Kingdom Hearts One Shots Series
10 – Storm

Pairing: Riku x Reader

One afternoon, in a public library in Traverse Town, tons of students were wrapped up in their readings at their respective seats everywhere in the big old building. I, too, was among them. The final exam was around the corner and I still had a lot of topics which I didn't quite understand. For example, my class' most hated Quantum Physics. Seriously, why did someone have to go and propose such crazy ideas and somebody even crazier just have to prove them right? They forced me to put my mindset of classical wave theory aside and overwrite them with photons and whatnot. That was getting confusing.

After staring at solid plain texts and weird diagrams one after another for hours, I decided to give myself a break. I closed the book shut with a soft thud. Almost instantly, my mind drifted away and faintly illustrated an image about what happened earlier…

"What? You want me to cancel the revision plan for today?" I asked, looking at Riku while still packing up my books after the bell rang, signaling dismiss. He had an apologetic look and he scratched his head sheepishly. I asked, "Why?" He answered, "I just realized that I still had a lot of urgent things to do, and they are going to take ages to complete if I didn't complete them right away." After a few seconds, he added, "Sorry for leaving you alone though, since I promised to study together today." I shook my head and replied, "Nah, it's alright. It's probably something really important for you. I'll be fine by myself. Maybe I can even teach you a thing or two after I go through all those topics." I winked at him by the end of the sentence.

A cocky smile appeared on his face and he retorted, "Oh really? Last time when I reminded you about electron orbitals you told me you always thought that electrons move around the nucleus like planets did around the sun, and your whole life was a big fat lie." I tried to fight back the blush of embarrassment from surfacing on my cheeks. Somehow, Riku had a knack to get me to blush, every single time. "And I thought you are in a hurry, Sir Know-it-all?" I regained composure and returned his "favor". "Whoa, you're right! I have to hit the road now. See you!" And then, he dashed out of the classroom, and I could only hear his footsteps ringing and diminishing when time went by…

Yeah, that's how I ended up here in the public library, fighting my nemesis, a.k.a. Physics alone. We made a point to revise together, since we were both weak in this subject, and the smart kids in class didn't even bother to pull us out of our misery. Fine, we would have to be independent at some point in our lives, right? Then independent it is. But I had to admit, I was struggling throughout. Mentally, a lot of questions popped up in my head, but there was nobody I could ask. I scoured all the reference books I could find, still there's nothing like a proper answer in sight. Emotionally, I felt kind of lonely. I used to be alone when I first came to this town, and I was used to it, but after Riku appeared in my life since last year… Well, you could say we got along quite easy and good, but when you finally got used to someone being so close to you and he was gone briefly, you would still couldn't help but feel lonely. "And you were just saying you were going to be independent minutes ago…" My mind smacked me upside in the head.

To prove my mind wrong, I decided to search help from the public computers in the library. To my dismay, none of them were available, either some of them malfunctioned, or being occupied. I didn't have a laptop to help myself with either. Oh geez…

That's it; I decided to just go home and to rest. And maybe I could use my PC to relieve my predicament. I picked up some books I left sprawling on the study table. I headed towards the service counter to have those books checked out and bring them home. Before I could walk more than a few steps, a deafening thunder crack rang through the space. Lightning flashed randomly through the windows. Seconds later, a huge rain poured down real hard. It seemed like a storm hit Traverse Town. It was as if the rain were poured thousands of kilometers from the skies above, and the water crashed down with heavy impact.

"Oh for the love of Shiva, why now?" I mumbled. Looks like I wouldn't be able to return for the time being, and the rainwater was like bullets. I guessed a longer stay in the cozy library wouldn't hurt, so I returned to my previous table and sat down. My chair was pretty near the closed window, so I shifted near to it. Being so bored of studying, I started to watch the rain. I wondered when it would let up. And then I recalled hearing the weather forecast on the television announcing the imminent arrival of a typhoon, and probably bringing a string of storms with it. What did they name the typhoon again, Leviathan? I forgot.

Actually, I just wanted to charge outside and run straight back home since I had an umbrella, but I didn't want to risk wetting my books in the process, or else I would have some explaining to do with a bunch of angry librarians. I shuddered at the thought. Instead, I tried to focus at what outside of the library looked like. The rain was so heavy that only figures within three meters could be seen. Aside from rainwater dripping down the window glass, I saw people moving around outside. Some of them carried umbrellas, while some of them resorted to wear raincoats. Most of them ran as quickly as they could, careful not to slip on the slippery streets. Only a minor of people strolled in the rain under their umbrellas. They seemed to be taking in what nature brought them, even though the gift was a bit too huge.

Another old memory resurfaced while I was watching the rainstorm. It was my first encounter with Riku…

It was also a stormy day, albeit not so heavy. I was running from school in hopes to reach my home quickly, seeing my umbrella couldn't hold on any longer. The wind was playing the tug of war with me as well. As I was about to take a sharp turn at a corner, I accidentally bumped into someone and I fell down on my butt. Great, I was all wet from head to toe by that time. I wanted to reprimand whoever it was, but the words seemed to die down when he quickly offered a helping hand to me. I remained silent for about two seconds, but I put my hand in his anyway. He pulled me up with not much effort, no wonder when I bumped into him, he merely flinched and I was blasted away.

He quickly muttered an apology, "Sorry." And then he ran off to the other direction, while I continued on my not-so-merry way. "Ugh…" The first thing that came out of my mouth was a groan when I shut the door behind me. Rainwater dripped off me like kids off a slide. I took off my shoes and headed towards the bathroom to have a shower…

After that day, I saw him in one of my classes, and surprisingly, we became friends. He was cocky, but nonetheless a gentleman. "Well, at least he did apologize, unlike some jerks I know…" I thought. Honestly, people nowadays didn't like to thank or apologize. What a society. They hurt others' feelings directly or indirectly, one way or another. Just like what happened… ten years ago…

I lived in Destiny Island, and I was eight back then. Although being shy, I had a few friends which I used to play with. There were others, but I didn't quite remember them all, only a boy who lived next door. He would always watch us whenever I and my group were playing. Anyways, one night, I decided to sneak out of the house. I read about various types of mushrooms and remembered seeing the adults picking some of them from the forest near the village, so I was going to find them. I thought I could show off to my pals the next day.

I crossed paths with the boy at the entrance gate of the village. He stared at me inquisitively, I just quickly walked away. I then wandered in the woods and indeed there were various mushrooms. I picked some and was reaching out for another one when a hand suddenly popped out from nowhere and got the mushroom first. I almost screamed out of fright, but the hand blocked my mouth. The hand's owner was none other than that boy.

"Don't scare me like that!" I said after he removed his hand. He merely shrugged and said, "What are you doing in the forest?" I told him the truth, and he asked if he could join me. I let him tag along, hoping he wouldn't tell on me for sneaking out at night…

What happened after that point was all fuzzy. I remembered a storm striking and I slipped and fell off one of the cliffs into the river. And he was blamed for bringing me into the forest, for he only sustained minor injuries, while my parents told me I was in a coma for a few days. A scar appeared on my left biceps since then. I couldn't remember well regarding what happened later, but it was then my family moved to Traverse Town. It was weird, since people would normally remember incidents as serious as such clearly. Hmm…

Snapping back to reality, I finally realized my neck was sore. Maybe I stared at the window for too long. I glanced at the clock and what a shock from what I saw; it's already seven! A few hours had passed since… Well, I thought the rain wasn't going to stop soon, and I didn't want to wait anymore. I found some plastic bags in my school bag and I took out my foldable umbrella. I checked out the books at the counter and wrapped them up. Then, I headed out.

Good news was that the rain wasn't as heavy as before, albeit only by a little bit. Some of the roads could be seen clearly. I paced down the street, thinking about what to cook for dinner. Cold days made me even hungrier. Amidst various ideas of a nice dinner, I bumped into somebody else and fell down, again. Luckily the plastic bag protected the books from getting drenched. Phew!

Back to the person I bumped into. I muttered, "Watch where you're go-… Riku?" Lo and behold, I walked into him in the storm, again. "Sorry," he said, lending a hand to me. I accepted his help and got up. Riku said, "I thought you were still at the library, so I decided to check up on you." "Oh…" I replied, but then I stopped, because my stomach interrupted me with an impatient growl of protest. "Want to eat out together?" Riku suggested after hearing the noise. Why thank you, stomach…

"Sure… but your treat!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

We headed to a café, ordered some food and were now eating. Of course, we also talked. "You don't know how my day went! All the physics concepts chasing after me, no computers, no laptops and whatnot… But, where'd you go anyway?" "… Nothing, just some last minute grocery shopping for supplies, or else it's going to be hell." He replied. I asked, "Since you bought them, why did you decide to eat out?" He paused, but then replied, "I changed my mind." "… Okay."

I realized I forgot to add some salt in my soup, so I reached over for the small bottle at the edge of the table. Accidentally, I knocked over my books. I bent down to get them instead, but Riku shot out his hand at the same time and hit my left bicep unintentionally. "Ow…" I groaned. He flinched, and I noticed his eyes fixed on the revealed scar on my arm. When we put the books away, he still stared at the scar. He looked like he didn't believe what he saw. I tried to tug at the sleeve of my blouse to cover the scar up. "Oh, this? I fell off a cliff when I was a child, so yeah…"

"Wasn't there… anyone with you?" he asked after some time. It was a weird question, but I replied normally, "There was, but I really don't remember well… why?" "Nothing, just wondering is all. Kids don't go to cliffs alone." He reasoned. "Oh… I see," I mumbled. My thoughts went to that shadow – that boy – again. I felt like saying that at the moment, "He must be really sad…" "Hmm?" He looked at me, so I continued, "I was in a coma for a few days, and injured quite badly. Everyone in the village blamed the person following me. It wasn't his fault, I insisted to go find that last mushroom before sneaking back…" "They thought the boy bring the girl to the dangerous forest, because he was slightly injured?" Riku suddenly cut in.

I was taken aback. "… How did you know?" Riku said nothing; he just flipped the shoulder part of his jacket open. There were some cuts on his shoulder. He started to say, "That time the girl was about to fall into the river, I grabbed her hand. But that didn't last long and both of us fell into the river. Both of us couldn't swim, but we managed to make it to the land. She was crying so hard, I didn't know how to calm her down, and then she passed out due to hyperventilation. I carried her on my back slowly all the way to the village, until the villagers found us halfway."

Unable to utter a word, I was still shocked. Riku proceeded to fish out a yellowish old paper out of his wallet. "After what happened, I tried to visit the girl, but her parents just shut me out. I always wanted to give this to her, but there's no chance at all. And when I decided not to care about what might befall me for barging in, they moved away… I never knew where they went…" Silent fell on us for a good half minute. He then continued while looking from the paper to me, "Never thought I'd find you right here… right now."

I gently took the paper from him. I opened up the folded paper and read it. It was a letter, filled with words scribbled in a childish manner. The first word that came into sight was "White Bun". My eyes widened a bit; this was my childhood nickname because I liked to eat buns back then. Could Riku be… him? I continued to read the rest of the letter:

White Bun,

How are you? Have you got well? They won't let me in, so I think I can talk to you this way.

I wanted to see you. I am very sorry. I cannot pull you up before you fell. They say it's my fault, but it's not. You know that, right? As long as you do, I don't care.

Your friends told me you didn't want to see me. All of the children ran away when they see me. Nobody wants to be with me. You always talk to me when other children walk away from me. I guess you wouldn't want to talk to me after this, right?

I want to talk to you, to tell you I'm sorry, and I like to be with you. If you want, you can write to me and hide it in your backyard. I will pick it up there.

Sorry.

From: Your next door neighbor

My hands were trembling slightly at this point… There was a boy next door to me indeed, and yes, he was the one following me to the forest. I never asked his name though… I only knew his nickname. "… It's been a long time… Odd Ball." Riku looked up sharply. He stared at me with his eyes wide. He said, "That's what the kids back in Destiny Island used to call me, because I don't play with them and I think they're stupid! But you never called me that back then…" "Yeah… you were boycotted by the kids, but I still talk to you. You didn't talk much though." And I remained silent. He lowered his head, saying, "It's my fault you got hurt."

"It's not! You know that!" I rejected. "It's my fault. I wanted to go find some stupid mushrooms in the middle of the night." Riku still didn't look at me. I sighed and said slowly, thinking thoroughly before the words came out, "Look, Riku. I didn't know what the kids told you about me back then, but I don't blame you." He looked up, with some hint of hurt in his eyes, even though he was trying to hide that, and he said, "Because you hate me."

"I don't hate you either. In fact, I'm grateful of you helping me, or else I would've died, gone fishing or hit my head on some rock." I tried to talk some sense into him. It's not like Riku to behave like that, I was getting worried. He looked at the now covered scar and said, "But that ugly scar…" I shifted myself on my seat and said, "To be honest, I don't hate the scar. I would go and announce to everybody that you're my savior who helped me to find mushrooms in a forest at night and saved my life when I fell off a cliff! This scar would be a proof!"

Riku stared at me with disbelief written all over his face. Maybe my words are getting to him, which was good. "You know, the only way I can really recall such an event now is by looking at this scar. I'm so worried about that boy… After I woke up from coma, my parents wouldn't even let me step outside of the house. And before I knew it, we were moving to Traverse Town. I never saw the boy since…" I said.

I folded up the letter and put it in my wallet nicely. I said to Riku, "By the way, I'm keeping this letter, if you don't mind." "…Of course," he replied. With a sensation of heat on my cheeks, I added, "And… I like what you wrote…" He looked at me, a small smile finally made its way to his face. Riku said, "Thanks." I smiled back.

"You know… I'm still hungry."
"Then let's finish up the food."

By the time we left the café, it was a quarter past eight. The rain decreased in intensity to a mere drizzle. Riku held my hand lightly, and the feeling of the warmth of his hand sent some chill down my spine. I tried not to blush. "Say, you want to go somewhere?" He asked out of the blue. I looked at him, saying jokingly, "Is this a date?" He winked and said, "Whatever you say, White Bun." I pouted and jeered playfully, "Make up your mind, Odd Ball!" With a slight tint of mischief, he said, "What did you call me?" "Oops, I called you 'Odd Ball'. Bye!" I pretended to be surprised by my words and I ran off. Riku chased after me from behind. Our laughter rang in the streets, accompanied by the sound of falling rain.

It was great to find old friends who still remember you, but finding someone like him was even better than expected. So maybe staying back due to a storm wasn't a bad sign at all.

The End