Okay, I apologize immensely for the long wait! I didn't start working on this chapter until yesterday, and just finished it up quickly today. Haha, I totally got the inspiration for it from a dream I had a few nights ago, and from a rumor that popped up yesterday. (Hehe, yesterday was such a good day, in my own real-life version of 'Number Thirty-Seven'.) Anyway, I'll be out of town this weekend, starting tomorrow morning. So don't expect an update until Sunday or Monday, depending on if anything inspiring happens over the weekend. XD Well, enjoy!
Chapter 12: The Unwanted Sight
"Things aren't gonna be easy without ya, Gip," Tidus said, shaking his head, "I got some idiot on my line now…Did you know we had a Datto on our team?"
"He's been out all year with injuries," Gippal said, re-wrapping his hand, "Don't you kind of remember him?"
"Nope, not at all," Tidus said, "Say Yuna, did you get it cleared so you can come to the game this weekend?"
Yuna smiled, and nodded. She hadn't, but she had decided that she was going to go no matter what anybody told her.
Gippal looked at the two of them, and then smiled and said, "Alright, you kiddies want some alone time?"
"Gippal!" Tidus moaned, "We're the same age as you!"
Yuna laughed, for she always forgot that it was true—Gippal was the same age as them.
"Wanna hear a story?" Gippal asked, his question directed toward Yuna.
Yuna nodded and said, "Sure."
"When we first came here…" Gippal began.
"No, don't tell her!" Tidus cried, putting his hands over his ears.
"When we first came here," Gippal repeated himself, "The entire team got here the night before our first practice, except for Tidus. So we all met each other, and were wondering who this 'ace' player was that was supposedly coming. Imagine what we thought when this shrimp showed up." Gippal gave Tidus a noogie, which Tidus did not appreciate at all.
"Coach introduced him," Gippal continued, "And we were all like, 'no way that's the ace from Zanarkand!', and then, since Tidus here thinks he's a genius, he didn't even try or anything. Which made us think he was stuck up."
"I was getting your respect!" Tidus cried.
"Then, at the end of the first practice," Gippal said, ignoring Tidus, we all got matched up with a roommate, and we were all sitting there, praying, 'not Tidus, not Tidus', and then guess who gets paired with him? Yeah, me. So we got here, and you know what he did?"
"What?" Yuna asked.
"I didn't," Tidus said, "Gippal's making all of this up."
"He cried," Gippal said, "And I said, all babying, of course, 'What, Tidus miss his mommy?' only to find out that Tidus' mommy died long ago. Wanna know what he missed?"
"What?" Yuna asked, smiling as Tidus sanked deeper into the couch, wearing a huge frown.
"His teddy bear," Gippal said, "So in conclusion, that is why Tidus is officially not the same age as me." He smiled then, waved and said, "Now don't do anything rough. Tidus has a game in two days."
The two said nothing until Gippal was out of the room, and Tidus said quickly, "It was a special teddy bear. Like…Uh…"
Yuna laughed and said, "That's alright, I got homesick too, my first year."
"Did he tell you he still sleeps in footy pajamas?" Gippal's voice could be heard from the other room.
"Okay, now that's a lie!" Tidus cried.
Yuna laughed and said, "How are you going to survive without Gippal?"
"Oh, trust me, I will," Tidus said, "I've grown up a lot since then."
"Sure you have," Yuna said, giggling.
"I have!" Tidus said defiantly, "I'm all man now. Now more Teddy for me."
"He sleeps with a blitzball cradled under his arm!" Gippal's voice was heard once more.
"Get lost!" Tidus cried.
"Is that anyway to talk to your poor injured friend?" Gippal cried, poking his head into the room.
"Go get a pity date or something," Tidus said, "There's no way I'm taking care of you."
"Already got one," Gippal said, "Only it's not a 'pity' date. A real one. If Yuna wasn't here, I'd say it's about time you go on one."
"Yeah right, who's it with?" Tidus asked, "Some slut you picked up at the bar."
"Hey, don't call Yuna's cousin a slut," Gippal said, grabbing his coat.
"What? My cousin?" Yuna cried, looking at Gippal, "Rikku?"
"Yup," Gippal said, smiling, "I gotta go. See you two later. Oh, and Tidus, don't forget to take your vitamin in a half hour."
"I would have remembered!" Tidus simply cried, sinking even further down in the couch.
"I know," Gippal said, "See you two kiddies later!"
"He's such a dick," Tidus said as soon as the door was shut, "But he's my best friend."
Yuna smiled and said, "I can't believe he's going on a date with my cousin."
"Me neither," Tidus said, "What's she like?"
"She's a sweetheart," Yuna said, "She's perfect for him."
"You know, it's kind of true, what Gippal said. I am kind of a baby."
Yuna laughed and said, "I kind of figured that."
"What? How?" Tidus cried, "I try really hard to hide it!"
"I've known since the first time I went out with you!" Yuna said, "Gippal gives it away. And then you were all 'I gotta put my hat on 'cause coach is afraid I'll get sick.'"
Tidus laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess that does sound pretty babyish, huh?"
"Well," Yuna said, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling herself close, "As long as you're good at blitzball, that's all that matters, right? Then they don't mind babying you."
"Yeah," Tidus said.
"But who's going to baby you when Gippal isn't here anymore?" Yuna asked.
"You," Tidus said, going in for a kiss.
Yuna pulled away from him though, and said, "There's no way I'm going to baby you!"
"You know you want to!" Tidus just said, "Face it Yuna, I'm a spoiled pet. You gotta keep me spoiled, or I'll wander out looking for something else."
Yuna sighed, and looked at the ground. It was probably true.
"Hey, don't look so down…" Tidus said, "It was a joke."
"I know," Yuna said, although she knew she didn't know.
"You don't trust me at all, do you?" Tidus asked her then, "You think you're the pet, is that it?"
Yuna shrugged and said, "I don't know, I haven't given it a lot of thought."
"Well, don't think that," Tidus said, "Because really, it's not that way. I don't know why you think the way you do about me, but I'm not gonna cheat on you or anything."
Yuna sighed and said, "I know Tidus. It's just that I…I really feel ashamed to be with you. D-Don't take it the wrong way or anything, but I grew up believing—truly believing!—that I was going to be the wife of a Maester. I would spend my time at press conferences, and raising the future Maester. That's how I was risen. And then you came into my life, and everything turned upside down. I thought—I truly thought!—that I was going to have to hide you. I guess…I feel ashamed for thinking that way. Because I realize now, that all this time I thought you would toss me aside, when really…I was just planning on tossing you aside. You know, bury you away and forget."
"Is it still that way?" Tidus asked, "Are you still ashamed of me?"
"No."
"Good," Tidus said. With that, the two leaned in and kissed.
-
"So, how was your date with Gippal?"
"Oh my Yevon Yunie, you know?" Rikku asked, blushing, "It was fine. I feel so bad about his hand though! He has that little cast thing…He was being all bravado though, and told me it didn't hurt a bit."
Yuna laughed and said, "I was at his house before he left."
"Oh that's right, Tidus and he are roommates!" Rikku said, "And I got our tickets to the playoffs!"
She put the tickets on the table then, and said, "Yunie, we should go on a double date sometime!"
Yuna smiled and nodded and said, "Yes, we should. Although Tidus and Gippal seem to have one of those love-hate relationships going on."
"Well, you know why that is, don't you?" Rikku asked.
"Um…It's just always been that way, hasn't it?" Yuna asked, shrugging.
"No," Rikku said, "Gippal explained it all to me. Tidus was literally a huge brat to Gippal, but Gippal took care of him, like an older brother would. And just when the two were becoming normal friends, Gippal walked home only to realize that Tidus had hired an agent—behind his back. Tidus assured Gippal he wouldn't even think about signing with the professionals until their junior year, and here was Tidus, as a freshman, with an agent, getting signed."
"Really?" Yuna asked.
"Yeah, Gippal was ticked," Rikku continued, "He told Tidus that if he left before junior year, he would never talk to him again. But Tidus stayed to his guns, and now he's leaving before junior year."
"No way," Yuna said, "Why would he do something like that?"
"I don't know," Rikku said, "Gippal doesn't know either. Gippal said that freshman year, Tidus was such a baby that it wasn't even funny. He said that he of course 'forgave' Tidus, but I think a part of them was never really the same."
"Hmm," Yuna just said, resting her head in her hands, "It's weird too, because Tidus acts like he doesn't really want to play professionally yet. I personally think he's too immature, but he'd never admit it."
"Is he really a baby?" Rikku asked then, "Because that's just so adorable!"
Yuna smiled and said, "It's hard to explain. I think he enjoys being babied, by he's not like a real baby or anything."
"I see, an attention whore!" Rikku said, as if proud of herself for making that conclusion.
"I suppose you could put it that way," Yuna said.
"Where is he now?" Rikku asked, "They don't have practice."
"He's at the gym," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "He's been there at least three times today."
Rikku laughed and said, "Gippal's at home cooking. He makes Tidus meals all the time, you know."
Yuna shook her head and said, "Poor Gippal. He should just not do it."
"But," Rikku said, "Tidus is the star player. They need him. Gippal said that in the off season, he's a lot more easy-going on Tidus."
"Maybe I'll go talk to him," Yuna said, "Want to come?"
"Sure!" Rikku said, "Are we going to go to the gym?"
"Why not?" Yuna simply said with a shrug.
"Alright Yunie," Rikku giggled, "But just to warn you, I've never been to the gym before!"
"Me neither," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "Let's ask Tidus to go get something to eat with us!"
"But Gippal's cooking for him!"
"Alright, let's go tell Tidus to go home and cook for Gippal for a change," Yuna said, smiling.
"Okay!" Rikku said, and the two headed off.
The gym wasn't very far from them, being that Yuna had met her cousin on campus. Yuna often found herself wondering why Tidus lived so far from his campus, but was always reminded that he was close to the blitz arena—and that was what mattered, not school.
"Wow, this gym is huge!" Yuna cried as soon as they entered.
"Yeah it is…" Rikku said, looking around, "There's not too many people here though, it shouldn't be hard to find him."
The two started around the gym, which was a two-story gym with a common floor in the middle.
"Hey, he's down there!" Rikku said then, pointing. He was on the first floor, while the girls were on a second story balcony overlooking the first floor.
Yuna smiled and looked for stairs.
"Who are those girls?" Rikku asked, tugging on Yuna's sleeve.
Yuna turned around, only to see two girls who she didn't recognize, standing in front of Tidus, who was standing in front of a bench press, laughing at something the girls were saying.
"Probably friends," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, not at Tidus, but at herself. Why was she seeming to get the wrong idea.
"Uh, Yunie," Rikku said then, "What is Tidus doing?"
Yuna looked, only to see Tidus standing there, with his eyes closed. At that exact same moment, one of the girls kissed him.
"What is that girl doing?" Yuna cried, perhaps too loud. She found stairs then, and she flew down them, with Rikku at her heels. By the time she reached Tidus though, the girls were gone.
"Tidus!" Yuna cried, walking up to him, "Who were they?"
"Hey Yuna!" Tidus greeted her, "Hey Rikku!"
Yuna gave an exasperated look at her cousin, and said, "Tidus, who were those girls? And why were you kissing one of them?"
"Oh…" Tidus said, rubbing the back of his neck, "They told me to close my eyes, and I did."
"Don't act all naïve and innocent," Yuna cried, "There was tongue in that kiss!"
"Yuna, they told me to close my eyes, I did. Then she kissed me, and what was I supposed to do?"
"Pull away," Yuna said, "Or…Maybe don't close your eyes when some skanks tell you to."
"I'm sorry," Tidus said, rolling his eyes, as if it wasn't a big deal, "They wouldn't leave me alone."
"And you didn't know Yunie was here," Rikku said then, crossing her arms in a protective manner.
Tidus looked at Rikku with a shocked expression on his face, and then looked back at Yuna and said, "Yuna, don't be like this."
"Okay, what if I walked over and kissed that guy right over there?" Yuna asked, pointing to a random guy, "How would you feel?"
"That's Keepa, our goalie," Tidus said, as if that made a difference, "So I wouldn't care. Go ahead, kiss him."
"W-What if I kissed that guy over there?" Yuna cried, growing angry with her boyfriend.
"Him? That's Briggs, he's our main defense player."
"Is anybody here not a blitzball player?" Yuna cried.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Tidus asked.
"You tell me!" Yuna cried.
"Um…I'm gonna…Go…" Rikku said then, looking at the two as if she was completely out of place.
She marched off quickly then, while Tidus and Yuna continued to stare each other down.
"Tidus, you can't do that," Yuna said then, "You just can't."
"I swear Yuna, it was an accident. I don't even know who those two were."
Yuna just shook her head and said, "I'm going home. I'll see you at the game."
"Yuna!" Tidus cried after her, "Don't be like this!"
Yuna stopped and turned around and said, "It's alright Tidus, don't worry about it." Her tone was sarcastic, and she knew this, but she couldn't stop herself. She wanted her words to be true. It was just a kiss, wasn't it? She didn't have any reason to not believe him. He was, as she'd been finding out, a 'baby'. And he enjoyed being babied. End of story.
"What does a kiss have to do with being babied?" Yuna asked herself softly, as she turned around and continued walking toward the door.
"Hey, come on!" Tidus said, running up behind her, "Let's go back to my place and talk or something, 'kay?"
"Actually, let's," Yuna said, turning around, "There's a lot of things I want you to explain to me."
"Like what?" Tidus asked.
Yuna shook her head in defeat, and said, "Like, why did you tell Gippal you weren't going to sign until your junior year, only to do it your freshman year?"
"Who told you about that?" Tidus asked, "That was a long time ago, you know, buried in the past."
"Well, Gippal told Rikku, who told me," Yuna said, "It's true, isn't it?"
"Yuna, you don't understand. You know nothing about it. I had to get signed in case I got injured. Neither Gippal nor you understands that."
"Tidus, you still didn't have to leave after this year, did you?"
Tidus was silent, and he said, "Yuna, anybody would take this chance. Don't you see?"
"So you're just being selfish," Yuna said then, crossing her arms.
"No!" Tidus cried, "I'm…Okay, yes, I'm being selfish. Okay? Does that make you happy?"
"Gippal does so much for you, and this is how you repay him?" Yuna asked, "You seem like a jerk to me, Tidus."
"Hey, I don't need that from you!" Tidus cried, "Why don't you just go home?"
"Oh, so now you want me to go home?"
"Yeah, I do," Tidus said, "You don't understand, and neither does your cousin."
"Okay, I'll go home," Yuna said, "See you at the game."
"Yeah, see you then," Tidus said, and headed back to the gym.
"And go ahead and kiss as many random girls as you can between now and then!" Yuna shouted back at him.
"I will!" Tidus simply yelled back to her, "Look, there's one right now!"
A girl was walking down the sidewalk, reading a book. To make his point, Tidus walked over to her, put his arm around her, shocking her, and kissed her.
"That's it!" Yuna cried, "I can't take your attitude, Mister!"
"Whoa, what a comeback!" Tidus said, laughing as the girl he had just kissed hurried past him, blushing deeply.
"I can't believe what a jerk you are!" Yuna cried, "Do you not even care?"
Tidus rolled his eyes again, and said, "Yuna, it's not that I don't care! I just don't see why you're getting all wrapped up in things you don't understand!"
"I'm getting worked up about it because it's rude and selfish of you!" Yuna cried, "And you don't seem to mind being rude and selfish."
"Yuna!" Tidus moaned, "I swear, it's not what you think…"
"Don't be a jerk," Yuna simply stated, and started off.
Tidus didn't say anything, but he finally ran up to her, and said, "I'm sorry. Those girls were flirting with me, and I flirted back. I guess I got what I deserved, huh?"
"Had I not walked in, I never would have known," Yuna said, "It just makes me feel…"
"Like you can't trust me?" Tidus asked, "I'm sorry Yuna. I really am. I like to…I like to have fun. Like kissing that random girl. I…I want to prove I'm not afraid."
"What's to prove?" Yuna asked, "You only made me angrier."
"That's what I do," Tidus said, getting dangerously close to her, "I get under people's skin. It's what I do out there in the pool. I pick a target, and I do whatever I can to get into their mind. I didn't mean to do it to you though."
Yuna closed her eyes. Of course she was going to forgive him.
With that, the two kissed, and the girl who Tidus had just kissed shook her head at the two, and walked off.
"Weirdos," the girl muttered under her breath, and was soon out of sight.