." Rinoa yawned as she patted Angelo's head.
Rinoa yawned again, this time finding the energy to cover her mouth. She glanced at Squall for a second before trudging back to bed and covering herself with her duvet.
"Why are you here anyway?" Rinoa enquired.
Squall sat down on her bed and shrugged, trying to act casual while keeping one eye on that dog.
"We uhhh, we have plans." Squall stuttered.
"And just what are 'our' plans?" Rinoa sniggered.
"I and my five musketeers are taking you out on a day of stress release." Squall proclaimed.
"I thought there were three musketeers." Rinoa said flatly.
"Well now you know that you thought wrong." Squall said sarcastically.
Rinoa rolled her eyes and covered her head with her pillow. It was a pleasure to see Squall and all but when it was eight in the morning, she looked like shit and he was trying to make conversation, it she really couldn't be bothered.
"C'mon Rin." Squall whined.
He got out of bed this early in the morning she could at least make an effort.
Rinoa tore away her pillow and looked up to glare at Squall but one look in his pleading azure eyes and how could she say no?
"Fine, get out of my room so I can get changed." Rinoa submitted.
"Please don't take all fucking day." Squall said tediously.
Thirty five minutes later
Squall had made himself comfortable on the couch and was absent mindedly flicking through the channels on TV. As per usual at that time in the morning it mainly consisted of Hyne worship and preschoolers shows.
Rinoa floated down the stairs, looking every bit as beautiful as she had the day Squall had first seen her. In a non conventual way of course, it had been the perfect introduction. Squall started to wonder if that was why he was so fascinated with her.
She'd absolutely screamed her head off when he'd saw her, clutching at her chest and gasping for air after she'd finished. It had startled him somewhat but he didn't let that on. He'd been quite the gentleman as well, even apologising for startling her. Oh how things had changed now.
"About fucking time, Princess." Squall snapped.
"Oh shut your face." Rinoa moaned.
She couldn't help but glance at herself quickly as she walked past a mirror, rapidly inspecting every aspect of her chosen choice in clothes.
She had a black pair of tight fitting jean bootlegs with a pair of black stiletto heeled boots. Stiletto heels were something that Rinoa had adopted off Quistis, it was just that Rinoa had stubby legs and they made them look longer.
Accompanying this she had a pink plaid halter neck top with black stitching and a silver zip going up the back.
Squall had to admit that this new look bet the shit out of her old 'faded jeans and t-shirt' combo that she'd lived in when he'd first met her.
"Ready to go then?" Squall enquired.
Rinoa nodded, actually quite looking forward to going out today. She had originally planned to go all week and prove it to herself, but the prospect of doing something much more interesting was much more enticing.
She got to the end of the stairs and Squall looked down at her feet, he shook his head and pointed straight back up to her room.
"Sorry Princess but you gotta change; your clothing is not suitable for the task you are going to partake in today." Squall lectured.
"Well then what do you suggest I wear then?" Rinoa burst.
First he complains that she's taking too long then he decides that she has to do it all again, this was getting ridiculous.
"I don't know maybe something a little beachier."
Rinoa grimaced and stormed back up the stairs. She couldn't help but smile when she got back into her bedroom though. She'd never had any relationships with people quite as bizarre as the friendships she now obtained. Just when you'd think they were fighting heatedly they'd smile and laugh, they didn't take offence to anything.
She walked swiftly towards her closet, not wishing to take quite as long as she had. She didn't really have any beachy clothes but she imagined that she could piece something together.
She ripped through all her clothes that were hanging up, only briefly stopping to double check some items a couple of times. She momentarily glanced at a purple and black sarong that hung folded on a coat hanger. She grabbed it and biffed it scrappily on her bed, this was soon followed by a pair of three quarter jeans and some blue flip flops.
Next she ran to her underwear draw and chaotically searched through there for some signs of a bikini or something. Soon she found one of her old ones. A blue pair of boy cut shorts and a sort of halter neck blue swim top thing that only really showed part of her stomach.
She stared at it for a couple of seconds before throwing it back in her draw, had this been Deling, she would've been angry that it was so last season. Here she was more worried that she'd look out of place in front of Squall and all the rest of them. She knew they wouldn't judge her and even quite possibly that Selphie was wearing less but she didn't want to show them any more of what she used to be. She was a new person now and didn't want to remember what she was.
She instead grabbed a pair of dark blue board shorts and a white sleeveless t-shirt that said "One hundred percent bitch" in bold black letters. She quickly grabbed her shoulder bag and dumped all her school books out of it onto the floor, she stuffed her board shorts in there and stared at her chosen outfit for a couple of seconds before putting it all together.
Twenty two minutes later
Rinoa stepped down the stairs once again, this time not earning Squall's attention as something interesting was on TV. She'd wrapped the sarong around her body to make some sort of toga but better and not as crusty looking; under this she had her jeans and her black t-shirt.
It wasn't as grunge as her last outfit but she liked to think it still gave her a sense of her own individuality. She'd tied her hair up in a scruffy bun at the back of her head with her bangs hanging down over one of her eyes with a pair of sunglasses perched upon her head.
"C'mon." Rinoa said when she entered the lounge.
Squall glanced over the couch he was sitting on and gave her an inspection. He loved that whole casual look on her, it was so fitting.
"That's better." Squall proclaimed.
Rinoa rolled her eyes, used to Squall's stamp of approval on all her clothing. He did this every time they went somewhere. Oh Rinoa that's not suitable… we're breaking into a house Rinoa, think about it…
It was actually really annoying, she wasn't used to having to have someone's consent on what to wear… actually no that's a lie, whoever her friends were they had a dress code.
The parking lot that the group were 'oh so' famous for meeting up in
Seifer paced impatiently beside Irvine's Ute. He and the others had been waiting for about half an hour now and he was getting more than a little agitated.
He looked down at his watch, glaring down at it viciously when he saw that another five minutes had gone by since the last time he'd looked at it. The others didn't really seem as fazed about it as he was but that was normal, he was always a little tenser.
He heard the familiar sound of Squall's car screeching around the corner and leaned up against the car.
"Finally." He breathed out.
Quistis glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, not wanted to voice anything but still giving him a look. He smirked at her but no words were spoken and nobody really noticed the little exchange.
Squall's car appeared round the corner, going sideways around it. You could already see the excited grin on Squall's face, one that he shared with Rinoa.
"I don't see why those two don't just fuck and get it over with." Irvine said offhandedly.
Selphie elbowed him in the stomach but nobody disagreed, they were really a match made in heaven. Rinoa complemented Squall and Squall did so in return… no to mention that it would be tremendously adorable.
"Yeah… that would be super cute." Selphie replied as Squall and Rinoa stepped out of the car.
"What would be?" Rinoa enquired as she walked towards them.
"Nothing special." Selphie said casually.
"Super cute? Isn't that a little perky prep for you?" Squall stated flatly.
"Face it Squall, Selphie is a prep stuck in a rebel's body." Zell laughed.
"As true as your statement may be, we didn't come here to pick on Selphie." Quistis interrupted.
Rinoa then noticed the alarming amount of board shorts floating around. At least all the boys had a pair on, bar Irvine but he always liked to stand out.
Squall had a pair of grey boardies on and a white wife-beater. Much like herself he had a pair of sunglasses perched upon his head and black sandals on his feet.
Seifer had basically the same thing, except the wife-beater was a blue t-shirt, the sandals were grey shoes and the boardies were black.
Zell had a red cap upon his head and red board shorts, that seemed to be his resounding theme for today. His shirt was black and wore sandals much like Squall's.
Irvine was in jeans and a black wife-beater. He still had his cowboy hat, something that Rinoa had been meaning to ask him about but had never got around to it; she imagined that it had something to do with his OBSESSION with cowboys.
Quistis, as per usual, looked nothing short of angelic. She had a pair of see-through white pants on with white boy-cut short shorts on underneath. She had a white bikini covered with black zip up tight fitting jacket. She had no shoes on and small pink tinged sunglasses.
Selphie seemed to be wearing clothes that didn't seem to fit. She had a denim micro-mini on with a gypsy hippie looking white see-through top that was a little baggy on her. Underneath it you could see her bright yellow bikini.
"We came here to take Rinoa out on a day of relaxation." Quistis finished.
"No you came here to take Rinoa on a day of relaxation. I came here to wag school." Seifer scoffed.
Quistis glared at him and he glared back, there was an unspoken war going on between them that no one really wanted to split apart. Zell coughed to try and make his and everyone else's presence known but it appeared that they were blatantly ignoring him.
Finally Quistis looked away and Seifer wore a satisfied smirk plastered upon his face, it remained there for the next twenty minutes as well.
"You know he aint getting five-eights-of-fuck-all tonight." Irvine muttered in Selphie's ear earning him a giggle.
"Can we go?" Squall burst out.
"Hold up, seeing as this is my day and all I wanna stop somewhere and get something to eat. I'm starving." Rinoa cut in.
They soon found themselves outside a café that had a breakfast deal going on. They only went to places that had the deals; café's were just too expensive these days.
Rinoa cringed when she exited Squall's car, obviously a little nervous about something.
"What?" Squall asked, he being the only one that really noticed.
"Let's go somewhere else." Rinoa pleaded.
"Why…?" Squall trailed off as he looked ahead of himself.
He soon noticed what the matter was. There, sitting no less than four meters away was Lucas. He sat outside the café with Marcia, laughing and eating like it was nothing. If anything bothered Squall it was him laughing like he'd done nothing, like he wasn't at fault at all.
Squall began to grind his teeth and his fists immediately clenched together.
"Squall, please leave it." Rinoa begged. "Promise me you won't go over there."
But Squall didn't need to; soon Lucas had stood and appeared to be heading towards his car. He brushed past Squall as he walked, Squall trying a little too hard not to smack him in the face.
He'd only seen him for five seconds and he already wanted to inflict more bodily harm him than any other person he'd ever encountered. He just needed reason…
'I've got heaps…'Squall thought as he turned and sucker punched him in the back of the head.
Lucas instantly fell to the ground. He had to be expecting something, right?
Squall leaned down and grabbed him by the collar; he'd turned over by now you see.
"I'm ganna break you're fucking face." Squall snarled.
"Squall! You promised!" Rinoa yelled.
"I promised nothing!" Squall spat out.
Squall heard a car door slam and the sound of bare feet running over against the concrete.
"Squall, this isn't the way to fight this." Quistis informed him in all her infinite wisdom.
She lightly touched Squall on the shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't intentionally hurt a single hair on her head. Squall felt the calming affect that she always had on him, she was one of the first friends he'd ever had and he treated her like a sister.
It was the same as Ellone, if she'd come along and said the same thing he would've instantly dropped Lucas.
Lucas fell to the ground and Squall took a couple of seconds to collect himself. He took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling like it was the last breath he'd ever take.
He closed his eyes, wishing immediately that he hadn't. The first thing that came to his mind was snapping at Rinoa, he regretted it instantly.
'But I'm doing this for her… aren't I? But she doesn't want this…'
He felt Rinoa gently touch his forearm and he looked down to see her smiling at him softly. And against all his better intentions, he walked away. It was the first and quite possibly the last time he'd ever walked away from a fight of any kind. He didn't know why either.
"Yeah fuck off ya dickhead." Lucas shouted after him.
Squall's eyes widened and he tried to turn and face Lucas again but this time Zell was holding him back. Zell practically had to drag Squall inside the café, Squall kicking and screaming the whole way.
"I'm ganna get you Lucas… You just fucking wait!"
Random, I dunno why Lucas was in this chapter, I was ganna save him for later but the last chapter was about nothing and so was most of this one so I figured something had to happen. This chapter was all about clothes so the next one HAS to be something special.
For all concerned, yes Lucas is going to get his own back but I've actually got no idea how to do it and I need something really inventive. This needs to be by far Squall and co.'s best work so if you have any ideas at all I'd really like to hear them.
Another thing that I really wanna hear… what you thought.