Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Akirame Norwen ❯ Revenge is Overrated ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I can't believe you actually read the disclaimer! What a nerd! Anyhow…. You should have this memorized by now….

CHAPTER 17

REVENGE IS OVERRATED

I now sat on my bottom bunk bed and began to feel guilty. Had I really broken Riku's heart? I couldn't seem to find the truth in the thought. "I dunno guys… I mean, come on. Riku and I have almost always been rivals. He's probably just upset because for once I came out on top. Besides, revenge is supposed to be sweet." I told them, mentally flicking my shoulder angel into the trash can.

The girls looked at each other, trying to apply my theory to the situation. "Yeah, you're probably right… but still…"

"You know, I could never really understand Riku… why he's so… aloof. Like Squall." Kairi said, leaning back on her hands.

"Hmm… Riku and Squall probably have a lot in common. Even though Squall seems to be made of rock, deep down inside, he's got a heart made of true gold that he's never been able to understand. Squall spent almost all of his life alone. Riku is probably the same way." Vanna tried to explain.

"Yeah… you're right. However, my Irvy is waaaayyy better than your Squall!" Jerdania teased, bumping her shoulder into Vanna.

"Wanna bet?"

"Oh yeah!"

A sudden knock at the door interrupted the sudden pillow fight that had broken out. Vanna opened the door and Squall was confused when he saw us standing knee-deep in feathers. "Um… okay. Vanna, I need to talk to you alone for a minute." Squall said.

"Alright." Squall walked in and followed Vanna into a separate part of the room, leaving me and the two girls to finish up our violent pillow war.

I felt a little ticked off when another knock came at the door. I turned to answer it just as a pillow hit me in the back of the head. I threw the pillow back and opened the door. "Riku?"

Riku stood in the doorway, a look of repentance on his face. "Hey… Akira… look, I need to talk to you… alone."

I looked at his face for a moment. Apparently he had the intention of getting emotional, and I knew he wouldn't be able to handle himself if the girls were watching.

"Okay." I stepped outside and stood in the hall with him, closing the door behind me. Riku took several steps back, readying himself…. It was like watching a computer load a program.

"Look, that prank that you pulled off with Derik…"

"Erik." I corrected him.

"Um.. yeah… Merick… well, that is the best prank I have ever seen before, and there is no way in the world I could possibly compete with that. So, I'd like to offer a truce." He said, now holding his hand towards me.

I looked around the hall, looking for a bucket of glue or flypaper hidden somewhere. "No gags?"

"No gags."

I reached my arm out four feet to shake his hand, and…he jerked me towards him, swung me around and pinned me against the wall, a hand on either side of my head…. God no….

"Riku….I don't like that look you've got on your face…" I said, noting the sudden… seductive look they had taken.

"Akira…" His face got dangerously close to mine, making me dizzy.

"Riku, what do you want, an apology?" I asked him. I could feel my hands getting slick and sweaty.

"I think you already know what I want." He seductively whispered, his lips half an inch from mine.

Riku then thrust his face against mine, and began to kiss me with a fiery passion. Something inside of me froze, and I could feel myself going limp and my body seemed to react on its own accord. For a moment I felt like I was in a dream, and reality smacked me like a brick wall when I felt something…weird, and wet squirm into my mouth. Who was it that made that small groan of pleasure I just heard? I regained control of my arms and tried to push Riku off of me, but…

I could see a door opening out of the corner of my eye and heard a Texan voice say "Say cheese, ya'll!"

We both turned our eyes just in time to see a flash bulb go off. I was finally able to push Riku off. "RIKU! HOW COULD YOU?!!!" I shouted, still up against the wall.

Riku looked at me and then Irvine. "Irvine! What are you doing here! You're not supposed to be in this prank!!!"

Another door opened and Squall leapt out, quickly assessing the situation when he saw me about to faint, Riku's reddened lips and flushed face, and Irvine standing there with a camera, Jerdania pulling on his arm. For a moment nobody moved. Then Squall pulled out his gunblade. Irvine was the first to run, a wicked grin on his face, Jerdania on his arm. "Irvine! I said we'd watch them, not photograph them!" She angrily told him.

Riku began to chase after Irvine, his face red with fury, and Squall began to run after the whole lot of them. I watched as Irvine slid along the floor before making a turn down the hall. "Wait till I get this baby developed!" He laughed.

"IRVINE!!" his pursuers shouted.

I felt no better when the girls came out to assist me. Kairi stood there for a minute, trying to figure it out. "What… happened?" She asked, noting how… hard I was breathing.

"Riku…he…kissed me. He KISSED ME!!" I shouted, angrily pounding the floor with my fist.

Kairi tried to imagine the scene. Riku….and Akira?! She felt confused, dizzy, she felt like crying. She was so very confused.

The girls helped me into the dorm room and I flopped onto my bunk… "I feel so dizzy and… I got these jitters, it's making it hard for me to breath right…" I mumbled as I hugged one of my pillows.

"Erik was right…. He really is good." I thought to myself as a smile betrayed my face.

A dark, solitary figure assessed the situation. The bug he had put into the training program hadn't worked the way it should have. He would now have to move into plan B. Now he would have to plant the bait…

("Squall's decision", changes to 3rd person perspective, last night for the group@ Balamb Garden)

Squall silently stood in front of Vanna for a moment, letting himself drink in her dark eyes. "We've just received news that there's been a vicious attack on Dollet, and they're dispatching me and a team of SeeDs to handle the situation." He soberly said.

"Oh… how long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. The enemy was reported to be so elusive that there is a possibility that they might be using some sort of invisibility cloak." Squall continued to drink in her beauty, knowing that every time he went on a mission, there was the possibility that he might never see her again…. people beginning to talk about him in past tense. The thought was always unnerving.

"Squall… are you okay?" Vanna gently asked, moving forward to take his hands.

"I… have a question…." Squall stuttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet jewelry box…

Riku began to toss in his bed… the images in his dreams unsettling him. He stood in a gray and barren land, in front of a tall, stone tower, waiting as a drawbridge slowly lowered. He walked across and walked up the long, seemingly endless stairs that wound up to the room at the top. A figure, covered with veils stood with its back to him, looking out the only window in the room. "Riku… you have at last arrived. The answers you seek can be found. Go to Transverse Town and a man named Cloud will meet you there." The figure said with a feminine voice.

"How…how do I know all of this is real?" Riku asked.

"I will give you this scar, you are to keep it hid from all but Cloud." The figure turned toward him, its face completely obscured by thick veils. It removed the glove from his right hand and grabbed his wrist, pressing its palm hard into his. Riku suppressed a scream of pain as a hot, searing fire carved strange Japanese markings into his palm. The figure finally let go.

"Hurry Riku, you're my only hope…"

The dream quickly faded away and Riku woke up, hissing in pain as he tried to move his fingers.

The dark figure laughed to himself as he crept through the shadows of night, blending in with them perfectly. Everything was in place. He would not let her down.