No Matter What

No Matter What

Summary: Au Squinoa. Squall’s the best SeeD in Balamb Garden. Rinoa’s the most popular SeeD there. A perfect match. But they’re best friends and Squall doesn’t see them like that. But deep down they both wish they were. So what happens when after a wild party at Zell’s, she comes to him with a problem? And it’s his? What will he do? Will they stay friends, or become something more?

Last Chapter…

“I’m sick and tired of this! I may as well give up and find myself a boyfriend. I can get almost any guy I want!” she shouted down the alley she was walking through.

“You can have me, sweetness,” Came a slurred voice from behind her. She screamed as a hand with a wet cloth clamped over her mouth. Soon she fell into an unconscious state.
"Squall..." she murmured before the darkness took her over.
Chapter Two

“This changes nothing between us,”

Squall jumped from the train the second the automatic doors opened. He leapt onto the platform, gunblade in hand and ran for his life towards the alleyway he walked Rinoa home through.

He arrived there within five minutes, his heart pounding in his chest. It was bleak and empty. There was no-one there.

“Maybe she’s gone home,” he thought and ran through to the other side of the alley. On his way out, he passed a drunken old man sitting on a stoop outside a house next door to the pub.

“Hey buddy; can you spare me some money? I need my fix for today.”

“Get a job, you bum! That way you can pay for whatever ‘fixes’ you like with your own money!” Squall shouted and stalked off past him.

The drunk got up from his stoop and walked down the opposite end of the alley. The way Squall had come from.

“I may as well mug the next one,” he thought to himself. “That way, I’ll get my money.” He pulled out a bottle of chloroform and poured some onto a dirty rag. He hid behind a large dumpster that was used for the pub’s rubbish and waited for his victim.

He waited for about ten minutes before he heard someone approaching.

He looked from behind his hiding place and saw a young girl. She looked about seventeen years old. She was very beautiful, long raven hair and enticing brown eyes. She looked upset.

I may as well have some fun with her before I mug her then. The drunk grinned to himself.

She passed the dumpster and stopped. She hadn’t seen him hiding there. She began to shout out to no-one.

“I’m sick and tired of this! I may as well give up and find myself a boyfriend. I can get almost any guy I want!”

The drunk moved from his hiding position, the chloroform rag in his left hand. He spoke, causing her to jump.

“You can have me, sweetness,” he slurred.

Rinoa screamed. He suddenly grabbed her face and clamped the wet cloth over her mouth and nose before she screamed any longer and louder. Her eyelids drooped and she muttered one word before falling unconscious.

“Squall…”

Squall had been to Rinoa’s house and found that she had not yet come home. He thought she was trying to scare him by saying she’s gone home. She was probably still in Garden, he thought. He decided to head back towards the train station. He needed to get back to Garden before Seifer realised he’d skipped his detention and put him on Garden report.

He turned the corner to the alley he’d not long come through and heard a scream.

“I recognise that voice! RINOA!” he shouted. He sped down the alley and saw Rinoa, unconscious, in the arms of the drunk he had refused to give money. The drunk had his hands up Rinoa’s skirt. And from what Squall could make out, the drunk was holding her purse as well. He was mugging her, and then he was going to rape her!

“GET YOUR FUCKING FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!” he roared. The drunk jumped. He looked in horror as the young man before him pulled out a large gunblade. He dropped Rinoa and her purse, and then ran for his life down a side alley.

Squall ran to Rinoa to check she hadn’t been hurt. He saw the rag on the ground beside her. He whipped out a plastic bag and threw the wet rag into it. He shoved it into his pocket. He bent over Rinoa’s still body and brushed her hair from her now grubby face. The cloth had been covered with oil and dust before the chloroform had been applied to it.

He picked her up into his arms and carried her on his back into the police station.

Surprisingly, Deling City Police station was empty. Deling was normally a city of chaos. There was no-one in sight except for a lady at the reception desk. Squall ran up to the desk and tapped his foot impatiently.

The lady at the desk looked up from her paperwork and sighed.

“Yes, Deling City Police. How may I help you?” she asked.

“I need to see an officer right away! My friend has just nearly been raped!” Squall shouted at her and turned so she could see the unconscious girl on his back.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir. But all of our officers are currently working on a murder case. You’ll have to wait and fill in this form before-”

“DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?! GENERAL CARAWAY’S DAUGHTER HAS NEARLY BEEN RAPED IN AN ALLEY, AND YOUR OFFICERS ARE BUSY WITH A MURDER CASE?! THIS IS IMPORTANT! SHE’S BEEN DRUGGED!” Squall roared at the lady behind the desk.

“General Caraway’s daughter?! Wait one minute please.” She said and ran through a door behind her.

She returned quickly with four officers in tow.

“Come this way Mr…?” one of the officers said.

“Leonheart! My name is Squall Leonheart. I’m Laguna Loire’s son!” Squall said exasperatedly.

“Right this way then please.”

One hour later

Rinoa awoke abruptly. She stared at her surroundings. She was in a small white room on what seemed to be a hospital bed. There was an IV in her left arm and her clothes had been replaced by a hospital gown. Her legs were strewn apart by two handles. (A/N: I have NO idea what they’re called but they’re used for labour to keep the mother’s legs open.)

“Where the hell am I?! What’s going on?! HELP ME!” she screamed.

The door opened and in walked a female police officer.

“Miss Caraway?” she enquired.

“It’s Heartilly.” Rinoa corrected her. “Where am I? What happened to me?” she began to screech.

“Calm down! You are in the Deling City Police Station hospital ward. You were almost a victim of rape.”

(A/N: I’m not sure if police stations have these. I saw the film THE ACCUSED and I think it had a ward like this in it. Let me know if I’m wrong.)

“Then why are my legs like this?!” Rinoa demanded. She felt really embarrassed.

“Our doctors were taking a sample out of you in case your attacker had done anything before Mr. Leonheart found you. The results have come back in. There are no traces of semen inside you.”

“Squall?” Rinoa asked amazedly. “Where is he?”

“He’s outside in the main waiting room of the station. He’s been very concerned about you. We have informed your parents of this ordeal and they will be here to pick you up shortly. We need to ask you some questions before you are discharged.”

Rinoa nodded.

“Alright, but first can I ask you something?”

“Yes Miss Heartilly?”

“Can you get me out of this ridiculous position? It’s kind of humiliating.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Of course. Our doctor will be here in a few minutes to give you a check-over and your clothes back.”

The police officer assisted with the removal of the handles and lowered Rinoa’s legs onto the hospital bed.

Rinoa waited and a doctor came in to hand her the clothes she had gone to Garden wearing. She also checked Rinoa’s blood-pressure and handed her a damp flannel to wash her face.

“I have seen no signs of breaking and there were no traces of semen in your body. The effects of the chloroform should have worn off by now, but you may feel a bit woozy” she informed Rinoa. “I have been instructed to give you these sleeping tablets for tonight in case you have a problem with going to sleep.”

She left the room so Rinoa could get changed into her own clothes. Rinoa had been told to wait in the room for the police officers to escort her to a private office for questioning.

The officers arrived the instant her bootlaces had been securely tied. She was then shown through to another small room.

The room consisted of a solitary table in the centre, two chairs and a large window.

An officer was already present for her statement.

“Miss Heartilly, please take a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee before we begin?”

“Yes please. Two sugars and can I have it black please?” she asked meekly.

“Sure,” the officer said and handed her a paper cup with the dark liquid inside.

Rinoa took a gulp of the coffee, savouring the taste and warmth of it trailing down her throat.

“Thank you,” she whispered, only just loud enough for the officer to hear.

“Now then, Miss Heartilly, I need to ask you some questions. Now remember, you will not get into any trouble.”

“Ok.”

“Can you please tell me what you were doing out of your designated area of education?”

“I was on my way home.”

“Were you excused by an instructor to go home?”

“No, I left without telling anyone.”

“Alright. What was the reason you decided to go home? Had you left something at home that you needed to fetch? Remember, you are not in trouble for this. Theses are just some general questions.”

“I, uh, um… I decided to go home after a quarrel with my best friend.” Rinoa replied embarrassedly.

“I see. Now can you tell me what the argument was about please?”

“Well, it all started when one of our friends invited us to his party and Squall said he would go with me, but not as my date. I wanted us to be together, but he doesn’t want that. So we argued and fell out. He also said that he has a detention after Garden closes, so he wouldn’t be able to walk me home. I thought it was an excuse so he wouldn’t have to put up with me questioning the problem. I was going to walk home by myself anyway so I thought “What’s a few hours?” It was P.E for the last two lessons.”

“Right, ok. Now I’ll ask you this question. Were you aware of the recent rapes that have happened in the past three months in Deling before today?”

“No, to be honest I had no idea about the current situations in Deling. I have been in Esthar over the summer with my parents. We only came back a few days ago. But since we came back, I have been shopping in Balamb for my SeeD supplies since I was to attend the Garden there a few days later.”

(A/N: I know I said that Squall and Rinoa spent time together over the summer, but it was a joint vacation between their families. Squall spent his birthday in Esthar. Just wanted to set that straight.)

“Ok then. That is a reasonable excuse for your unawareness. But I would have to say from experience that you were lucky. A lot of the girls I have seen these past few weeks had more than mere groping done to them. They were all horrifically raped and many have had to have counselling because of their ordeals.
Can you promise to never walk home alone again? Even in the daytime, Deling is a dangerous place to walk alone through. In fact, most of the rapes took place during the daytime. Just be careful, ok?”

Rinoa nodded.

“Ok. Thank you so much for your help Officer.”

“It was no problem. Come with me. Your friend is waiting outside in the waiting area for you. He’ll keep you company until both of your parents arrive.”

Rinoa followed her, her head looking at the floor the entire time. She felt so ashamed of herself. Because of a stupid tiff with Squall, she had risked being raped, and possibly murdered. Did she really value her life so little? All because she fell out with one of the few people who cared about her?

Even though he didn’t want to be a couple, Squall had gone after her when he thought she was in danger. And why was that? Because he cared for her too much as a friend.

She was shown into the waiting area where Squall was waiting for her. He looked a mess. His hair had obviously had his hand run through it many times. It was sticking up all over the place. His eyes were bright blue. This was unusual for Squall. This only happened when he was excited. Which wasn’t very often.

“Rinoa!” he jumped from his seat and pulled her into his arms. He held her so tight; she thought he would crush her.

“I was so worried about you! Are you alright? Tell me you’re alright?!”

Rinoa struggled out of his grasp.

“Squall! Really, I’m fine. No need to worry about me.”

He took her by her hand and led her to a bench to sit down on. She sat on the cold wooden bench and leaned against the wall behind her.

They sat in silence for ten minutes, not looking at each other. The silence broke when Squall decided to talk.

“You realise that what you did was stupid, right?”

Rinoa sat up straight.

“What do you mean by that? I had NO idea about the rapes recently.”

“You should watch more than MTV at home then.” Squall said gruffly.

“…”

“I don’t get you sometimes Rinoa. One minute you’re the nicest SeeD in Garden, next thing, you’re a total bitch. What the hell is up with you?”

“You’re not so perfect yourself Leonheart.” She snarled. Squall backed away from her slightly.

“You have some nerve. Do you have any idea that I have skipped detention to try and save your ungrateful ass? And what do I get? The cold shoulder. AGAIN. Because you don’t get it that I don’t want to be your boyfriend! You know what Heartilly?” Squall said coldly. “This changes nothing between us. We’ll be friends, but that’s as far as it goes! You’re a spoiled, selfish, ungrateful, egotistical little bitch-”

“YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN FORGET BEING MY FRIEND! I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU SQUALL LAGUNA LEONHEART-LOIRE!” Rinoa shouted as she stood from her seat on the bench.

She then walked over to the other side of the room and perched herself on another bench. No sooner had she done that, the doors swung open and their parents rushed in.

“Rinoa!” cried Julia Heartilly as she rushed over to her daughter and cradled her in her arms. “Are you alright? Jack and I were so worried when we got that phone-call!”

Meanwhile, Squall was getting his fair share of attention from HIS mother.

“Squall, my baby!”

Raine Leonheart was sobbing into her son’s shoulder. Laguna was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“Julia may Raine and I have a word with you and Jack please?” Laguna enquired to the sobbing piano player.

Julia nodded and beckoned her husband over to Laguna, herself and Raine. They all walked back outside, leaving the two teenagers alone once more.

What in Hyne’s name is going on? Rinoa thought to herself. She felt the eyes of Squall upon her.

“What?!” she scowled at him.

“What are they talking about out there? Any ideas?” Squall snarled back at her.

Rinoa placed her gaze to the floor again.

Why am I being so nasty? I should be thanking him for saving my life, not falling out with him again over such a trivial subject.

“Squall?”

He looked over at her.

“Yes? What do you want? I thought we were done talking.”

“I just wanted to apologize and thank you for coming to find me,” Rinoa whimpered. Squall got up from his seat and wandered over to Rinoa’s bench. He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his.

“I know you’re sorry, and I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you no matter what happens.”

He reached for his Griever ring on his finger and pulled it off. He then placed it onto her finger and stroked her pale face with his left hand. She smiled softly at him.

“Squall? Are you proposing to Rinoa?!” His mother’s voice came from behind him.

He turned around to face his parents and Rinoa’s staring at them. He was still kneeling next to her, holding her hands and his ring was on her wedding finger! How bad did it look?

Crap! When did they come back in? I’ve dropped myself in it now.

“Well done, my boy! I knew this day would come!” Laguna shouted gleefully.

Julia and Jack wrapped their arms around each other in rejoice.

“Are you?” Rinoa’s eyes asked questioningly.

“No!” Squall shouted at the two sets of parents which were his and Rinoa’s. “I am NOT proposing!”

“Then what was that little speech about I wonder? He’s just embarrassed he was caught before she gave him an answer.” Laguna’s eyes twinkled happily.

“You gave her your ring!” Raine reported.

“It’s not for that reason! I want her to be my friend forever and I’m giving her my ring as a symbol of our friendship! Proposing? You guys are mad! Rinoa and I are seventeen for Hyne’s sake!”

“That’s not too young to get married!” Julia exclaimed shaking her head. “Jack and I were engaged at your age! And so were Laguna and Raine!”

“That was then, and this is now! Rinoa and I are best friends, nothing more!” Squall stated firmly, ignoring the disappointed looks from both their parents and Rinoa.

“Well anyway,” announced Jack happily. “Shall we celebrate your son’s rescue mission with dinner and a show tonight? Julia and I won’t take no for an answer!”

“Splendid idea Jack! Shall we meet outside Esthar’s finest, The Shoopuf, around six then? I’ll book us tickets for the Blitzball match at nine if you book the table.” Laguna agreed.

“Brilliant! Although, won’t it be embarrassing for the kids? Treble-dating with their parents?” Raine laughed. Julia joined in.

“Of course. We shall have to get them a separate table so we won’t embarrass them.”

Everyone started talking at once as they were leaving the police station. Squall and Rinoa however, were silent. Things just couldn’t get any worse!

Author’s Note: End of chapter two! Did you enjoy it? Let me know by reviewing. Believe me, the worst is yet to come! Bye for now!

Rinny Leonheart