1I'm so sorry that this took forever. It's just that I don't have a life anymore. This is my schedule. School, soccer for 2 hours, homework, supper shower, bed. See, no time at all. But, I will make this fit! So thanks for being so patient with me.
I don't own anything. But if anyone just has Riku randomly around there house, don't be scared to ship it my way!
The next day was even stranger that Yuffie had to expected, mainly because there was a surprise newcomer in her tennis class. He was leaning against the fence of the tennis courts as she walked up, swinging her racket in one hand.
"Hey Yuffie!" Leon said enthusiastically. "Where's your boyfriend?"
Yuffie nearly said, "Who?" but remembered in time. "He's in the Advanced Class," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you made these tennis lessons sound so fun," he said with his crooked smile. "I figured I'd sign up and join in."
"I did?" Yuffie tried to remember anything she has said that might possibly have been misunderstood as "tennis is fun."
"Sure," Leon said. "And maybe if you're as bad as I am, we can be partners."
"I'll be pretty impressed if you're as bad as I am," Yuffie said.
Tifa was on the court already, bouncing a ball off her racket into the air. Yuffie wasn't sure, but she got the feeling Tifa was watching her and Leon.
"Don't you need to change?" Yuffie said as Leon started to follow her through the fence. He was wearing jeans again, although at least he'd switched to a T-shirt.
"I already got the lecture from Sergeant Shorts over there," Leon said, pointing to Wakka, the instructor. "But what's he going to do? This si how I am."
"There's a lot of running around," Yuffie said worriedly. "Especially when you play with me."
"Don't worry," Leon said, smiling again. "I'll be fine."
He wasn't fine. By 10:00 AM, when they switched from drills to practice matches, he was swearing so much that his shirt stuck to his back, and he look exhausted. Yuffie felt bad for him, so when they were paired up, she tried to be the one to run after the ball as much as possible. Each Time she did, he would collapse down on the court and lie there until Wakka yelled at him to get up.
He was right about one thing, though: He was really bad at tennis, too. He had trouble even getting it over the net, so she hardly ever got to try volleying it back.
Finally, for the last hour, Wakka switched partners and she was paired with Tifa. At least with a good partner she would have a better chance at practicing, but Leon seemed dissapointed that they were split up. She glanced over at his court a couple of times and caught him watching her instead of the ball that he was supposed to be watching.
"Hey," Tifa said during a break for water. "I've been meaning to talk to you."
It was funny how a simple sentence like that could really make a person nervous. Yuffie screwed the cap back on her water bottle, trying to look calm.
"This Friday," Tifa went on, "would you and Riku like to go on a double date with me and Cloud?"
"Really?" Yuffie said. That's the furthest thing she'd expected Tifa to say. A double date? A real date? With Naminé's best friend? Maybe that's why a voice popped in her head whispered. Naminé assigned her to spy on us. To see if Riku and I still acted like a couple away from Summerlodge. So I have to say yes, don't I?
"Um," she said hedging. "Let me ask Riku. But thanks, it sounds like fun."
"It would be fun," Tifa said. "I was thinking we could walk downtown to the movie theater on Main Street- I think they have a new Pixar movie there, which Cloud is being such a jerk about seeing, but I'll get him to go. Then we can go to that diner across the street afterward."
Yuffie nodded. Tifa added, "Unless you want to do something else. My mom could drive us to the mall, but I thought we'd have more fun if we could go somewhere without any parents yakking at us the whole way. Cloud's not a big fan of my mom."
"The one in town sounds fine," said Yuffie. "I've been wanting to see the Pixar movie, too."
"Finding Nemo was so funny!" Tifa said, and Yuffie would have agreed, but Wakka called them back to the court to keep practicing.
On the way to lunch, Leon caught up with Yuffie and Tifa.
"Okay," he said, "lesson learned. No more jeans. I'm afraid you're going to think my cool factor is plummeting, but you know, if the choice is shorts or death, I guess shorts wins by a tiiiiny margin."
"I won't think you're less cool," Yuffie said.
"I'll think you're a heck of a lot smarter," Tifa said. "Hi, I'm Tifa."
"Leon," he said.
"Oh, Yuffie," Tifa said. "I forgot to mention- don't say anything to Naminé about our double date. I'll tell her later, but she can be weird about stuff like that."
Clever, Yuffie thought. Make me think Naminé doesn't know about it when she's really the one who masterminded the whole thing.
"No problem," she said.
"Double date?" Leon said.
"Maybe," she answered. "I have to check with Riku."
"Oh, right," Leon said. "Your boyfriend."
They got in sight of the picnic tables, and once again, Riku was already there. He raised his hand to wave to Yuffie but stopped when he saw Leon.
"And there he is," Leon said.
"You can, um, sit with us, if you want," Yuffie said.
"Great, thanks. First, hot dogs." he headed off towards the lunch line. Tifa raised her eyebrows at Yuffie and followed him. Yuffie wondered if that was a girl-code expression that a normal girl would have been able to translate. With a sigh, she headed over to Riku.
This time she remembered to sit next to him, instead of across from him. He smiled at her as she sat down, and it was suck a different smile from Leon's. It made her calmer instead of more nervous, and it said, I'm happy to see you, instead of, I know something about you. He smelled sharp and clean, like apple shampoo.
"Hi there, girlfriend," he said as she sat down. She wondered how long he was going to find that funny, but she liked the way he said it, kind of warm and teasing at the same time. She was glad to see he seemed to be in a better mood that he had been when he'd dropped her off the day before.
"Hey," he added. "Your wearing the necklace I got you." He reached out and touched one of the glass beads. His fingers brushed the side of her neck like a whisper of wind, and her heart sped up. Hadn't he ever noticed that she wore it all the time?
"Yeah," she answered awkwardly. "I love it."
"That'sso cool," he said, removing his hand. "Go, me. What do you have for lunch today?"
"I, um," Yuffie said, clearing her throat. "Well, I'm guessing more carrot sticks."
Riku laughed, but then his face changed, closing down again. Yuffie turned to see Leon sitting down on the other side of her.
"Hi," Riku said. "I thought you didn't go here."
"I do now," Leon said. "Hell again, Yuffie's boyfriend."
Naminé and Tifa plunked their trays down on the other side of the table, and Yuffie was almost pleased to see them. She felt a weird tension between Leon and Riku, and sitting between them made her nervous.
"Hi there," Namine said, leaning toward Leon like a leopard sniffing out prey. "I'm Namine. I'm a lifeguard, or I will be soon."
"Hey, Namine," Leon said. "A lifeguard? That's pretty awesome."
"Yes well," Namine said, shooting a look at both Yuffie and Tifa, "I thought it would be a good way to help my community. Better than tennis, for instance."
"Oh, I'm doing tennis," Leon said, and Yuffie nearly giggled at the "oops" look on Namine's face.
"Really," Namine purred. "Tifa, you didn't tell me about any gorgeous guys in your tennis class."
"He just started today," Tifa said, stabbing a fork into her salad like she was hoping in would die and turn into a hamburger.
"And what's your name handsome?" Namine asked.
"Leon," he said. "What's yours?"
She wrinkled her nose like she was trying to hide her real expression. "I already told you," she said. "It's Namine."
"Oh right," he said. He gave Yuffie a huge obvious wink. It took her a minute to realize he was saying, the one we're not telling about the double date.
Which reminded her. But she couldn't ask RIku there, in front of everyone. "Hey," she said, turning to him. He was moodily shredding her brown paper bag. "Um, RIku. I forgot to get a soda. Want to come with me to..um...buy one?"
Riku looked confused. He knew her mom didn't like her to drink soda. When he paused, Leon jumped in. "I'll come with you," he said. "I've got tons of change for the vending machine."
"No, that's okay," Riku said quickly. "I can buy my own girlfriend a soda, thanks," he took Yuffie's hand and tugged her away from the bench. His hand was cooler than hers, and much bigger.
As they walked away, Yuffie heard Namine purr, "You can buy me a soda, Leon."
"Nah, I'm good," he said.
Yuffie hid a smile. Namine wasn't going to like that! But maybe if she turned hr attention to Leon, she'd lose interest in Riku and leave him and Yuffie alone.
"What kind do you want?" Riku said, feeding quarters into the slot.
"Cherry Coke," she said. "I can pay for it, Riku."
"No, no," he said, waving her hand away. "Let me, since I don't have a cookie to split with you today." He grinned at her, then glanced over her shoulder, back at the table. "I don't like that guy," he said, punching the Cherry Coke button a little too hard.
"Leon?" Yuffie said. "Why?"
"Well, why didn't he start tennis camp at the same time as the rest of us?" Riku said. "Why doesn't he have any of his own friends? And his smile is all lopsided."
"That's true," Yuffie said. "He is a little weird- he wore jeans to tennis this morning. But he seems nice enough."
"Hmmm," Riku said, turning to head back.
"Wait," she said, catching his sleeve. "Actually, I needed to ask you something."
"Aha," he said. "I thought the soda thing was out of the blue."
"Well, if you help me drink it, I figure I'll only be half breaking my mom's rule, right?" he smiled, and she told him about Tifa's double date offer. "I know it's strange," Yuffie said. "Maybe we could tell her you already have plans, or that our parents won't let us go, or something."
"Are you sure?" Riku said. "I think it could be fun, don't you?"
"Oh," Yuffie said. "Well, I mean, if you-"
"Why not, right?" Riku said. "I want to see it; you want to see it."
"But with Tifa and Cloud?"
"Well, we don't have to talk to them during the movie. But we also don't have to go," he said. "I mean, if you don't' want to, I can totally say no for us. I'm sure you don't want to go on your first date with a guy who's just a friend, like me, right?"
He was looking at her really intently. You have no idea, she thought. I want to go on my first date with you, plus every other date for the rest of my life.
"No, I mean, sure," she said. "We can go. Let's do it. Besides, if Namine is behind it, this should help convince her we're really dating, right?"
"Right," he said. "That's why we're doing it. Of course."
When they got back to the table, Namine was explaining lifeguard training to Leon, who looked fascinated. Tifa looked bored, but when Yuffie caught her eye, and gave her a thumbs-up, her face brightened.
"I'll call you," she mouthed while Namine wasn't looking.
The afternoon went a lot like the previous afternoon, except that Leon joined pool volleyball and was put on Namine's team. Seeing him in his swimsuit made Yuffie realize why he liked jeans better than shorts: His legs were thin and paler than his arms, which looked sort of odd. But he turned out to be a lot better at this sport than tennis, and he made a lot of energetic leaps and dives to hit the ball, splashing everyone in the process. Whenever he saw Yuffie watching him, he gave her his crooked smile..
At the end of the day, Riku hustled out of the changing room almost as soon as he went in, catching up to Yuffie while she was still on the path to the bikes.
"Hey," she said. "That was fast."
"That guy was annoying me," Riku said. "He keeps asking questions about our relationship, like how long we've been dating and stuff."
"Really?" Yuffie said. "That's weird. I wonder why."
"Uh, yeah," Riku said, spinning the combination lock on his bike. "Weird. Let's go before he comes out."
As they rode back to Yuffie's house, she wondered if she should talk to Riku about Zack. Maybe he could help her figure out what was wrong with her twin brother. She decided to wait and see if Riku noticed anything himself. But when he came inside with her, Zack seemed more cheerful than he had the day before. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon trying to set up and film gory special effects from a book Riku had found. It didn't work very well; they ended up with ketchup all over the kitchen and several bits of carrot that didn't look anything like severed fingers.
"Better luck tomorrow," Riku said, heading out the door. "See you in the morning Yuffie." she stood at the screen door and waved as she pedaled away. Thorn and Alanna nosed their way into the kitchen and snuffled across the floor, licking up spattered ketchup and carrot bits.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Kisargi said, coming into the kitchen. "I gather we're having takeout for dinner."
"We're cleaning it up," Zack said. "Don't worry."
"I'm quite sure you are," his mom said. "Yuffie, Tifa Lockheart is on the phone for you. When you're done, ask her if I can speak to her mother."
Zack gave Yuffie a curious look. He knew as well as she did that a phone call from Tifa was not at all the normal event their mother seemed to think it was.
Yuffie picked up Alanna for moral support, took the portable phone into her room, and shut the door.
"Hi, Tifa," she said into the phone, lying down on the bed. Alanna curled up beside her and began licking her fingers with energetic snorting sounds.
"Hey, Yuffie," Tifa said, as if she called her everyday. "So let's figure out Friday. Cloud's being a pain about it because he's going on a camping trip with his family the next day or something. But he'll come. It'll be fun, don't you think?"
"Sure," Yuffie said.
"I've been wanting to go on a double date for ages," Tifa said," but Namine hates them. She likes to keep her boyfriends to herself. Anyway, I don't really want Cloud to model himself on any of her relationships. But I figure he could pick up some tips from Riku, right? I'd love it if he treated me a bit more like Riku treats you."
Yuffie thought that was funny. The whole time Riku had been dating Selphie Sorrento, Selphie had complained nonstop (Riku's words) about what an unenthusiastic, uninspired, boring, neglectful boyfriend he was (her words). Maybe he was just better at pretending to be in a relationship than at actually being one.
"Are you excited?" Tifa asked. "Dinner and a movie, totally romantic, right? Is it okay if I have my mom drop me off at your place beforehand, so we can walk together? It's closer from your house."
"Yeah, okay," Yuffie said, and then, because she felt bad about how excited Tifa seemed (even if it was a trick) she added, "I'm excited for this movie."
"Me too," Tifa said, and that started her off on a comparison of Cars and Monsters, Inc. They ended up talking for half an hour- well, Tifa did most of the talking- and by the time Yuffie got back downstairs, Zack had finished cleaning the kitchen. Mrs. Kisargi was standing at the counter, sorting out takeout menus.
"Here you go, Mum," Yuffie said, handing her the phone.
"Oh, thanks, Yuffie," her mom said. "Pick a menu and order, would you? You both know what your father and I like. He should be home from work in about half an hour." Mr Kisargi took a train to the city every morning before the rest of his family even got up, and often came home late at night. Yuffie didn't understand exactly what he did-something to do with numbers and law and banks and contracts.
As soon as Mrs. Kisargi had wandered out of the kitchen, chatting away with Mrs. Lockheart, Yuffie pulled herself up to sit on the counter and whispered, "Zack, guess what?"
"I don't get it," he said, studying a carrot. "Why did it look so fake? We were using the black-and-white setting, so it's not the color. Even I"m not dumb enough to think we can get away with bright orange fingers."
"Zack, listen," Yuffie insisted. "I'm going on a date on Friday."
That did get his attention, if only for a moment. He put the carrot down and picked up the pile of menus. Thorn butted his knees, demanding more carrot pieces with a small woof.
"With who?" Zack asked.
"With Riku, of course," Yuffie said. "Remember the traumatizing soap opera you volunteered me for?" Which you haven't even asked me about. Like you don't care if Namine McKennis murders me in my sleep.
"Oh," he said, sounding relieved. "So it's just a pretend date."
"Well, it's a double date with Tifa Lockheart and Cloud Strife," Yuffie said. "But, Zack, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do Or say. Or wear. Oh my God."
"Who cares? It's just Riku. He doesn't care what you wear."
Sadly true, Yuffie thought. "Okay, but Tifa will be reporting right back to Namine. So I have to at least pretend to care." That's my story anyway. So Zack doesn't notice how much I actually do care.
"You'll figure it out," Zack said. "You don't need your dumb brother's help. I vote for Indian or Mexican. You decide."
He dropped two menus on the counter next to her and left the room, Thorn and Alanna pattering along behind him. Yuffie stared at the door. What on earth was wrong with Zack?
Oh my gawd, I finished! Jeez, took long enough though.
AHHHH!! OMG!! I just finished the new Private book, Revelation, by Kate Brian, and no FUING WAY!! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just go to B&N's and by the whole series. Then you'll be just like me, screaming about what happened.
A big huge thing of Hershey's chocolate for:
brisFH28
Bonbon the Cat
Warriorcat's Spirit
SecretAgent99
I'll try my best to update when I can. Like in my A.N post, I have like, no time whatsoever. But, I won't drop the story. I'll see if I can start on the next chapter right now!
Forever Yours,
Erin