Disclaimer: All of the characters and in this story are property of Square-Enix, save Yuki, who is mine.
A/N: This is unedited, so please forgive any bad writing habits of mine such as repeating the same word in a sentence, putting random commas everywhere, and so on. If any characters become ooc, I'm sorry. I think Tifa becomes ooc in this chapter, so I might edit it later on…
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Chapter 3
The Interview
The bar was around ten minutes walk away from the solemn graveyard. Walking in the gathering dusk around her, Yuki kept her head down. Her eyes darted around the unnaturally quiet street, waiting for an ambush. A cold hand clenched around Smoke.
Denzel had stayed behind in the graveyard, telling her he needed to stay a little longer. She had agreed, but now she was beginning to wonder if she had taken a wrong turning. The streets were empty, and a cold chill clamped down on the silent, forbidding houses.
Then, she saw a light among darkness. Through the quiet, a cheery place stood. The lights were on and voices were clearly heard coming from inside the bar: Seventh Heaven. Welcoming smells of good food and beer drifted out to brush against Yuki's nose.
Pausing in the doorway, listening to her stomach moan, she realised she must have been in the graveyard all day, without food. Well, whether she wanted the job or not, she knew that she needed something to eat, at least.
The door swung open to reveal crowds of people, crammed in behind tables, talking animatedly. A sign on the counter said, "HELP WANTED", and Yuki could see why.
A single woman dashed out from behind the bar, frantically pouring beer, frying chips, putting burgers together. Her thin black hair whipped out behind her as she flew to the tables, her feet running as though she were ready for a fight. Yuki recognised the person Denzel had known as Tifa.
After a few attempts at politeness, Yuki gave up and elbowed her way determinedly through the crowds, wondering why she should even bother taking such a hard job. As Tifa dashed by, Yuki shot her arm out like a snake, grabbing her by the shoulder.
However, she was unprepared for what happened next. Tifa locked a hand around her wrist and turned, twisting Yuki's arm around her body and with a gasp Yuki felt herself, dreamlike, being thrown into a poor knot of people that stood in front of them. She sat up, wincing as somebody's beer poured down a sunburnt part of her face, then sprang to her feet in case Tifa planned to continue the fight.
Already, the speedy woman had vanished into the crowd once more, the only sign of her presence a flash of black and white.
Yuki waited, tired, hungry, cold and bruised, outside on the step of the bar. She watched as the patrons, people of all different types, slowly filtered out, some still swigging their last drink, or rubbing their stomachs and moaning about how full they were. She wanted to go home, but for starters, there was no food at home. Besides, she came here to get a job. If she had waited this long, then another hour or two would not hurt.
The lights dimmed. Eventually, the only footsteps that could be heard were that of Tifa's. Yuki had not seen Denzel come in, but she guessed that he must have already slipped in while she was not paying attention.
Rising, feeling a few aches from sitting on the step, Yuki saw that Tifa was about to switch the sign to 'closed'. She took the opportunity and knocked.
Slowly, the door opened. 'Oh.' Tifa said, sounding a little tired. 'It's you. The girl who grabbed me.'
'Yeah… sorry about that,' Yuki said. 'Look, I was wondering—'
'Come in,' Tifa said, her voice a little warmer. She turned, and Yuki followed.
Without so many people in the bar, Yuki was able to look around properly. A sign on the wall said 'Strife Delivery Service,' with the picture of a motorbike underneath. Another advocated the preservation of the Lifestream. One on the far side of the wall advertised a clothing designer- "Tetsuya Nomura capes". A jukebox stood on the far right. A few tables and chairs were scattered around, the main form of seating being the stools in front of the bar.
'It's a nice bar you have here.' Yuki said, glancing up at the fans on the ceiling.
'Well, I work hard.' Tifa sighed, shaking her head. 'It never seems to be enough, though.'
'I'm sorry,' Yuki murmured. 'I couldn't imagine that you wouldn't have enough money to keep it going—'
'No, it's not that,' Tifa said, still shaking her head. 'Never mind. Forget I said anything.'
'Oh… OK.' Yuki shifted uncomfortably. Tifa stared out the window for a minute in a heavy pause.
'So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?' Tifa asked, breaking the silence.
'Oh, it's just that I'd heard you were looking for some help. Unfortunately, I don't have a résumé, but I can give you the name of several places I've worked in, if you like. The till's easy, I can cook reasonably well, and taking orders are no problem…' She trailed off, watching Tifa warily.
The woman was shaking her head. 'I'm sorry, but you don't even have a résumé. I can't hire you.'
Underneath the bar, Yuki's fist clenched. Her résumé had been lost ages ago, when she was fighting a fiend in the water. She knew even before she asked that she was not going to get the job. Tifa had taken one look at her ragged clothing, her burnt and blistered skin, her ropy unkempt plait, and made up her mind. It did not matter whether Yuki had a store full of working clothes at home, she had turned up like this and that was the end.
'I see. Sorry to bother you.' Yuki managed, a slightly scornful tone underlying the polite sentence.
The door creaked open, and somebody stepped in. Short black hair pushed back into a headband framed a cheerful face, with clever eyes. Despite the chilly weather, the girl wore a tiny pair of shorts and a shirt, with what was undoubtedly a giant shuriken strapped to her back. Yuki took one look at her hands and realised that she was looking at a born thief. She had never seen fingers so perfect for picking pockets.
Meanwhile, the thief was looking back at her with interest. She darted towards where Yuki was sitting, a large grin on her face.
'Hi, what's your name? I'm Yuffie Kirasagi, ninja extraordinaire!' She finished off this rather strange sentence with a finger that stabbed at Yuki's face erratically. Yuki began to wonder if she should start dodging.
'Um, I'm Yuki, but don't worry about me, I was just leaving,' she said, with a stab of regret. She didn't care much about Tifa, but she wanted to know Yuffie better.
Apparently, Yuffie thought the same thing. 'No, stay!' she cried, blocking the doorway with her arms. 'I've only just met you! Besides, you look like you have some powerful materia!' Yuki could not help but grin at her and tease a little. She looked down at Yuffie and whispered 'Yes. I can summon Shiva.'
Yuffie's eyes widened. 'Tell me more! Can you do Fire3?'
'Yep,' Yuki said, a little smugly. 'Can you do Ice3?'
'Yes!' Yuffie blurted excitedly. 'Ah! But can you do Bolt3?'
'Yeah…but I can't do Quake3.' Yuki admitted sadly.
'Me neither!' They grinned at each other.
'Esuna is ok for white magic, but I never thought it was worth buying.' Yuki said. 'I prefer Cure3, don't you?'
'Oh, yeah, that's one of the best. But can I tell you a secret?' They leaned towards each other, deep in their materia conference.
'I found the Ultima materia!' Yuffie whispered, her voice strangled by excitement.
Yuki gasped in delight and whispered 'Guess what? I found the Full Cure materia!'
Tifa's loud and rather obvious clearing of her throat drew them slowly out of their discussion, until they stood before her like, two schoolgirls caught talking in class.
'I believe Yuki was just leaving,' she said, loftily.
'Why?' Yuffie asked. Then Yuki realised Denzel was standing in the middle of the room.
'Denzel! I was wondering where you were!' Yuki couldn't help smiling- Yuffie's excitement was infectious.
The boy looked up at her, his serious face lighting up at her smile. 'Yuffie found me and brought me back here.' He explained.
'Wait—'Yuffie began.
'She found you? But it's so late!' Yuki said, shocked. Part of her was wondering how she could talk so openly with him.
'Yeah, I fell asleep in the graveyard,' he admitted.
'Wait! Wait a minute! You haven't said what you were doing here!' Yuffie blurted hastily.
'Oh, sorry.' Yuki turned back, her former sorrow back in place. 'I was looking for a job, but it doesn't matter. I'll go somewhere else.'
'You wouldn't give her the job?' Denzel said in confusion, looking from Yuki to Tifa and back again.
'What? Why not?' Yuffie whined, stomping her foot childishly.
'It's ok, I don't mind,' Yuki said hastily, trying to get to the door.
'No, this is important,' Denzel said calmly. 'Why wouldn't she give you the job?'
'I don't see the problem,' Yuffie added.
Tifa looked a Denzel and Yuffie, opening her mouth to protest.
An hour later, Yuki had a guaranteed position at Seventh Heaven, working night hours.
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Thanks for reading! Please review, no matter what you think, I'd like to hear any suggestions, thoughts, etc. Sorry, it was a little short and boring, the next chapter gets very interesting, I promise!