Title: Best of You
Drabble #9: I'll Cover You
Theme: Secrets
Pairing: none really...Sora/Yuffie friendship, I guess.
Words: 680 words--oh no!
A/N: I'm not dead, I promise. I'm in the process of moving to California--which is three thousand miles from my home in Florida--and it's been hectic. If this is growing up, then I have to say it sucks. Big time.

Sora wasn't a very good secret keeper.

Sure, he'd valiantly defend the contents of the secret, yet he'd always crack under the right amount of pressure. He recalled a time years ago when Tidus had grudgingly admitted that he like­-liked Selphie. Naturally, Selphie and Kairi couldn't stand being kept out of the loop and demanded that Sora tell them the secret. Sora declined andpolitely explained that it wasn't his secret to share. Selphie, in a fit of anger, whacked Sora upside the head repeatedly with her sandal until Sora finally gave in. As a result, he'd been kicked out of the boys' club house for a week due to his being too "soft."

Nope, Sora sucked at keeping secrets. He liked to think that he was more of a promise-keeping kind of guy. Sora yawned and stretched languidly on the bed, enjoying the peace and quiet of the Yellow Room. He missed being lazy. It was nice not having to run around and save the universe.

His moment of reflection came to an abrupt halt in the form of one Yuffie Kisaragi. "What--?" Sora wondered as he watched the girl barge into his room (without knocking, he noticed peevishly).

"Shush!" Yuffie hissed, closing the door behind her. "If anyone--and I mean anyone, but more specifically Cloud or Leon--asks, I'm not here, got it?" she continued in a hushed whisper before shutting herself in the closet.

"But--!" Sora sat up. What was going on?

His question was answered as Cloud stomped into the room--also, without knocking. "Where is she?" the swordsman demanded.

"Who?" Sora asked innocently, desperately trying to keep his eyes from darting suspiciously towards the closet.

Cloud looked around the room with sharp eyes before muttering, "Nevermind." With that, he swept out of the room.

Sora let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Yuffie, what the hell--?"

Again he was interrupted, this time by Riku, who shuffled aimlessly into the room, deep in thought. Again with the no knocking thing. Did anyone around here have any manners? "Hey Sora, have you seen--?"

"Yuffie? No, of course not! What makes you think I would've seen her? Because I definitely haven't."

Riku rolled his eyes. "She's in here, " he realized as he moved towards the closet, "isn't she?"

Sora's heart sank. "How--?"

"I've known you for how many years now? I still remember the the Tidus-Selphie secret you kept for all of two minutes before cracking." Ignoring Sora's meek response of "It was five minutes," Riku opened the closet door and came face to face with Yuffie. "What're you up to now?" he asked suspiciously.

"Hiding," Yuffie replied stiffly. "Or, at least, I was." She glared pointedly at Sora.

"Sora?" a voice called, followed by a knock, from the hallway. "It's Leon." The three teens shared a look. Riku's brow furrowed in confusion and Sora's eyes widened, looking to Yuffie for instruction. Thinking quickly, Yuffie pulled Riku into the closet with her and closed the door just as Leon walked into the room. "Have you seen Yuffie? She was supposed to be in the Waterway fifteen minutes ago."

Yuffie let out a muffled squeak."What was that?" Leon asked, eyeing the closet.

"Um, it's just the hotel...settling?" Sora supplied quickly. "Anyway, I haven't seen her. It was nice talking to you. So if you don't mind..." Sora tried--unsuccessfully--to usher Leon out of the room, but the swordsman held firm.

"Is something in there?" Leon stated rather than asked. Sora found it ironic that as cruel as Yuffie had made him out to be, Leon was the only one with the decency to knock before entering.

"Um, luggage?"

"And I'm the king of Hollow Bastion," the swordsman quipped sardonically. "I'm not stupid."

This earned a snicker from the closet. Leon glared at Sora, who coughed loudly to cover up the noise. "Of course you're not stupid," Sora said brightly. "But Yuffie's not here, so if you don't mind..." Again Sora tried to urge Leon out of the room but to no avail.

"Nice try." Leon sidestepped the brunet and opened the closet door. Sora sighed. He'd tried. Really he had.

Oh man, Yuffie was going to slaughter him.