»RECYCLED AIR♪

☆··—

Shifting, slightly, Yuffie readjusted the black garbage bag filled with clothing underneath her arm as she attempted to flip through the phone book. She stood there in the cramped and dirty phone booth with no one in particular to call but with the only intention of getting out of the rain. As of four hours ago she was deemed homeless. Yuffie had once again failed to get her bills paid and the landlord simply would not put up with her anymore. Screw him.

It wasn't her fault… really it wasn't. She exhaled loudly, leaning back against the glass wall. Who decided rent should be paid every first day of the month anyway? Why couldn't someone who was 'in-between-jobs' get a few weeks extra? Did they not know how difficult it was to get a decent job these days? The ever-growing population in the city wasn't helping either.

Yuffie stopped by Riku's apartment not too long ago hoping to have a place to stay but after he had started in on the "You should have went to college" crap she got her things and left. She wasn't asking for a lecture, she wasn't even asking to be fed, she just needed some place to sleep for the night – probably two nights – and it wasn't like she wasn't aware that a degree of some sort would make getting a job slightly easier. Yuffie was very aware of that, but she wasn't the studious type, oh no, all those books and term papers were not for her. Besides, there was that little thing to worry about called 'college tuition'.

Screw him too.

A knock against the door of the phone booth startled Yuffie momentarily before she turned to look at the man outside with a facial expression that read, 'What the fuck do you want?'

"If you're not going to call anyone, get out so we can use the phone damn it." It wasn't until then that she had noticed the small line forming outside the booth.

She shifted the bag again before growling, "Give me a god damn minute, will ya?"

There really wasn't anyone to turn to, that she knew of, but she called the first person that came to mind. Sora. They hadn't spoken in years but they were pretty close back when they were still teenagers; if he weren't already married with kids by then it really shouldn't have been a problem for her to crash at his place. …Was it? Wait – married with kids? They were only twenty-two, not to mention Sora was gay. Who had kids at that age anyway? Well, aside from the dopes in high school who thought they were really in love. Ha!

Two, five, three… Yuffie hesitated before dialing the rest of the number. She'd be surprised if the kid even remembered her. After the first ring she was already regretting it.

But if Sora was the same kid she knew in high school, he's more than likely single –the guy wasn't exactly social. He's probably got some mediocre part time job, most likely attending college too and living on his own. He wasn't an animal person so he probably wouldn't have a pet. The walls of his apartment would be bare and probably an off-white color—

"Hello?" A girl's voice on the other end of the line answered.

Yuffie blinked. Perhaps he had a sex change? "Hi…I'm –uh calling for Sora. Is he there by any chance?"

"Umm…yeah he's here. One sec."

All right, so he didn't get a sex change. As amusing as that would have been, Yuffie was relieved that he didn't…and rather confused. One, because a girl answered, meaning she was probably wrong about him being single and living on his own and two, because she thought he was gay.

"…Hello?"

"Oh – Hey, Sora. It's Yuffie."

"Yuffie?"

Hell, he said it like he'd expected her to be dead already. "Um…yeaah. How are you, pal?"

"I'm good. Wow. This is really unexpected. ..How are things with you?"

"Uh. Things really could –could be better…heh. I was actually calling to see if – well this is really embarrassing but I was wondering if – well. The thing is, I kind of got kicked out of my apartment and…um."

There was never really a correct way to ask someone, whom you haven't spoken with in four years, if you could stay at their house because you were homeless and a loser. She definitely regretted calling now.

"You wanted to know if you could stay here for a while?"

"Oh god, it'd be so great if I could. Like, just for a few nights. This is seriously pathetic of me, I know, but I haven't really got anywhere else to go."

"Yeah you can stay here."

"…Seriously?" Yuffie tugged at her scarf.

"Can you hurry up in there?" The people outside were growing impatient and it wasn't very difficult to tell them to screw off, seeing as how it only took one quick hand gesture.

"What was that?"

Yuffie laughed, "Uh…there's a small line waiting to use the phone."

"Oh... Did you need me to pick you up?"

"Oh geeze, I'm already asking to stay at your house –I don't want to start bumming rides too."

But it was decided. Yuffie was to wait outside that gas station for her ride and that was that. She waited for what seemed like twenty minutes, seated on the curb right next to her plastic bag of clothes. What a sight, she thought, laughing at herself. When Sora finally showed up in his dinky little white car Yuffie grinned widely, surprised that he actually came. Discomfited as it was, she climbed into the passenger seat and was greeted with a hug, prepared to talk all the way home. She wanted to avoid any chance of an awkward silence, not that it was very difficult though, seeing as how the two had so much to catch up on.

"…Seven flights of stairs." Yuffie exhaled, placing a hand against the stucco wall.

"Well it was this apartment or 402 on the ninth floor." Sora added, unlocking the door, "Sorry about the mess and all…I probably should have picked up a bit before I brought you over."

Entering the living room Yuffie simply blinked, quite a few several times. …What mess was he talking about? The place was absolutely spotless with the exception of the pair of sneakers kicked under the glass coffee table and the papers spread out on top of it. That was nothing compared to how her apartment looked like. She was wrong about the walls being an off-white color it was actually golden yellow. Why golden yellow, she would never know, but it was still nothing she had expected. What next? Would she find out he had two dogs and an iguana lying around somewhere?

Stacking the papers neatly and taking them over to the desk in the corner of the room, Sora called over his shoulder, "Make yourself at home. If you're thirsty I can get you something to drink and uh—we already had dinner but I can run out and get you some cheeseburgers. We don't really cook around here, well I don't anyway."

We? Yuffie gave him a perplexed look as she set her bag on the ground. Oh right, a girl had answered the phone earlier. She seemed to be absent, however.

"You didn't go vegan or anything did you?"

"Oh –hell no." Yuffie snorted, "But I'm fine, thanks."

She was lying, of course. Being kicked out and having to pack your things up with little notice didn't give you time to eat. Yuffie didn't have much furniture in the crap-apartment of hers, and the furniture she did have she left behind. All she brought was clothing and her camera. Really, what was she going to do with a lumpy couch and a splintering old table anyway?

"Thanks for letting me stay here; it's really a lot to ask considering…well. You know." She had no job, no money, no car…

"No, it's really no problem at all. …You sure you don't need anything?"

A large pizza, a pack of cigarettes and maybe a few beers would be just fine, thank you. Yuffie sat down on the couch, shaking her head once more. After giving a short tour of the apartment, Sora brought out a blanket and a few pillows and placed them on the couch. She was surprised that he didn't ask any questions about why she'd been evicted or whether she was working or not because honestly, it wasn't everyday someone took an unemployed old friend in like that. Why Sora let her stay didn't really matter to her though.

Once he had closed his bedroom door and, from Yuffie's own assumptions, went to bed she kicked off her own tatty sneakers and let out a sigh as she unfolded the blanket. Not an hour ago she had been standing in a telephone booth, freezing her ass off and trying to stay out of the rain. Now here she was in Sora's notably sweet apartment, warm as a …well she didn't know what but she was pretty damn comfortable.

Changing out of her clothing and into her sleepwear, Yuffie slumped down onto the sofa and clicked the power button on the nearby remote. Sora had said if she wanted to, to watch TV and some noise was what she needed. The entire apartment complex was so quiet it was nerve wracking. Observing the living room and the connecting kitchen, it was safe to say she was right about one thing. Sora was indeed going to college, which only reminded her of what a failure she was. Finally taking her eyes off the Psychology books on the end table Yuffie decided the next morning she'd go job hunting –she was bound to get hired somewhere…eventually. Hell she'd even settle for some place like Weenie Hut Jr. You'd have to be pretty fuckin' low not to be qualified there, of course at the moment she did feel just that low.

"Oh!" Yuffie's head snapped up to see a redheaded girl standing in the doorway, one foot still in the hallway outside with one keeping the door open, "I didn't know Sora was having a guest over."

Recognizing her voice Yuffie only smiled timidly saying, "I called earlier, I think you were the one who answered the phone, right?"

She closed the door awkwardly trying desperately not to drop her books. Why anyone would be out until 2am and come home holding a stack of books was a mystery to Yuffie. "Yeah, Oh…" she smiled setting her things down on the island counter in the kitchen before turning back to look at Yuffie, "Well, Hi, my name's Kairi... I hope I didn't wake you or anything."

Yuffie shrugged raising her hands slightly, "I'm Yuffie and –don't worry about it. I've been uh…having trouble falling asleep way before you got here." She remained seated on the black leather couch in front of the television unsure if whether or not she was supposed to feel uncomfortable because she was sitting in front of a stranger in her small boxers and a tank top.

Kairi cocked her head to the side, "The crickets weren't keeping you up were they?"

Yuffie jumped a bit and choked back a small yelp, "…What crickets?"

Now as daring as Yuffie may have been, there were a few things that scared her more than anything else and those things were: insects and time. Insects because they were just…insects and time because it was the only thing in life she really had no control over –and there is nothing scarier than that.

"Well, sometimes Sora's iguana doesn't eat the crickets in his tank and they end up chirping all night."

Yuffie blinked, craning her neck so to look at the glass tank she had failed to take notice of earlier. Lo and behold, there, in the corner of the room, lay the iguana she had so unknowingly predicted would be there when she first walked into the room. "Um…no. The crickets have not made one sound." She breathed, shifting as she pulled her knees nearer to her chest, "You wouldn't happen to have any dogs would you…?"

☆··—

"You're up early." Sora entered the kitchen wearing a pair of plaid boxers and a faded gray t-shirt. His hair was a mess as usual and his eyelids still droopy.

"You didn't tell me you were living with a lesbian." Yuffie stated with a smirk on her face.

Sora only blinked with a perplexed facial expression and stared at her. Yuffie stared back from where she sat, perched on a stool by the island counter with her smirk still present. "What are you…talking about?" Sora asked slowly, reaching for the fridge door.

"Your roommate. She likes girls."

"…And she told you all this when?"

Swirling her spoon around in the small bowl of cereal before her Yuffie was now grinning, "Well I met her when she came home roaring drunk last night and she pretty much just pounced me—"

"What?!"

"Oh calm down Sora. Like that uptight little princess of yours would really do that anyway."

Sora breathed, pulling out the half-empty carton of milk and asked, "What makes you think she's a lesbian then…?"

"It's called gaydar. I thought we already established what that was in the tenth grade."

"Oh geeze. Yuffie you do not have—"

"Do not doubt the precision of the gaydar, Sora" She pointed at him with her spoon and raised her brows tempting him to doubt the so-called gaydar. He chose not to.

"I see you haven't changed."

Yuffie blinked, "What does that mean?"

He chuckled slightly, bringing over his own bowl of cornflakes, "Our conversation today still resembles the same ones we had in the high school cafeteria."

He was calling her immature…was it really her fault that what they talked about then was coming up now? No, most definitely not.

"Look, Yuffie…I know she doesn't like girls." Yuffie raised a brow at this. "I've known Kairi for three years now…" The small glimmer in his eyes when he spoke was more than enough to give it away that the boy was in love.

"I thought you were gay." She interrupted.

He snorted, "Yuff, I've never liked guys. I'm telling you, your gaydar fails."

As did the rest of her life, she thought, letting the spoon fall from her mouth. "You're…really not gay?"

"No. I'm not."

"So you mean…" Yuffie blinked, "All those years, we could have gone out and picked up girls together?"

"Yuff!"

"That's major bonding time, Sora! We missed out on that."

Sora rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. He couldn't believe this. She doesn't even apologize for accusing him of being gay all those years. "It's not like there would have been any point in that anyway…surprisingly and very sadly you got all the girls."

Perhaps she had come in at a bad time, but Kairi entered anyway. She was heading out for her morning jog and needed to grab her water bottle from the fridge. Yuffie took notice of her shorts with brightening eyes and a grin, causing Sora to fluster a bit. It was so sad how badly he was in love with Kairi – Yuffie couldn't even look at the girl without receiving a glare from Sora. This was…particularly new –and very bizarre. She shifted her gaze towards Sora and kept her stare locked with his. Now this definitely was not a staring contest but Yuffie had a feeling it was the intense kind of stare an owner gave their dog while holding tightly onto the dog's leash; the stare that said: I have the upper hand here, don't you try to undermine me. And being the homeless bum living under Sora's roof, that made Yuffie the dog.

…Bark.

"I guess I'll see you guys later." Yuffie arose from her seat, taking her dishes to the sink. Last thing she wanted to do was get kicked out again.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked suddenly.

Yuffie frowned, "To look for a job."

"Do you need an extra house key?" Kairi asked, taking a sip of her chilled water.

Both Sora and Yuffie looked over to Kairi now. Yuffie only paused before saying, "No. I'll be out all day…I'm sure someone will be home by then."

"You…sure?" Kairi recapped her water bottle.

Looking towards Sora now, as if he had asked the question, Yuffie answered with a smile on her face, "Yes, I'm sure." Bark. Bark. Sparky now exits stage right.

☆··—

»LACED Well I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this.
This file has been sitting in my documents folder for a few months now
and I thought it deserved to be read by at least one person.
Hopefully Echo and I come up with something soon. I'm even considering
a strange love triangle. (Bwuahaha?) Til' then, review nicely, yes?