Chapter 64: Not the Right Word

"Riku, you're with me!" Leon called.

"And you're leaving me with cranky-pants?" Yuffie shouted. "I don't think so! Why don't I go with Riku, and you can stay here and deal with the Heartless around the house!"

Leon sighed and turned to Riku. "You okay with that?" he asked.

Riku, who had taken out three or four Soldiers by this point, shrugged. "I don't care," he replied simply, and then kicked another Soldier in the face. It died instantly.

"C'mon!" Yuffie called, running off.

"Good luck," Leon said.

Riku grinned and followed after Yuffie.

They didn't get far before they were interrupted by a bunch of Deserters. Yuffie groaned.

"I hate these guys! They're always such a pain!"

Riku frowned. The Deserters just stood there, doing nothing. "They don't look like they're that strong," he said. "What are you-"

He never finished. Yuffie rolled her eyes and brought her shuriken down on the nearest Deserter. It died instantly. But its death sent the rest of the Deserters into a panic, and they started running around frantically.

"Try keeping one still long enough to kill it," Yuffie told him.

Riku raised his eyebrows, getting an idea. "Stand back," he warned, a smile playing on his lips. Yuffie made a face.

"So you think you're just going to pull some epic move and-"

"Do you want me to kill them or not?" Riku interrupted, flashing into Dark Mode. "Cause if you don't, I can just go home and let you deal with them all by yourself."

"You're mean," Yuffie muttered, taking a few steps back.

"At least I told you to get out of the way," Riku retorted, charging up Dark Aura. He hit most of the Deserters and killed them during the first part of the attack. The rest were killed at the end of the attack by all the dark pillars.

"YOU NEARLY HIT ME!" Yuffie shouted, once he was done.

"Nearly," Riku laughed, dropping Dark Mode. "I knew what I was doing. C'mon!"

xxx

"Why are you so good!" Yuffie whined, watching as Riku killed another two Commanders in one hit. "This isn't fair! I'm over here and I'm tired, and you're fighting like this is nothing!"

"This is nothing," Riku told her simply, as he killed yet another Commander. "I've spent the past few… months?" He stopped and sighed, shaking his head and killing a nearby Soldier. "Well, I've spent the past few months fighting Replica after Replica after Replica sent by Saix. Replicas who can think and reason just as well as you can, who are smart enough to run away when they're losing, whose attacks can actually do a lot of damage-" he paused as a Stealth Soldier snuck up on him. He hit it in the head. It refused to die. He kicked it hard, sending it flying. It died before it hit the ground.

"It's nice to fight some mindless Heartless," he continued, turning back to Yuffie.

"It's still not fair," Yuffie muttered, as she tossed her shuriken. It hit an Air Soldier, but didn't kill it. She grimaced and then tossed her shuriken again.

"Sorry," Riku laughed. "It's not like I can help the fact that I find killing Heartless ridiculously easy."

"Just stop bragging about it," Yuffie sighed.

"I'm not bragging!" Riku replied, his voice rising slightly with annoyance.

Yuffie started laughing. "You sound like you're- five or something!" she gasped through her laughter. Her laughter was stopped quickly, though, by a Sergeant.

Riku quickly started attacking it with his blade. Yuffie jumped back and started throwing her shuriken at it.

"Hey!" she called after a moment. "Do me a favor and distract it!"

Riku raised his eyebrows, but went ahead and started attacking its face, easily distracting it. Yuffie ran up behind it, made a grab at it, and then hopped back. She grinned.

"2000 munny! That's better than the last time!" she laughed.

Riku frowned, slightly confused, but didn't bother to ask about it. He delivered the final blow to the Sergeant. It dropped some more munny. "Missed some," he told Yuffie, picking it up and pocketing it.

"Hey!" she said, pouting. "I wanted that!"

"You already got two thousand munny off of it," he replied. "This is like… 300. Hardly anything."

Yuffie stuck out her tongue at him.

He rolled his eyes.

xxx

"Cid, can I ask you a random question?" Namine said.

"Shoot!"

"Are Cloud and Aerith-" she began.

"Together?" Cid finished, and then laughed. "Nope! Second person to have wondered that, though," he scratched his chin. "Aerith still isn't over her old boyfriend, and Cloud and Tifa are… well… I'm not sure what the right word is for them, but…" he trailed off, and then turned to Namine. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, just the way they were-" she began, and then laughed, too. "Never mind," she said. "I mean, Riku's protective over me, and it's not like we're- we're not-"

"Together?" Cid suggested.

Namine frowned. "No… that's… that's not the right word," she whispered.

"Then what is?" Cid asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I- I don't know…" Namine replied. "I've never thought about it. I mean, me and Riku, we're- we're…"

What are we, exactly?

I don't THINK we're together… but…

Are we?

How am I supposed to know? I'm just a Replica… if I wasn't programmed to know, I would have to learn, and I haven't had time to-

"Damn Heartless!" Cid shouted suddenly, hopping to his feet. "You aren't supposed to come in the house!"

Namine turned, finding a pair of Commanders behind her. She gasped and jumped to her feet, too, and then took a few steps away from them.

"I'll take care of 'em," Cid assured her, pulling out his spear. He lunged forward, stabbing one. The other one jumped at him, but he kicked it away and then brought his spear down on it.

Both of the Heartless died.

"There, not much of a problem," Cid muttered, and then turned to Namine. "Sorry about that. They shouldn't come in the house."

"It's alright," Namine laughed. Something, however, made her pause. Curious, she glanced down. A small Heartless of the Shadow variety was gnawing at her ankle. She raised her eyebrows, and very casually shook it off.

"Cid?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Those ones are practically harmless," he replied. "If you want, though, you can just pick 'im up and take 'im outside. That's what Aerith usually does."

Namine laughed, and then stooped down and picked the Heartless up. It struggled for a moment, before settling into her grasp, eyes wide, antenna wriggling. "You're harmless, huh?" she asked it, and then laughed again and then headed for the door.

She set the Heartless down outside. It immediately turned around and started back inside. She stopped it with her foot. "No," she told it firmly, and nudged it back outside. Again, it started back inside.

Cid laughed. "Looks like he likes you!" he called.

Namine rolled her eyes, and nudged the Heartless outside again. "Stay!" she commanded. It looked up at her, and wriggled its antenna again. Namine quickly shut the door before it could decide it wanted back inside.

"Well that was exciting," she sighed, heading back over to the couch. She paused, frowning slightly at Cid as he sat back down on the couch and kicked his feet back. "I thought you said that they didn't come in the house…"

"Usually," Cid clarified. "Plus, those lil ones are always finding a way in here. It's no big deal." He pulled a twig out of his pocket and shoved it in his mouth, chewing on the end thoughtfully.

Namine shook her head and sat back down.

"So what was it that you were saying?" Cid asked.

"Hmm?" Namine replied. "I- I don't remember…"

"It was something about you and-"

"This is so stupid!" Yuffie shouted, throwing the door open and stomping in. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"I'm sorry I'm so good!" Riku said, coming through door after her. "It's not like it's my fault!"

"Doesn't mean you have to show off!" Yuffie replied, turning on him again. He just rolled his eyes.

"Do we need to regroup?" Leon asked, poking his head in.

"If we're going to, you should close the door," Cid called. "We don't need more Heartless getting in."

Namine groaned slightly.

"There were Heartless in here?" Riku asked.

"Small!" Namine said quickly. "Only one small one! A little Shadow! Nothing more!"

Riku laughed and headed over to the couch. "No need to freak," he told her, sitting down next to her. "I mean, you're not hurt, are you?"

"Might have some bite marks on my ankle," she replied, and shrugged.

"Stupid Heartless!" Riku muttered though his voice was completely sarcastic. "I should-"

"Oi!" Yuffie called, interrupting him. "There's still a Heartless attack going on outside! We don't have time for you to just sit here and-"

"We're regrouping! I know!" Riku said quickly, rising to his feet.

"Riku, why don't you stay here and take care of the Heartless outside," Leon said. "Yuffie and I can go somewhere else."

"Alright," Riku laughed.

"Let's go!" Yuffie said, running outside. Leon sighed and ran after her.

"Be careful!" Namine called, as Riku started out.

"No problem," he replied, and then stopped, grinning. "I mean, come on, I can deal with Heartless. It's Berserkers that are really a problem, and I don't see any of them around here. I'll be just fine!"

Namine laughed.

Riku waved and headed out.