Sucky chapter, and also short, I know. But kinda a filler. Next few days are going to be kinda slow because I'm going on a trip that's going to take a while but I'll try to update while I'm away. Also recovering from being drugged up at the hospital so this should be interesting. Thanks for hanging in there.
-Shadoword

You think the way you lives okay
You think posing
Will save the day
You think we don't see
That you're running
Better call your boys
'Cause I'm coming

You can't be me
I'm a rock star
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far

It's almost over now
It's almost over now

It was that day. The one where teachers could care less if you learned anything or not, where whispers of parties and get togethers, and students were sitting so far at the edge of their seats that you'd think they were sitting on air. The clock slowly ticked towards its destination, and even the teachers were eying it time to time.

The hand struck 12. A bell rang. Chaos ensued.

Students scrambled out of their seats and fought their way out the doors, basking in the freedom of summer vacation. The buzz was all throughout the school, and it was like everyone was on a high as they grabbed their things and headed for the school exit, not a depressed soul being located in the crowd.

"Freedom!" Kairi giggled as Sora screamed the single word while the group walked down the steps, everyone smiling and pleased with the fact. "Sweet freedom! Oh how I missed thee!"

"Can you seriously get any more hyper?" They all turned and saw Shadow walking up to them, smirking at Sora.

"Actually, with enough soda and cotton candy, yeah." He replied, like he was stating a fact.

"Trust me, it's possible." Roxas said, shaking his head and causing his blond and spiky hair to move with it.

Kairi and Namine gave their sister a hug and she returned it. "You guys want to get some food?" She offered.

"Sure." Kairi replied. "You three want to come?" She offered to the three guys.

"What do you have in mind?" Roxas asked.

"Kairi and Namine were telling me about a pizza place I wouldn't mind checking out." She replied. "Come on, I got my truck with me."

"You have a truck?" Namine said.

Shadow nodded. "The motorcycle is for when I know I'm free ridin' it for a couple days, I take the truck for basic things like groceries and picking up passengers." She smirked. "So you in?"

Roxas and Sora immediately agreed, it concerned food so why wouldn't they? Riku nodded to accept the invitation and they all walked to the parking lot. When Shade pulled out the keys they saw a large black truck that could easily sit four in the back, with a long flatbed. The tires looked like they could rock climb anything and the entire vehicle was extremely clean. "Is it new?"

"This? No, going on just a year, had to replace the other one." she replied, heading for the drivers side. Inside the car was black leather, basically the color dominating everything. She didn't really have any personal items in there, so it wasn't much besides clean and big.

"What happened to the last one?" Sora asked.

"Crashed it." She replied matter-of-factly.

Everyone looked at each other with uncertainty as she started the car. "Relax, it was the other drivers fault." She said, catching the look.

The drive didn't take long, and everyone was quickly at ease when they realized that Shadow did in fact know how to drive. When they got to the Kingdom's Pizzeria the place was just starting to pick up speed. They were able to find a booth in the corner and Riku and Sora went to get the food. Shadow shrugged her jacket off and tossed it into the booth before sitting down at the edge. She had a shirt that instead of sleeves wrapped around her neck to stay up, looking like a normal t-shirt that was held up by this and clearly exposed her tattoo. Blue jeans didn't really hug her body, instead flaying out slightly at the bottom and she had on regular tennis shoes this time. Her dog tags were still in place and this time Kairi fully noticed them. "Where did you get these? " She asked.

Shadow lifted them over her head and showed her the tags. "Back where I worked, they had certain ways of saying you were officially part of the force. You get your name engraved into dog tags in any type of writing style. I choose Old English." They looked at the tags, and took note of how Shade didn't completely hand them over.

"So they're pretty important?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, to me at least." She replied, just as three large pizza's were brought to their table. "Alright, one cheese, one pepperoni, and one decked out with everything imaginable." Sora said happily as they slid them onto the table. Plates were passed around and soon everyone was digging in. Shadow had to admit, her sister's friends sure did bring high amusement to any situation.

Minutes later Shade found herself playing twenty questions, being drilled by the twin's friends. "Favorite color?"

"Gray borderline black."

"Food?"

"Decked out burritos."

"Movie?"

"Silent Hill."

"Music?"

"Everything." Kairi and Namine giggled, knowing this was a fact. She took out her iPod and passed it to Roxas to scroll through as the questions continued.

"Books?"

"Rarely read, but they normally are modern day action."

"Social life?"

"People can be idiots, a rare few of them aren't mindless morons." She replied with complete seriousness, earning a laugh from everyone.

"Favorite candy?"

"Skittles."

"Favorite drink?"

"Arizona Tea." Sora sat there thinking of more questions and Riku came up with one.

"So what do you like to do with free time?"

"Shooting range for sure." She said. "Guns, bows, if it can be shot, I love it. Unfortunately free time is rare so that kind of target practice is as well." She didn't have to include that she got plenty of time with guns just on a regular daily basis.

They fell back into a moment of eating their pizza before Roxas brought up something. "Are you guys going to the party down by the beach tonight? A few of the richer students are using the place to through an end of the school year bash."

"Sounds great!" Of course Kairi would immediately agree.

"It would be nice." Namine said. "Will you be attending?"

Roxas and Sora were quick to say yes, but Riku declined. "Nah, got some work that has to get done. My parent's need me to take the car in to get checked out and I refuse to leave it with the idiots who run the place."

"Aw, come on Riku, it would be fun!" Namine said. But he still passed.

"How about your bring the car by and I'll take a look at it." Shadow said, looking down at her cellphone. Kairi and Namine both had their heads snap up in surprise. Shadow offering to help someone that she didn't know for long? Unheard of. You had to be on a certain level with her before offered anything to you.

Riku glanced at Kairi and Namine, who quickly nodded their heads when Shade was glancing away. "Sounds good. I'd appreciate it."

"No problem, I can drop by your place or you can come to their home." She said, motioning vaguely to the twins.

"I'll bring it over to your place." He said.

XXXXXX

"Screw it." Shade muttered, glaring at the underside of Riku's car. "Basically your shocks absorbers and struts are completely shot, that's why your car isn't riding as smoothly as it used to. Unfortunately, you're going to need a completely new set." She pulled out a cellphone after she slid out and dialed a number.

"Thanks for figuring out what the problem was, can you suggest a mechanic?"

"I know one." She replied, bringing the cellphone up to her ear and leaning against the car. The phone rang three times and before it could hit the message machine the phone was answered. She was hearing plenty of cussing in the background before she actually was addressed.

"What the hell do you want?" A rough voice yelled, and she knew she was on speaker.

"Hello Cid." She greeted calmly.

"Shade? That you kid?" He asked loudly, then cursed some more as something crashed in the background. "Get that damn thing off the ground!"

"How's the shop coming along?" She inquired politely.

"People are damn idiots." He replied. "So what do ya need kid?"

"Just replacement shock absorbers and struts for a car, got the time?"

"Of course, bring it by." He said gruffly, hanging up immediately after. Shadow grinned and hung up the phone as well. "Come on, he can take care of it now."

XXXXXX

Shadow walked into the large garage that housed perfectly lined cars across the cement, at least almost a football field long. She didn't seem shocked by it, as mechanics quickly rushed out of the building as it neared nine that night, almost seeming frightened by something. Of course, it was for good reason.

"Get the fuck out of my garage you useless rats!" Shadow felt a grin come back on her face as she walked, Riku following behind her as the loud voice carried out through the entire place.

Shadow walked around the corner to see Cid there, mumbling to himself. Blond hair swept back and held back bye a pair of mechanic goggles and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Wearing a light blue shirt and dark green pants that complimented the shirt nicely. He wore brown gloves that went up to his elbows and were covered in the grime that came from working on cars, but Shade knew he worked on other things as well.

She motioned for Riku to wait and walked up to Cid, who was working on a piece of an engine displayed in front of him. "Afternoon Cid."

He grunted in reply, continuing to work, "How's it goin'?"

"Alright."

"Rumor has it you're on vacation, that true?" She nodded. "It's about bloody time." He said. "You know how long you've been needing one? Since I caught you taking that job with only three hours of sleep between that one and the previous job."

"Yeah yeah, but hey, I lived."

"Got yourself shot in the arm too!" He said in a low hiss, noticing Riku was behind them. She was thankful he hadn't said that to loud. "What do ya want?" He barked at him.

"Shade said you could help me out with my car." He replied, respectfully.

"Ah, so your the runt she's helping out, what the hell did you do to get her to do that?"

"He's a friend of Kairi and Namine." She said, and Cid seemed to accept this.

"Makes sense." He grunted. "No one get's up to that level that fast unless you've got a foothold."

"The car is already in place, how long do you think it will take?" Shadow asked as they walked to the car at the end of the row.

"Thirty max." He said with a grin.

Riku found himself waiting far away from the two as Cid worked on the car and Shade talked to him. He had to admit, he was kinda getting bored, but was contemplating what Cid had said. 'No one get's up to that level that fast unless you've got a foothold.' He guessed Shade only helped certain people, and being friends with Kairi and Namine apparently got him his foothold.

After deciding it was an interesting fact he glanced up when his name was called. Quickly his hands reached out and caught the iPod Touch as it was tossed his way, nodding his thanks to Shade who nodded in return and went back to talking with Cid.

When Riku put the earphones in she went on to talk about more familiar matters with the older man. "So how have thing been?"

"Not bad except for the rats that I hired." He growled. "You were the only person I trained that paid off in the end."

"Sorry to hear it." She said, smirking slightly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face." Even under the car he knew her so well.

"Of course sir. So have you heard from the guys?"

"They ask about you all the frickin' time. Your leave is hittin' them hard."

"Why? All I am is basically a mercenary, on the side fighting trainer." She said. "They shouldn't be so bad."

"But you gotta remember kid, you basically are the one who got them to do what they do now. You make sure they don't screw things up." She was slightly surprised, this was a compliment coming from him. She didn't acknowledge it, knowing he'd get angry if she did.

"I'm sure they can live for three months." She finally said.

"Done." He said, coming back from the underneath of the car. "The runt should be good now."

"Thanks Cid, appreciate it."

"No problem kid, it's gettin' late, you should head home and get some rest, use your vacation as a chance to actually sleep like a normal person."

She laughed. "I thought you'd realize by now, there's no way in hell I will ever be normal." He grunted and shook his head. "Right, forgot who was I was talking to. Go on, get out of here."

XXXXXX

Riku drove her to the twin's house after that, noticing how the car was definitely fixed now as it glided through the streets. Shade had her head resting against the seat and her eyes closed, and he thought she looked pretty tired. But even in the short time he had known her, he knew she wasn't asleep. "Thanks for taking care of the car."

"No problem." She replied. After a moment of silence she went on. "Five questions this time."

"What is your sleep schedule like when you're working?"

"Depending on the specific job that week. Normally I can be in bed by eleven and I'm up at four."

"Would it be useless to ask about your job?" He inquired, smirking slightly.

She grinned and opened her eyes to look at him. "Yeah, it would, so I'm going to let that question not strike against you, how's that?" He laughed and shook his head.

"So do you know your biological family?"

"When I left, they were actually the reason. I spent a week or two with them before I left. Haven't seen them since and I could really care less. Three more."

"How do you handle stress?"

"I handle it pretty well, in the field I work your constantly on the spot and having pressure putting on you. When it seriously gets to much, I don't cry, I actually tend to feel bad for the sucker who interrupts my gym time, because they become my punching bag. Great anger management."

"Do you plan on coming to live here on Destiny Islands?"

"Right now I'm in Radiant Gardens, and I really like it there, so I'm thinking I'll stay there. Kairi and Namine are going to crash with me for a bit over the summer while their parents are on business across the country. Final one."

He thought for a minute. "What do you think of Sora, Roxas, and I?" Riku wasn't entirely sure if she would answer, but it was worth a shot.

"Sora is always on a sugar high and radiating happiness, don't know if he was dropped on his head or something but he always seems to make my sisters happy so I like him for it. Roxas seems more like the shield that takes the brunt of Sora's attitude so that's good, and he's pretty good and making sure the girls always have things to do. From what I hear he comes up with a lot of the outgoing activities.

"Then of course there is you. Level headed, responsible, makes sure no one kills themselves, Riku." He smirked. "Honestly you're easily earning points, unlike twiddle one and two you know how to keep emotions in check, but at the same time you have to find some sort of outlet or else they are going to eat you alive. Kairi and Namine are always saying you're looking out for the entire group, and you have that leadership aspect about you. Overall, very nice." She smirked. "That answer your question?"

"How did you know all of that?" He was mostly referring to the part about his emotions, surprised about how right she was.

"I'm pretty good at deducting facts about people from what I see." She said. "It comes in handy in my field of work."

Riku just nodded as he pulled up into the driveway of her house. Kairi and Namine were already home and it was pushing ten that night. "See you later." She said, climbing out of the car. He just nodded and she closed the door, lifting her hand in a wave as she walked up to the door and opened it before disappearing inside.