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C A F F E I N A T E D
sora &kairi & riku & yuffie
By - iVEY GARDENiA -

One moment's glance (&) Two to a pair
Three to a triangle. Four to a square.
(F i v e days to a lifetime, S i x feet to a grave)
c o n n e c t by the n u m b e r s
& draw a line through their days -- xo;

Part One out of Four: YUFFIE
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I see them at that corner table, nearly every day. I guess they all live around here or something. On every visit, one of them comes up to me at the counter and asks for the usuals. A double Espresso for the tall guy with the silver hair. A chai soy latte for the redhead with the cute haircut. A chocolate milkshake, extra cream, with sprinkles and chocolate chips and no cherry, for the brunette boy with the spiky hair.

Then they all go to their table and they might sit there for ten minutes or two hours, talking, laughing, just having fun. By now I've already got the chocolate ice cream in the blender for the milkshake and sprinkles and etc on the counter when I see those three on the sidewalk to come here. Even if they don't notice. It's nice to have regulars around here, since we're a very new coffee shop slash diner place.

They seem nice too. Even when Cid (My boss, who happens to be my uncle, go figure) goes over to insist that they're loitering after sitting for too long, they don't hold up their cups and make a fuss. They go ahead and buy some cookies, or a brownie, or refill drinks.

Soon after they became regulars, I took to wiping down tables and windows near them just to hear what they're always on about. That's what I'm doing at the moment, jay-cloth in hand. Wiping the table beside them. Minding my own business. Not really.

I can tell right away that they're the sort of best friends who completely click, wheteher their life long friends, or just recently met people who got along well right away. Either, or. Their's no awkward silence with these kids. It's all chatting and joking. Sillyness. It's cute.

I can also tell that the spiky haired one has a thing for the girl. It's obvious that it's mutual. The third one knows this as well as I do. He always seems to be subtly teasing them for their obvious feelings, even if the two don't appear to .. see it in eachother. It's actually funny to wtach. Probably for the silver haired boy too, I don't doubt it.

Today they are talking about careers. They've just taken an aptitute test, I hear. The girl says that she wants to be a vet, or a child physician. She looks like the kind who would love kids, but for some reason I can see her being an actress or something big like that. It would suit her from what little I know!

The brunette guy says he wants to be a superhero, jokingly. They take some time to argue over their favorite superheroes, and I listen with a smile.

The silver haired boy says he doesn't give a fuck. As long as he doesn't have to be some "fucking office yuppie" or a hobo, he'll take whatever comes his way. He seems a little embarassed when the girl tells him he should be a writer, and when she insists his writing is good, he denies it all. The other boy says that he can see him as a reclusive artist type (He says, maybe…)

"Hey, uh .. exuse me?"

I look up. "What can I get you?"

"Some cookies please?"

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Two weeks later, I see the redhead and the brunette come in alone. It's evening time, and the three hadn't made their usual afternoon visit.

Diana, the new worker here, is already serving them. But I look at them oddly although their back's turned on me. Where's the third one? I think he might be sick or something, so I don't think too much on it as I make a new tray of cookies. But it's still bothering me! So, I put Diana on counter duty, and head over with the drinks that these kids ordered.

"Here you go." I say, and they thank me. Then, before I can stop myself, "Where's the friend you're usually here with, hm?"

They look at me awkwardly, probably thinking that I'm some nosy, oddly observant teenage waitress with no life and nothing better to do than spy on customers (Well, maybe I am.) But then there's something regretful in their eyes. As if he doesn't even know that they've come. And then I see it. They're not in their school uniforms, they are in soemthing a bit more fancy. This is a date.

I wave my hand like it doesn't matter. "No matter." I say stupidly, and set their sodas down. "Enjoy."

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He comes in about an hour later, when the two are gone. He takes the traditional corner seat, and stares out the window.

I come up. "Can I get you anything? We're closing soon, but .."

He looks at me in this empty, uncaring way. Still. In a distracted way, he goes "Yeah .. can you get me a .. a .."

"Double espresso, chocolate chip cookies on the side?"

He nods, and a crack of a smile comes up on his face. "Thanks."

"On the house, kid."

He doesn't look like he likes being called a kid, but it isn't not like that matters to me anyways. So I go off to make the coffee and when I come back, he's still staring out but he looks glad to see his coffee. He sips it, as I set down the cookie plate.

"I love this place." he says suddenly, just as I'm about to go back to the counter. I'm supposed to close up today, and Cid left early to take his wife for an anniversary dinner. And we're the only two in the shop, so I guess no one would notice if I had a chat with the guy, right?

"Yeah?" I say. "That's good to hear."

"I mean .. a lot of memories. A lot. Me and -- I've been coming here since it opened, about." He wants to avoid talking about the other two? Hmm ..

I nod. "Yeah. I've noticed."

And then it clicked. Even though he wasn't as puppy-eyed and obvious as the other boy .. he liked her, just as much, if not more. Not only that, but the pair had come here without him, which must have felt like betrayal as I've never seen the three apart in this place.

"Yeah. I've noticed you noticed."

Oh. Great. "Guess I'm not the ninja I thought I was," I say. It sounded sooo much better in my head, that's for sure. He still smiles or smirks or something anyway.

"You can sit down if you want," he says suddenly. I've been standing the whole time with him looking up at me. I shrug and, what the heck, I sit down in the chair opposite him and take a cookie as he offers me one.

"So I guess you saw -- my -- friends, here earlier?"

"Yeah."

He nods. I nod back. It's really stupid and awkward.

"It's about time they ended up together." he says then. He's laughing. He seems so sincere about it too. But didn't he like her? Wasn't he jealous? I blurt out the next part without realizing …

"But .. didn't you like her or something?"

He chokes on his coffee. "Me? Like Kairi? Hell no. Not like that." He laughs more. "I was a bit worried that with them getting together, I'd feel like a third wheel. And I'm pissed about them coming here when this is sort of our place, for the three of us. But .. that's all. No love triangle thing, heh."

God, do I feel stupid, or what? XDD

"Anyway -" he holds out his hand. "I'm Riku. I live around here, I'm a senior over at Aureate. You?"

Hm. So he is my age. "Yuffie." I say. "Senior. At Riviera." I shake his hand, "Nice to meet you."

-PART 1 FIN-