Chibified

Shizuka Usagi

Chapter 12

Roxas sighed, gazing out the window. It was late in the evening now. He watched the sun dip into the horizon for a few moments, feeling somewhat homesick. It had been a couple weeks since he had last seen Hayner, Pence, and Olette. The foursome was quite close—they had never been apart for more than a week. He missed Pence's nonchalant attitude and Olette's sensibleness.

Heck, he even missed Hayner's guts… okay, not really. But you get the point.

Yuffie and Hayner were on equal standing when it came to their spirit and stubborn streak. Whenever Hayner came up with a wild idea, he always brought along Roxas, Pence, and Olette for the ride. Yuffie, like Hayner, wanted to drag him everywhere. Yet, he insisted they spend the first day of their three day vacation at the hotel. She pouted and he tactfully countered with his own.

It's needless to say who had won. Roxas' pout was almost as good as Sora's.

Said kunoichi was snoring away on the sole bed in their room. Yep, the typical single bed scenario used by writers to pair up people by forcing them to sleep together. Predictably, it was the only room left in the hotel. At least, it wasn't the lover's suite. Roxas opted to sleep on the floor to avoid any uncomfortable situations.

Yuffie simply shrugged and yawned, too tired to argue with the blonde ex-Nobody. She plopped on the bed after washing up, drifting to slumber almost immediately. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously but said nothing. She could fall asleep fast for a ninja.

Currently, Roxas was working on the homework Olette gave him before he left Twilight Town. He was experiencing a mild case of insomnia. Therefore, he decided to do something productive—even though it wasn't the most enjoyable activity. Luckily, it wasn't too difficult. Guess all those study sessions with Olette paid off.

His thoughts wandered toward Yuffie. How does she sleep so easily? We didn't do any arduous work today.

Suddenly, Roxas felt someone's arms snake around his neck. He yelped in surprise, and the person in question laughed. The blonde turned his head in the direction of the voice. He was greeted with the sight of Yuffie's smiling, heart shaped face.

She rested her chin on his shoulder. "Why are you awake at this hour?" she asked inquisitively.

"It's seven," he informed. "Besides, why are you awake? I thought you were sleeping." For some reason, the close contact didn't bother him.

"I was halfway asleep." Yuffie corrected. "But I sensed you were still awake. So, I decided to check up on you."

"Really? From the way you were snoring, I assumed you were sound asleep." Roxas joked with a grin.

Yuffie rearranged her grip into a headlock. "Ah! I was kidding, Yuff. Leggo!" he protested.

"Who has the maddest ninja skills?" she questioned.

"You, of course." Roxas replied. You're probably the only ninja in this hotel.

"That's more like it." Yuffie said, satisfied. She released him from her grasp. "Now, how about we hit the haystack?"

"You go ahead. I have homework to do," he stated unenthusiastically.

"Homework?" she repeated, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "You're doing homework over summer break?"

"Yeah, it's not like I have a choice," Roxas responded, mentally chuckling at her expression.

"No way, mister. You're not doing homework over our vacation. I'm not letting Riku's efforts go to waste." Yuffie notified, half dragging him to the makeshift bed on the floor. He frowned at the mention of silver haired enigma. He appreciated the fact that he allowed them to take a break from the hyperactive Sora, but that didn't mean he had to like him.

"Taking care of that kid is not easy, you know," she continued, "even if you know him inside and out."

How true, he thought. He believed that it wouldn't be so hard, being his other half. Now, he knew how wrong he was.

"C'mere," Yuffie requested, patting the seat beside her. For some reason she was sitting on the pile of pillows and sheets he was supposed to sleep on.

"Why are you—?" Roxas started, but was interrupted.

"Stop being stubborn, and sit on the floor." she ordered firmly.

Obediently, Roxas complied—not wanting to have a shuriken aimed for his backside. She sure is demanding. He situated himself comfortably on the floor and waited for further instructions. Yuffie sat cross-legged behind him. Then, she placed her hands on his shoulders and began rubbing them. He tensed up slightly, unsure of what she was doing.

"Relax, Roxy-poo. It's called a massage." Yuffie coaxed, her fingers expertly working out the kinks in his back. Gradually, he loosened up and his eyelids began to feel heavy. This feels really good, he thought groggily, starting to feel drowsy.

Yuffie smiled triumphantly. My magic touch never fails. Boldly, she decided to go to the next step. She began to run her hands through his spiky, blonde hair, kneading his scalp along the way. She marveled at the soft, silky, and apparently gel-less texture.

Suddenly, Roxas fell backwards and his head thudded against her chest. Yuffie removed her hands from his locks, startled. She was about to reprimand him when she realized he had dozed off. She gave the blonde a look of astonishment, thinking she wasn't that good at massages. Or had she bored him to sleep?

"Oh, well, at least I accomplished my goal." she whispered, her eyes softening at the sight of the snoozing boy.

Yuffie attempted to lift Roxas up from her lap, but he was heavier than he looked. Plus, she was too worn-out to be hauling around one hundred twenty pound boys. Eventually, she managed to push herself up against the wall and allowed Roxas to rest his head on her stomach.

Besides, she sort of liked having an excuse to curl up with the cutest boy in Twilight Town.