Everything Looks Better Ch. 01

"How are you fitting in at your new school?"

"Well, they like that I'm Tidus' sister. They're all Duggle fans in this district, so I let them think I've converted from an Abe."

"Survival of the fittest," Auron commented.

"I guess. So are you a big Blitzball fan now?" she asked.

"It passes the time."

"I don't think you ever missed a game of Tidus's."

"It was my job to look after him."

"Well, he did need a male role model," she said, matter of fact. She coldly added, "Shame Jecht didn't drown at sea sooner."

Half-smiling at her crass, Auron was glad his mouth was safely concealed behind his collar. "He was a better man when I knew him."

"I hope so or I'd tell you to seriously reexamine how you choose your friends."

"Jecht regrets he wasn't a better father." To Tidus, at least. Auron couldn't remember Jecht having remorse about the way he treated Raine.

"Did he say that?"

Auron gave a sideways nod. "In so many words."

"I can just about imagine," she said insipidly.

Auron swung the door open for her, the humidity and smell of chlorine seeping into the hall, as well as a stream of Blitzball fans on their way to the bathrooms and snack vendors. The music was deafening and, in the center of the arena, the regulation-sized sphere rippled gently when it was empty. Raine and Auron squeezed against the grain to the wall by the bleachers, where the flood of people had them temporarily trapped.

"How long are you staying?" She had to shout to be heard.

Auron bent to her ear. "Ten years."

She looked at him weirdly. "I mean, how long are you staying for the game?"

Grunting, he said, "Until the end."

"Maybe I'll see you later."

Freeing an arm, she chastely hugged him around his high collar, her cool cheek pressing momentarily against his, and he remembered when she used to smell like peanut butter. Now she smelled of hairspray and mint chewing gum.

When the crowd thinned, Raine joined her pack of cheerleaders at the front of the bleachers, all identically dressed in short skirts and sweaters, and Raine grabbed her white and blue pom-poms from the pile. Noticing how the other cheerleaders warily studied Auron, he indifferently sidestepped through a group of people, up to the adjacent section, and sat in his seat.

In response to someone's inquiry about Auron, Raine faintly said, "He's a friend of my brother's," before getting in formation.

He watched the halftime show with muted interest. Like the mirage side of a holographic photo, Raine's posture and smile was show-ready, pasted on for the sake of the performance, which was complex and intricately choreographed. Even after the routine when the second half of the game started, as Raine milled around the bleachers waiting for the next goal or tackle-slip and generally keeping alert to the game, her sunny aura and trivial facial expressions and even the way she readily giggled with her friends was different from the way she was around him. She was a chameleon, able to blend into the company she was currently keeping, and he found it difficult to figure her out.

By four points, Raine's team won. As the fans funneled down the bleacher stairs and out the main doors, a boy Raine's age grabbed her from behind, swinging her off her feet. Auron started, halfway out of his seat, seeking her through the crowd, until he heard Raine's screams transition into giggles. The boy's name was stitched into the lapel of his jacket: Jory.

It was Tidus who had warned Auron about Jory. Nothing specifically, just that Tidus had a bad feeling about him and Auron should try to do something about it. Of course, by the time Auron realized how right Tidus was, it was too late to do anything.

Jory was taller than Auron imagined, with wet, mud-colored hair cut short and a tan that made his whitened teeth appear almost fluorescent. Auron swore Jory's smile literally twinkled as he twirled Raine around in a handsy embrace, which Auron could have done without seeing. Wearing a blue and white letter jacket over his sleek Blitzball uniform, Jory made Auron think of Tidus at that age, but as Jory slipped a possessive arm around Raine's shoulders, looking to his jock friends in the bleachers for their leers of approval, Auron's eye squinted shrewdly behind his sunglasses.

Jory was nothing like Tidus.