A/N: Hey, there, readers! XD This is, obviously, chapter three of this fic. Hm, not much else to say, except to prepare for instantaneous randomness at any given moment. There will be a few testosterone-fueled thoughts along with sugar highs and what not to when building an ice cream mountain. No, I'm not high. I'll talk about the inspiration for this chapter in a bit. For now, feel free to carry on.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. At all.
Chapter 3: The Art of Building Ice Cream Mountains
After a dinner consisting of Aerith's perfectly cooked chicken that had twelve spices and herbs, everyone lounged in the living room to watch TV before going to bed. Luckily, the townhouse was so roomy that there were three guest rooms for each teenager of the trio. Leon, Aerith, and Cid lead Sora and Kairi to their rooms while Yuffie insisted she lead Riku to his. This somewhat annoyed the brooding adolescent to say the least. After all, he kept debating within himself whether to accept her or not. Since she knew Sora so well, then why didn't she utterly detest him? This type of enthusiastic, thoughtless kindness confused him.
As she bowed like she had when they first met hours ago, she remarked, "We are going to do such random stuff tomorrow, Riku. Sure, we'll hang out with the others, then it'll be you and me."
He sighed rather exasperatedly, both mentally tired of her persistence and physically tired from the long day he spent departing for this place. If he had known he would experience this....well, it no longer felt like a vacation to him. And he was so certain that Yuffie wanted to torture him the whole month.
"I think you're taking the fortune of my tea leaves too seriously," he dryly told her, leaning against the door she had previously lead him to and briefly assessing her. Her ninja clothes were ridiculous with how...skimpy they looked. Those shorts showed off her tanned, long bare legs too much along with that short-sleeved shirt that just seemed too showy, too. Oh, no. His (he realized now) obviously perverted thoughts overwhelmed him. Stay out of the gutter, idiot!
In the midst of Riku struggling with his current hormonal issue, the sly young ninja sneaked her hands behind his back to turn the knob of the door. Of course, unaware of her doing this, he toppled over on the floor to land heavily on his tailbone. Yeesh, could he ever catch a break from her? Extremely embarrassed at this point, he stood to his feet in a dignified fashion and glared at her dangerously. "Look, I'm getting tired of your tricks already. And for another thing, could you actually wear clothes that cover your body? I'm not exactly turned on by what you wear."
Oh, he knew he said a big, fat lie when he heard it. Judging by her smirk, she knew it, too.
"And I suppose you want me to dress as a librarian?" she teased, staring at him unabashedly into his aqua eyes. "Or what I'm guessing is that you can't help but be a pervert. Try not to stare too much."
A scarlet blush conquered the lightly tan complexion of his face. "But...you—you are... Ugh, good night!"
He swore that she chirped out a cheery "good night" in response, though he refused to acknowledge it, not even from a pretty girl like her. Why did she have to be so pretty? All night long, he could barely sleep due to the thoughts concerning her that swamped his mind. Realizing at about one in the morning that maybe ninjas really did dress that way, he rested with peace in mind. She meant well in her eccentricities by actually trying to make him happy, by treating him as though he was perfectly normal instead of that greedy, darkness obsessed near-demon he once became. Once he pondered over it, he concluded that he should appreciate that naivety about Yuffie. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, especially in the case of what happened back then.
The next morning, after an impromptu awakening from the ninja girl herself ("Come on, Riku, there are things to do, stuff to see!"), he ate his breakfast of poached eggs and accompanied Sora and Leon on a weapon shopping venture. He did see some types of blades that piqued his interest, though he otherwise didn't care for the venture. Admittedly, after that whole grueling adventure, he lost his appetite for fighting. Maybe in a few months he could summon enough enthusiasm to at least spar with Sora to practice. Until then, he merely watched his best friend and Leon synthesize elements they had in possession for weapons from the local Moogle.
"Did you get any interesting weapons?" Riku asked both of them, somewhat curious.
Sora grinned as he showed off the prized, shiny Ultima Weapon. "I finally got this."
The silver haired boy inspected the impressive blade, nodding in approval at the silvery blue color and the reflective quality it had to it. He recalled how much the brunet had complained over the lack of power that the plain in comparison Kingdom Key exerted. In fact, it currently rested in the corner of his bedroom, gathering dust.
"It must have taken a lot of work to have it synthesized," Riku commented.
"Yeah, but it paid off, didn't it?"
Riku pondered briefly over it. "I guess it did. I just wouldn't have had the patience to collect all those items from Heartless."
Leon then motioned over toward the bailey as he told Sora, "You should get some good practice with that weapon."
Distrust glinted in the young adult man's eyes, which narrowed at Riku as though to inform him "you're not coming." And so, the brunets proceeded to abandon their companion near the synthesizing shop, leaving him to his own devices. This devastated him to know that Sora's own friends from anther world considered him a freak. Maybe he was, after all he had done with the power that once emanated from and consumed him as well as what trite words he said to his best friend. Being pushed aside by mere acquaintances only sufficed as his just punishment. Just as he started to become depressed over this deterring circumstance, somebody put their hands over his eyes. Of course, this reminded him of that stupid blindfold he used to wear.
"Guess who," the mysterious person giggled, the tone of voice brimming with playfulness.
Riku could hardly suppress the smirk that established itself on his lips. "Yuffie, what are you up to now? I can tell just by the way you're talking you got some insane idea in mind."
Making a grand show of returning his sight to him, Yuffie stepped in front of him while wearing a cunning sneer on her own face. "Yup, don't I always? I see you're in a better mood than this morning."
"Naturally," he replied with a laugh, gazing at her with his aqua eyes almost flirtatiously.
She noticed by staring in awe at him. "Wow...you're actually kinda sexy when you're agreeable."
"Yeah, well," he crossed his arms, "it's just the way I am."
Mm—hmmm...now, to the ice cream parlor!"
As she energetically jogged toward her destination, he muttered fondly under his breath, "Yeah, like you need sugar."
However, even with these thinly veiled sarcastic words, her ever lively spirit brought a smile to his normally mature, stoic face. He shrugged nonchalantly as if to say "what the heck?" before trailing after Yuffie. To his surprise, she had stopped running just for him, though that didn't prevent her from hopping foot to foot. Once he caught up to her, she burst into an unbridled, free-spirited sprint again all in the name of frozen dessert. In the mean time, Riku broke into an easy-paced jog, since he needed to get an idea where the shop was located. He didn't have to go far, for he noticed Yuffie slow down to open the ice cream parlor door in a matter of minutes. Casually shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, he ambled inside seconds after she entered. Ice cream sounded good right about now.
Riku let his eyes wander the surroundings of this quaint parlor that proved that Radiant Garden had maintained some sense of wholesomeness after the filth of when it was Hollow Bastion. A soda jerk served up orders while his assistant gave them the toppings. Blue and green stripes papered the walls, and a classic black and white checkerboard pattern covered the floor. Cushioned seats and tables lay opposite the ordering desk, from behind which one could see their requested dishes being crafted with culinary artistry. This comfortably pleasant shop seemed to make that simple stall back on the islands look shabby and inferior. Out of the corner of his eye, while ordering eight scoops of ice cream with basic sundae toppings, he saw Yuffie obtain her own dish. She balanced a bowl full of twenty scoops of ice cream of five different flavors and toppings as she cautiously stepped over to a table. Shaking his head at her weird antics, he soon followed her.
"Eight scoops? That's it for you, really?" she asked out of disbelief, piling up the scoops of her portion with her fingers. It appeared as though she was erecting her own mountain made entirely of ice cream. Riku noticed that her slender digits moved swiftly with a dept ninja's reflexes. For all of her weirdness, he had to admit that he was rather impressed by her skills. Before he realized it, he started to imitate her exact movements. "I don't want to get too hyper or, worse, get a brain freeze. You're going to be unlucky, that's for sure. Besides, what is this you're doing?"
"Building an ice cream mountain," Yuffie responded as though it was the most normal thing in the world. "You just pile these scoops up...though I gotta admit, you're doing it wrong."
Confused, one of Riku's eyebrows perked up inquisitively as he pondered over what could be the wrong way of building a mountain like this.
"How so?"
"Well, for starters, eight scoops isn't enough to make something as epic as this. And it's imperative that you get at least two flavors. I mean, chocolate's all you got?" She peered sideways at him through her large pile. "That's so boring! I got vanilla, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, rocky road, and sherbert. Be creative, Riku!"
Chuckling under his breath at her childish seriousness, he prepared to get up to ask for more ice cream, when Yuffie decided to ask in his place.
Glancing over her shoulder at him, she insisted, "Let me do this. I don't want you to get up and ruin your mountain."
Trying to suppress hearty bouts of laughter at this point, Riku seated himself back down to wait in anticipation for what she would bring him. Quickly, she returned with ten scoops of rocky road and vanilla and dumped the white bowl into his own, mischievously staring at him with her quirky dark orbs.
"Now, construct!" she commanded with a grin, plopping down in her seat to do exactly that.
Smirking in response, he proceeded to build his mountain to great heights (for ice cream) and ensured to place the traditional Maraschino cherry on top of the entire heap as did she. Although both of their graceful peaks had started melting shortly after this along with using up the napkin dispenser, they ate good-naturedly until nothing but the cherries were left. And of course, the young ninja knew better than her new friend across from her what these lone fruits implied.
Almost suggestively flirting with him with her eyes, she murmured with a wink, "Ah, look what we both got left? The cherries, which can prove just how well a person can kiss. Do you want to see how I kiss, Riku? I'll show you."
Don't blush, he told himself, you've only known her for a day. A day! It shouldn't make a difference between being acquaintances and becoming more than that. Besides, what if she ever managed to, by happenstance, dig up the startling past? Even if she was just a friend, he would hate to see the pain and anger in her eyes if she ever found out. Instead of blushing or showing his true emotions that ran every which way, he only smiled encouragingly at her and nodded. Seeing his reaction caused Yuffie to glow with her joyous beaming. Riku admitted that he found this trait very alluring.
With solely that permission alone, she popped the cherry in her mouth and slowly moved her teeth so as not to accidentally swallow the stem. When she spat the stem out, a perfect knot had been formed in the very middle. Impressive as that was, the silver haired boy smirked amusedly, his eyes glinting.
"And I suppose you think you can do better, Mr. Stoic?" Yuffie lightly teased, cupping her chin in her hand as she licked cherry juice off her lips.
"I'm pretty sure I can top it, yeah," he replied and dropped the plump red cherry in his mouth. Within thirty seconds, he ridded himself of the stem, which showed not one but two perfect knots.
Amazed, his companion inspected the stem to make sure it was real. "Wow...holy crap! The rare double knotted cherry stem. Only the best kissers can pull this baby off. I think you're my new idol, man."
He disguised his laugh as a cough while crossing his arms to show Yuffie that she would have to do a lot to earn his lips on hers. "I'm not going to test on you, though."
She mock pouted, her tantalizing (to him) lips puckering. "Why not?"
"Don't know...I'm just not up for it." He grinned, deciding to play hard-to-get with her, for he thought she deserved it after all the tricks she pulled on him. Really, Riku knew how cruel this was, but he would tease back if necessary. In an unspoken way, he officially declared a full-out contest: whoever pulled the cleverest tricks won. Simple as that.
"All right, double knot kisser, you'll be sorry!"
Not repressing it this time, Riku let out a long laugh that lasted for five minutes straight.
For the first time around him, Yuffie nearly blushed by simply hearing that rich, infectious laughter that impelled her to smile a small yet genuine smile. She never realized until this moment how cute he was before...more like handsome. Those aqua eyes reminded her of the ocean during a sunny day, and the rays of sunlight that did penetrate through the window currently reflected off his platinum hair. His facial features looked more relaxed than usual, less tense from the burden he must have carried for excruciating months on end. He probably hadn't had a good bout of laughter in ages, actually. Maybe a girl rejected him—ha, rejection, didn't she know the feeling! If she confided in him, would he care or just turn away like he...?
In a considerably subdued voice, she told him lowly, "You should laugh more often, Riku."
His smile softened under her abruptly grave, intense gaze that he liked, too. This facial expression displayed that Yuffie had deeper feelings and a thoughtful, mature side to her. Still, he hoped that wherever her thoughts had taken her hadn't made her sad. That was the last thing he wanted.
"I know," he murmured softly, almost tempted to squeeze her hands reassuringly. The moment passed, though, when he added, "Now don't look so serious. That's not the random ninja girl I know. You're the crazy one, remember?"
Her face brightened. "Yeah, and we're a couple of chums now!"
A hint of questioning lined that sentence, which Riku responded with, "Yeah, I would like it that way."
Yuffie whopped and, slightly hyped up on sugar, ran out the door. As expected by now, he followed dutifully.
A/N: OK, the inspiration for having some of this chapter take place in an ice cream parlor suddenly came to me one night while I was brushing my teeth. I'm serious, and I know that's pretty ironic. After all, ice cream CAN rot teeth big time. That, and I've always liked the idea of old-fashioned soda fountains from the 1900's. You know, the places where the sundae was invented. I just think that's just one good thing that went away but should come back. Seriously, maybe we don't need Dairy Queen. Then again, how will I ever eat an Oreo Blizzard again?
Forget the rant. All you know is that this chapter was kinda weird. Especially when Riku had semi-perverted thoughts in the chapter earlier. That was really weird for me to write. But hey, I AM writing in a dude's POV, after all. XD