Well, I'm back! Sorry for the long wait guys! I was hoping it would be an even longer wait, but our team lost at the playoffs so...Sad. Yeah, anyway though, I got some more inspiration, and I think I may know how I'm going to finish this now! However, that means that you guys can only hope to expect one or two more chapters! Sad, huh? Oh well... I just wanted to thank you all for your kind reviews. This is by far one of my most successful stories, and it makes me so happy, being that I really feel like I've put my all into it. I hope I don't let you guys down! Enjoy!
Chapter 13: The Unwanted Loss
"Okay, so the girl told you to close your eyes, and you did," Yuna said, as the two walked into Tidus' house.
"Yeah," Tidus said, "Yuna…Only innocent thoughts were going through my head. I thought maybe she was giving me a present or something."
"What are you two talking about?" Gippal said, and he leaned in the doorway, and crossed his arms.
"Tidus kissed a girl," Yuna said, "At the gym. And he's trying to convince me that he was completely innocent."
"Tidus, you gotta stop being such a player," Gippal said, rolling his eyes, "If I were you, Yuna, I'd leave this bafoon."
"Gippal, you weren't even there, so stay out of this," Tidus said, and then he immediately changed the subject, "What's for dinner?"
"Spaghetti."
"We had spaghetti last night!" Tidus moaned.
"You gotta get your carbs," Gippal said, "So it'll be spaghetti again tomorrow."
"Maybe if you made your own meals," Yuna said, "you wouldn't have this problem. Anyway, I should probably go."
"You can stay if you want," Gippal said, "I made plenty."
"I really should go…" Yuna simply said.
"Oh, just stay," Tidus said, "Come one, let's eat."
Tidus strutted off to the kitchen, and Gippal turned to follow him.
"Gippal wait," Yuna said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Gippal said, although he looked confused, as if he was wondering why Yuna would want to talk to him.
"Rikku told me that you were upset that Tidus signed as early as he did," Yuna said, looking at the ground, "Did Tidus really go back on his word?"
"Yeah," Gippal said, "But it's alright. Whatever…"
"Why did he do that?" Yuna asked.
"You guys coming?" Tidus' voice was then heard from the kitchen.
Gippal shrugged and said, "It's complicated Yuna. Don't worry about it. Tidus isn't a bad guy or anything…He's just…He had a selfish moment, that's all."
Gippal turned around then and walked into the kitchen, and Yuna followed.
"You guys are too slow," Tidus said, "I've already eaten an entire plate!"
"Seriously?" Yuna asked, as she helped herself to some of the meal, and took a seat next to Tidus.
"Yeah," Tidus said.
"Tidus has to gain weight," Gippal said, "He's too thin. The pros don't want him that skinny."
"So I gotta eat a lot!" Tidus said with his mouth full.
"I see…" Yuna simply said slowly, "So about the play-offs…What happens if you lose?"
"We have to win two-out-of-three games," Gippal explained, for Tidus was too busy stuffing his face, "If we win, we continue, and if we lose, the season is over. We're currently seeded in the number one spot, so winning shouldn't be a problem."
Yuna gave Tidus a side-glance, only to be shocked to see that he was looking dimly at his spaghetti.
"You okay Tidus?" she asked him, hoping she didn't sound as shocked as she felt.
"Huh? Yeah!" he said, throwing her a smile, and then, he returned to eating.
Yuna didn't return his smile, but instead finished eating, and then announced that she had to leave.
-
"Gippal will meet us in there," Rikku said as the two headed into the stadium, "Since he can't play. Poor guy, he was really down in the dumps."
"At least he's only missing a few games," Yuna said, "He could have been out the entire season!"
"Yeah," Rikku said, agreeing.
"This week went by so slow," Yuna moaned, "And I didn't think my father would ever allow me to come here. He's still moping over the fact that I'm not with Baralai. Of course, it's not like I told him that I'm with a blitzball player…"
Rikku laughed and said, "How long are you going to keep it a secret?"
"Soon it won't matter," Yuna said softly, "Tidus will leave for Zanarkand in just a month or so."
"Yunie, you two aren't breaking up then, are you?"
"Well no," Yuna said, "But things will be a little bit differently. We'll only see each other every now and then. Tidus will be too busy."
The two were now walking into the arena, which was even larger than Bevelle's. The girls found their seats and sat down, waiting patiently for the game to start.
Soon Gippal joined them, after signing a few autographs.
"You're dressed spiffy!" Rikku said as he took a seat next to her, "Even though you're injured, you still have to dress up?"
"Yeah, it's pretty much tradition," Gippal said, laughing, "Where are you girls staying?"
"The same hotel as the guys, you?" Rikku said.
"Same," Gippal said, nodding, "Are you guys doing anything after the game?"
"Can Tidus?" Rikku just said, looking at Yuna.
"He can't leave," Gippal said, "But we can! Let's go eat at least."
"Sounds good," Rikku answered, "Wanna come Yunie?"
"Uh, I'm not sure…" Yuna answered, throwing them a wry smile. She honestly didn't know. She figured she'd see how the game went.
"Okay Yunie," Rikku said, "I'm so excited! I hope the guys win!"
"We might have some trouble…" Gippal trailed then, "This team's pretty good…"
"Who is it?" Yuna said then, realizing that she didn't even know.
"Zanarkand," Gippal said, crossing his arms, "And you know, they're ticked 'cause they don't have Tidus. Bevelle and them battled it out for him. Zanarkand offered him a car, Bevelle offered him a car and a house, Zanarkand offered a better car and house, and on and on it went, until Bevelle finally threw a brand new car, a brand new house, his own private pool and work-out room—neither of which Tidus uses—and some other stuff."
"Wow," Rikku said, "They must have really wanted him."
"Yep," Gippal said, "The rest of us just got free schooling, but Tidus got the ultimate deal. And boy was he pissed when he found out he still had to have a roommate. Of course, I wasn't too happy to be rooming with him. He's a spoiled brat you know."
"Yeah, but you two are best friends now!" Rikku said, nudging Gippal.
Gippal sighed and said, "You know…They put us together because my mom had just died the year before. They thought it would be nice to stick me with an orphan like Tidus. But Tidus didn't even really know his parents…He spent his whole life at blitzball camps."
"Y-Your mother died?" Yuna said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, she died my senior year of high school," Gippal said softly, "I'm from Bikanel, you know. So when she died, I didn't really want to leave my old man all by himself. But Bevelle offered me a good deal to play for them so…I came. When they explained to me that Tidus and I were roommates because we had both lost our parents or parent, I felt a lot better about being his roommate. But Tidus doesn't understand anything when it comes to parentals. All he knows is the game of blitzball."
"Hey, the guys are coming out!" Rikku cried then, and the few people that were in the stands for Bevelle cheered.
"How come there aren't many fans here?" Yuna asked.
"Well, that's because most people don't really care about the playoffs," Gippal explained, "People only come to games for an excuse to socialize and drink. The only people really here are parents."
"Your dad didn't come?" Yuna asked.
"Nah, I'm not playing," Gippal said, smiling, "So it would be pointless for him to come. According to Tidus, even if his parents were still alive, they wouldn't show either, even though they only lived in Zanarkand. It always bugged me the way he talked about his parents like that. His blitz camp counselors and the like were more of a family to him than his actual family. It's sad, really."
"Who will you room with next year?" Yuna asked then.
Gippal shrugged and said, "Got me. Probably another guy from the team. They've all been trying to bribe me into letting them stay with me."
"Do you think Tidus will be okay?" Yuna asked, "He's more of a baby than I thought he was."
"He acts," Gippal said, nodding, "He whines until he gets his way—that's how you're raised at blitz camp. Especially if you're good. He's used to getting what he wants. He'll be just fine. He knows how to manipulate people. Basically, he uses his talent to get whatever he wants. And it helps that he's cute, has those pretty blue eyes, and that innocent little smile. Really, he's more naïve than you would ever guess though. You should see him when he has a beer. He doesn't know what to do, because he's too busy waiting for someone to tell him not to drink it. And when he finally does drink it, he's still too busy waiting for someone to tell him to stop. And then when he realizes no one is going to stop him, he gets too carried away and wakes up with a hangover."
Rikku laughed and said, "Does he drink often?"
"No," Gippal said, "Because I tell him not to, and because Coach tells him not to. In reality though, even if Tidus did get caught drinking underage, it wouldn't matter: Coach and the school would pay off the cops so that they wouldn't penalize him. But Tidus would rather be waited on. He loves it when people tell him not to do something: It makes him feel special. He thrives on it."
Yuna's eyes didn't leave Tidus during all of this. Gippal and he had been living together for only two years, but Gippal definitely had him figured out. There was no doubt about it.
"Tidus seems down lately, do you know why?" Yuna asked.
"He's upset about what happened to me," Gippal answered, "He's become probably more protective of me than I've become of him. Which is pretty protective, considering that I pretty much hold the guy's hand when we cross the street."
Rikku giggled again and said, "Do you really?"
Gippal laughed and said, "Of course not!"
"Anything else?" Yuna asked, interrupting the love birds' little antics toward each other.
"He feels guilty," Gippal said, "He tries not to let me notice, but I know him too well. He feels bad that he signed with Zanarkand behind my back. You know…I still remember that day. We had just gotten second place at a major tournament, and we were all really bummed that we'd gotten second and not first. I went out with some of the guys to just do nothing, but Tidus stayed home. When I got back, I walked in just in time to see him signing some papers that his agent had. You should have seen the guilt across his face."
"Why did he do that?" Yuna asked again, "Why did he go behind your back like that?"
Gippal shrugged and said, "When we first started rooming together, we hated each other. Absolute hate. I had to wait on him for everything. He would purposely take a long time in the bathroom, he would purposely make huge messes in the kitchen and whine that he couldn't cook, and he would purposely just do little things to annoy the hell outta me. I had a girlfriend over, and we were making out in my room…" Gippal gave Rikku a side-glance, but Rikku was too into the story to even care what Gippal was saying about another girlfriend, "and Tidus came barging in, telling me he needed me to help him do his homework. My girlfriend was so annoyed that she ended up dumping me. Tidus thought it was pretty funny.
"Eventually though," Gippal said, "We became friends. I don't know how it happened, but we did. Coach made us be on the same line, and we learned to trust each other, as teammates. Soon we were the best of friends. I watched over him, and in his own weird little way, he watched over me. So I was really shocked when I walked in that day, only to get one of his sheepish little "oops" kind of smiles. I yelled at him, you know, all "How could you go behind my back like that?" but he didn't say anything. He just dropped it. We didn't talk for weeks, and soon, he started acting as if nothing had happened. He never told me why he did it…Soon I just forgot about it, and moved on with my life.
"Even though I've never told him how angry it made me, besides the initial night when I chewed him out, and we've never talked about it, there's always been something that hasn't been the same. We're just…Best friends. Not…You know, best friends forever, or whatever you girls would call it."
"So this upsets Tidus?" Yuna asked.
"Yeah," Gippal said, "Because he's guilty. I think he feels bad for doing it. All I can do is forgive him, but it's gonna be hard next year, and the year after that, without him. We're all happy for him of course—it's everybody's goal to get drafted—but we can't help but feel like he's leaving us when he doesn't have to. Tidus is so good that he could sign and still get paid and everything without having to play for them. But he won't do that. He's heading straight there. And like I said…We just don't talk about it."
"I'll talk about it," Yuna said then.
"Um…I don't know if that's such a good idea," Gippal said quickly.
"It'll be fine," Yuna said, smiling, "Tidus will explain it to me."
Gippal looked uncertain, but it was then that the game began.
The game got off to a slow start without much action, but it soon became apparent that Zanarkand was playing very hard. Bevelle looked to be just a little behind the other team.
"They don't seem like they can get their act together," Gippal said, shaking his head, "What's their problem?"
Yuna's eyes quickly found Tidus, only to realize almost immediately that he seemed rather distracted. She voiced this out loud.
"He does seem distracted," Gippal said, "I wonder what his problem is? If we keep playing like this, we're going to lose!"
Soon enough, Zanarkand made a goal.
"What are they doing?" Gippal moaned, "They're playing like a bunch of idiots!"
It wasn't long before half-time came along, with the Basilisks still down zero-to-one.
"This is ridiculous," Gippal said, "Coach better be reaming them out in the locker rooms."
"I'll say," Rikku agreed with him, "And what's Tidus doing out there? He's just out of it…"
"He did seem really down all week," Yuna said, "What's his problem? He's not that guilty, is he?"
"I sure hope not," Gippal said, shaking his head, "It's unlike him to be like this. But you know, everybody has an off day… Just this must be Tidus' first."
"Come on!" Rikku moaned, "This is the playoffs!"
The players came back out shortly, to begin the second half. Right away, Zanarkand scored yet another goal.
"Get your head in the game, Tidus!" Gippal yelled loudly, although Yuna was sure Tidus couldn't hear him. How she wished he could though. If anybody could talk sense into Tidus, it would have to be Gippal.
"I feel sorry for Keepa, our goalie," Gippal said, shaking his head, "He has no help! Come on guys!"
"Why are we sucking?" Rikku said, looking defeated.
Gippal shook his head and said, "I have no idea."
Soon, the Basilisks were down three-to-zero.
"Coach isn't even putting Tidus in anymore," Gippal observed then, "Because he's been such a waste. He really needs to pick it up."
Soon, the game was over, with the Basilisks losing zero-to-three.
"Well, that didn't go well," Gippal said, shaking his head, "If they don't win tomorrow, that's it. End of season." He shook his head then, and stood up. Rikku and Yuna followed him, and back to the hotel they went.
-
"You sure you don't want to come eat with us?" Rikku asked as she grabbed her purse. They had only just gotten back to the hotel, but already Gippal and Rikku were leaving.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Yuna said.
"Hey, Tidus is gonna be depressed," Gippal said, "The whole team is. I bet they get their asses chewed out by Coach. Just a warning."
"Thanks," Yuna just said.
Gippal and Rikku shrugged then, and headed out, leaving Yuna alone. Being that she was unsure of where Tidus' room was exactly, Yuna went and sat in the lobby, waiting for the team to arrive.
Soon enough the staff of coaches and whatnot came in, but the players remained in the bus. Finally, the players all trudged in, looking defeated and depressed. It was a sad sight, really. Most of them were on the phone to their parents, and some of them just simply walked past.
Finally, Tidus came. He walked straight past Yuna, as if he didn't see her, and toward the rooms, following his teammates. Yuna followed, but he was walking quickly, and was thusly far ahead of her.
"Tidus!" Yuna called after him.
He took one look at her, and then opened up the door to his room, and said, "I don't feel like talking." And with that, he walked in and slammed the door shut, right in her face.
"Tidus!" Yuna cried, knocking.
"Sorry girlie," Yuna looked up only to see who she assumed was a coach, "But I think Tidus will want some alone-time. Leave him alone, please."
Feeling defeated herself, Yuna just smiled at the coach in the most innocent manner that she could, and trudged off herself, looking just as depressed as the players.