MONSTER
Summary: Riku is forced into a new reality, when his father Sephiroth pulls him out of the Midgar University and puts him in the ShinRa Military Academy. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to go through.
CHARACTERS:
Riku Jenova: Born to Sephiroth and Aqua, he is the youngest son out of the quadruplets. Unlike his brothers, Riku is passive and even dreams about being an artist. When his mother died of cancer, he changed his dream to being a paramedic.
Sephiroth Jenova: Father to his sons and husband to late Aqua. Retired military and now currently works as a tester for ShinRa's weapons project. While he deeply cares and loves his sons, he is very strict and has OCD.
Aqua Jenova: Mother to the boys. She worked as a materia and magic specialist at ShinRa before she was diagnosed with lung cancer and was laid to rest two years ago. Unlike her husband, Aqua always pushed her sons to dream big and to follow their heart.
Yazoo, Kadaj and Loz Jenova: Riku's older twins. Yazoo is more chilled out and spends a lot of his time outside, doing work around the house. Kadaj gets his anger issues from his father and does various different martial arts to help control his rage. Loz is a major sports geek and bit of an airhead, but also wears his heart on his sleeve. Loz best gets along with Riku.
Tseng of the Turks: Little is known about Tseng, with the exception of being the leader of President Rufus ShinRa's personal protection service. He dresses in a black suit, and always puts his shoulder length hair in a ponytail. It is also known that he has a tattoo on the back of his neck of a white lily with the stem being loosely wrapped with a pink ribbon.
Kairi Evelon: One of Riku's online friends. She lives on a luscious set of islands where the Jenova family go in the summers. They had been friends for several years and she also helped him through the grief of loosing his mother.
The sound of the Skype call tone interrupted the calm silence of his bedroom. Riku tapped the answer button and set the tablet up to face him.
"Hey Kai. How was the drive over here?"
"It was good! I really like Midgar so far!" Riku smiled at her enthusiasm for his home city. It was endearing and really cute. "Its so different then Destiny Islands."
"Are you sure? I've been to the islands during the summer."
Kairi laughed, leaning back into the hotel chair. The hotel she was staying in was cheap and run down. He offered to help pay for the hotel, but she refused, saying something about how the trip was about him.
"You have a point, but there is a considerable difference between the islands and Midgar, Riku."
"You're trying to sell a sweater that I've owned my entire life." Riku pointed out, smiling again. He definitely was happy that she was here in the city and he was looking forward to seeing her again. It had been a few years since they had visited their summer home, it was really nice to have that type of relaxed feeling again.
"Oh! Sassy Sue over here. Come on Riku, don't look so dazed. I'm here in Midgar for you."
"I have a feeling that you're not telling me the full story."
"What do you mean?" Clearly she was playing innocent. He knew her well enough to see that.
"Why would you come all the way from Destiny Islands to Midgar just to see me?" Kairi shrugged, and leaned forward to grab an envelope. She sat back and started to open it. The white envelope was ripped open and it looked used for a notebook as well. This only made him worry for a second.
"Miss Evelon," She started to read the letter, trying to hide her mouth with the paper. It was easy to see she was beginning to smile. "We have reviewed your application and essay, and after careful considerations, we at Midgar University have accepted your application."
Riku listened carefully and was absolute shocked. She had gotten accepted into MU too? He couldn't stop the ear to ear grin that appeared on his face.
"Kairi! That's so cool! Congratulations!" The redhead put the letter and envelope back onto the desk, matching his grin with her own.
"I didn't want to tell you until I was here, so we could tour the campus together!" To him, the way she said it sounded like a date. His cheeks turned a light pink at the thought.
"Of course! I just can't believe you kept this from me!" He exclaimed, keeping the smile on his face. From the second floor, he heard the door open and close. Clearly it was his father, coming home from work.
"I'm not sorry. Seeing your face made it all worthwhile." She chuckled, pushing her bangs out of her face. She noticed that he had turned away from the screen and towards his door.
"Riku?" An older man's voice called faintly through the door. The boy turned back to the tablet and frowned.
"I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah of course. Text me later.." After waving to his friend, he ended the call and shut off the screen. Honestly, he hated to end the call there, but his dad called for him and it was just best to go.
Leaving his tablet on the desk, he pushed out of his chair and headed towards the door. 'What could he possibly want now?' Riku thought to himself as he exited his bedroom and headed down the hallway towards the stairs.
As he made it to the stairs, Kadaj poked his head out of his room and saw his youngest brother, giving him a knowingly smirk.
"What do you want Kadaj? I don't have the time." The boy started for the stairs only to have his big brother block the stairway.
"I just thought you would like to hear what I heard the other day." Kadaj crossed his arms over his chest. Out of all his brothers, Kadaj was the one he liked the least. He was always acting like he was better than everyone else and it drove Riku crazy.
"I could hardly care less, 'Dajie." The older brother flinched at the childish nickname. "Let me pass, dad called for me."
Kadaj moved out of the way, but as Riku started to move for the steps, he said something to get him to stop.
"Dad was talking to the head administer of MU a few days ago." Riku turned swiftly and looked at his brother. His mind raced but the only question he wanted answered was 'Why?'.
"And?"
"And, you should be careful. Dad probably has something up his sleeve." Kadaj shrugged and turned back towards his room, leaving Riku to find the answers himself.
He took one last look at his brother before proceeding down the stairs. What did he mean by be careful? Kadaj almost never tried to protect him, especially when it came to their father. There were many times he would throw Riku under the bus even if it was his fault. Riku's stomach twisted into knots as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Slowly he walked past the foyer and into the sitting room to the right of the stairs. Each step he took made his heart race faster and faster. His heart seemed to stop the moment he passed under the white arch and saw his father standing with his back to him, facing the large bay window. Rain decorated the glass with little splatters. If he wasn't so anxious at the moment, he would have thought the scene was so calming.
"You called for me, dad?" Riku asked, taking a few steps forward towards his father, heart practically in his throat. Kadaj's warning kept echoing in his head, causing his already high anxiety to skyrocket. Sephiroth kept looking out the window as he spoke in a low monotone voice.
"Take a seat, Riku."
Obeying his father, he took a seat on the white leather couch, sitting as far away as he could. Was he scared of his father? No doubt about that. Whenever his father got angry, he would reserve himself into a cold and calculating manner and would attack with the determination to break the inner core of the person he was angry at. It was great for when he had served in the Wutai War, but being a father to someone with some mental issues was Riku's one way ticket to a nervous breakdown.
Sephiroth turned towards his son with a blank expression on his face and took a seat on the other side of the couch, blatantly passing the armchair that he could have sat in. The house was an eerie calm as Riku waited for his father to speak.
"I've pulled you out of Midgar University."
Riku sat in shock the moment he heard those words. Did he even hear him right? Everything that he had worked for, vanished the moment his father opened his mouth. He sacrificed a lot of his free time to enter the university right after high school ended, mainly by making sure his GPA was a 4.0 and had several scholarships lined up. He even had a summer job lined up to pay for things that the scholarships didn't, like books or extra items.
"Why would you do that?!" Anger flared inside of Riku, causing him to stand up and raise his voice. Never in his life had he even so much as gave his father a dirty look without immense fear he would retaliate in some way, but this was the last straw. His hands started to shake so bad he curled them into a ball and held them to his side.
Sephiroth's eyebrows scrunched together and his aquamarine eyes hardened. The boy knew he screwed up bad, but his anger only clouded his judgement. "Sit down, Riku. I will not ask you again."
"Not until you tell me why you ruined my life!" Riku turned around and took several steps away from his dad, running his hands through his long hair. He hardly got mad but when he did, he would absolutely loose it. His anger was one of the horrible traits he had gotten from his father. He knew better than to lash out at Sephiroth but there was clearly something else going down that only made Riku's nerve spike to fight mode.
"Ruined your life?" Standing up, Sephiroth growled at his son. He crossed the room in three strides and grabbed his wrist, spinning the boy around. Shock crossed Riku's face as he stared at his dad, the anger subsiding rapidly. "You're the one that ruined my life. If it wasn't for your mother, I would have gotten rid of you a lot sooner."
Time froze for Riku in that moment. The words echoed in his head, combining with the pain of his wrist being squeezed started to break him down, though he refused to let tears fall as he started to snap out of his paused state.
"W-What?" The word came out as a croak. His mind was still processing what his father said. The grip on his hand was released, as Sephiroth stepped away from him. Clearly his goal was to hurt Riku beyond compare, and it worked. He stumbled back and hit his back against the pillar for the door.
"I don't need to explain my actions to you. For your mother's sake, I'm sending you to a private college."
Again, what? For his mother's sake? If Sephiroth hated him so much, why was he going out of his way to send him to a private college? Nothing was making sense, and it only made his head hurt with swarming thoughts. It was as if his father shook a nest of wasps and let it loose in his brain.
"Private college?" Riku took a moment to let his heart calm down before speaking. His hand started to shake a bit. Combined with his racing heart, he could only assume he was on the verge of a anxiety attack. He had to leave the room soon or he wouldn't be able to hide his broken side, only which would be ridiculed by his father.
There was a moment of silence between them as Sephiroth watched his son with cat-like eyes. Riku adverted his gaze down, his bangs covering his eyes to hide the tears that started to well up. He had to curl his hands tighter to keep them from shaking further.
"Yes, private college. You leave in the morning." Morning? That wasn't much time to pack his things or say goodbye to his brothers.
"M-May I be excused to pack?" The words were choked and wobbly, a side affect of his throat tightening. His eyes looked up through his screen of silver hair to see his father wave him away as if it didn't matter to him whether or not he was going to pack.
Riku gave his father a curt bow before running back to his room upstairs, where he shut the door and fell against it. He slid down to the floor and covered his mouth to hide his uncontrollable sobbing as much as possible.
How could his father do this to him? Unlike his brothers, he was as much as an exemplary son as he possibly could be. He would never miss curfew, always landed on the honor roll, and was always offered to help the family in every way he could. Riku couldn't possibly think of why his father hated him with such a passion that he would even say something like that. Even going as far as sending him away, only re-sparked the fire in his self-hatred pyre. All of this only made him cry harder, tears staining his shirt.
As his started to calm down, and the anxiety pressure lowered, there was a chocobo wark that interrupted his thoughts. It was Kairi's personal text tone, one she set for him. It always reminded him of the time when he first met her. She had nearly bowled him over on a runaway chocobo, only to later teach him how to ride them.
Riku crawled over to his desk and grabbed the phone, then resumed to sit on the floor with his back against the desk. Whenever he had his panic attacks being down on the floor helped ground him faster. He really didn't know why it helped but he wouldn't complain when he would come out of a panic attack faster.
[Kairi: r u ok? pls txt me]
His fingers stumbled as he proceeded to type his response to her, causing him to rely on auto correct to fix his mistakes.
[Riku: Are you at the hotel? I need to see you ASAP.]
Barely half a minute later, her response came in.
[Kairi: yes im here. do i need 2 get u?]
[Riku: No, I can get there by myself. I'll be there soon.]
[Kairi: kk. c u soon]
The phone was set back on the desk as he got up. He needed to get out of the house so bad that he didn't care about escaping through his window. What did it matter anyways? If his dad hated him so bad, then sneaking out wasn't going to be a huge problem.
Grabbing his converse from the shoe rack in his closet, he slipped them on and sloppily tied the laces. As long as his laces wouldn't get caught in the bike chain, he didn't care about how they were tied. Before he left, he made sure to grab his hoodie and phone.
The sun had almost finished setting as Riku pushed open the window and peered out. It was early June, yet it was still warm even as the sun had almost completely hidden itself among the horizon. He had only escaped from his room a few times, each time making his anxiety spike from the overall act of defying his father. This time was different. His heart started to harden from his anxiety attack and listening to his father's abusive poison.
Riku slipped out of the window and hung onto the frame, digging his fingers into the eggshell white painted wood. This side of the house was flat, and the only way he could get down safely was risking a jump to the tree that sat at least five feet away from his outstretched hand. It was quite the jump and the previous times he risked it, he made it and always thanked the Six for not falling. He could only hope that this time would be the same.
As he jumped, there was a moment of serenity as the wind pushed back his hair and he felt as if time stopped in one moment to allow him the brief second of peace. That moment ended when his face came in contact with the bark of the tree. The boy fell several feet, hitting branch after branch until he managed to catch himself, his body dangling in the air.
"F-Fuuck!" Riku cursed as his shaky muscles strained to hold onto the branch. There was a good ten feet to go before his feet would touch the ground. His muscles were screaming at him, combining with the now several scraped and bleeding cuts on his hands and face, he lost his grip again and fell.
There was no way he was going to be thanking the Six now. His ass felt like it was broken, or at least really badly bruised. Luck or no, he was just glad he landed next to the roots and not on top of them.
Slowly, he rose, dusting off the dirt and bark that clung to his clothes. The only real damage was done to his head, where a an open cut to his eyebrow allowed blood to cascade down his face. He touched the wound and realized that he'll need to put something on it or it'll get worse.
Making his way towards the garage, Riku checked over his shoulder out of paranoia. Maybe he wasn't as uncaring as he previously thought he was. Still he ventured forth, opening the back door of the garage and slipped in.
The garage was dark, even with the last rays of the sun coloring the windows in a dark pink and red glow. It made the room have an eerily feeling, with all the dark shadows lurking where the the little bit of light wouldn't reach. Even as he slowly made his way to the front corner, the hairs on his arms and neck stood on edge. There was still a bit of a fear of the dark that rushed his actions towards the med-kit, where he hastily slapped a band aid on his eyebrow; proceeding to grab his bike and leave the house behind, wind stinging his scrapes as he pedaled his way towards the hotel where Kairi was waiting for him.
Her heart jumped to her throat. She was so wrapped up in the game she was playing, that when someone had knocked on the door, it scared her just a bit. Kairi quickly rolled off the bed and opened the door to a sight she wasn't ready to see. He had looked like he was just in a life or death fight with a lion.
"Oh my God, Riku! Are you okay? What happened? Was it your brothers? I'll kill them." Her words started to run together as she rushed to her bag and dug through the contents to find a med kit she always carried. He stepped into the hotel and closed the door behind him, taking a set on the edge of her bed.
"Kai, I'm fine." The redhead found the small white box and pulled it out, a pair of purple lace panties falling out along with it. Riku noticed it, but couldn't say anything as she turned his face to her as she sat on the bed next to him.
"Tell me what happened." He noticed that her voice changed from frantic worried for her friend to calm and authoritative. It made him follow her command, his skin tingling where she touched his jaw.
"I fell right into a tree, trying to jump out of th-OW!" His story was cut off as she ripped off the makeshift band aid. She got up, and left him alone in the room for a brief moment. Riku could hear the water running as he assumed she was going to wash his face for him. His cheeks burned at the thought of her holding his jaw with her soft hands.
"You were saying?" Kairi interrupted his thoughts, sitting back on the bed, once again holding his jaw with one of her hands while the other dabbed at the now dried blood on his face.
"I pissed off a earth nomad, and they exacted their revenge on my face." He joked, pulling his lips into a smile. They were so dry, they cracked easily and started to bleed. Out of habit, he licked the blood away, awarding himself with a bap to the cheek from Kairi.
"Riku, please don't do that. It's gross and I have a towel." Wiping away the blood on his lip, she returned her attention to the cut on his eyebrow. "Good news, your cut doesn't look too bad. It'll hurt for a while, but you'll heal nicely. Maybe even have a scar."
"A scar? On this perfect complexion?! I can not have it!" He retorted sarcastically, watching her expression turn from pure concentration to the smile he always knew she would wear. It made his heart skip a beat, knowing that she was here for him. Not only for his mental needs, but that she was sitting with her leg pressed against his.
Kairi chuckled as she stopped dabbing at his eyebrow and turned away to grab a bandage and a butterfly band aid.
In that moment, Riku took a shaky breath that he realized he had been holding in. His heart was pounding like crazy, beating loud enough he thought that she had heard it too. 'Was this even the right thing to do? We're going to be in different schools... I don't want to chance it...' He looked down at his lap, where his hands laid in curled balls to stop the shaking. Maybe I'm just not ready for this..
"Riku?" As he turned to look at her, his body seemed to make up his mind for him. Her lavender eyes sparkled as their sight connected and in that instant, the world and pain seemed to melt away. In that moment absolute peace calmed his manic energy, as he found himself leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers.
Time seemed to stop in that moment of pure bliss. All his fantasies of kissing Kairi had finally came to the climax as they kissed. For a moment in time everything was right.
Kairi pulled away and looked at him, nibbling on her bottom lip. His mind started to race with anxiety and instantly shaming himself for making a bold and stupid move.
"I... I didn't know you felt that way, Riku." Her voice was in a cracked whisper, the kiss absolutely shaking her to her core. Yet she didn't make a move to leave Riku's side.
He turned his head away, cheeks burning hotly. He messed up and it was probably best for him to go. The constant thoughts of his actions assulted his mind in how badly he just screwed up their friendship due to his feelings for her.
Kairi must not have thought so.
She reached over and touched his chin, turning his head back towards her. Their eyes met again, as her hands moved to caress both of his cheeks. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the street below as the merchants were saying goodbye to the last of the customers before locking up and heading home. None of that mattered. The world didn't matter. Not while Kairi was holding his cheek.
"Kairi, I..." A thumb was placed over his lip to silence him.
"Shh. Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." She smiled a sweet smiled, pulling his face towards hers again, moving her thumb right as their lips connected again. The world melted away again, leaving them in their own little void of bliss. She seemed to know exactly what made him weak in the knees, as she slipped her fingers into his hair, and dropped a hand to his thigh, using her thumb to make little circles.
Riku closed his eyes, feeling more comfortable with himself as he twisted his body to face her more. His hands grabbed onto her hips, pulling her onto his lap. It broke the kiss for a mere moment, but in their passion, they both continued even as her pushed his back against the bed.
The bandages fell to the floor, being long forgotten by the two teens as they kissed. Kairi had given Riku full control, letting him set the pace, even if it turned from a simple lip to lip to full on tongue play.
The boy pulled away after a little bit, resting his head back and sighing happily, eyes still closed. He felt everything in that moment like his entire body was a giant heart, beating together as one strong unit.
"If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed you've made out with other people before." Kairi giggled, getting off of him and grabbed the band aids off the floor. She didn't forget the original mission, and patiently waited for him to sit up so she could take care of his wound.
"Thank the Six for your dream of being a paramedic." Riku stated, resting against his elbows as she ripped open the paper wrapping then setting the band aid on his face. He watched her, as a smile came onto his face. Even sitting in her pjs of a tank top and Tinkerbell fuzzy sleep pants, she looked so beautiful to him. Maybe they could make it work after all.
"We'll be 'medics together, Riku." She smiled, applying the bandage around his head a few times.
In that moment everything came crashing down again. That was the real reason why he was here. Was to tell her what happened, not make out sessions. Although he would have preferred the latter.
As she sat back on the bed, he sat up, turning his head to the other side, refusing to look at her. She could tell his mood shifted quickly, and she knew that something major had gone down. Kairi put a comforting hand on his shoulder as she returned to sit next to him on the edge of the bed.
"My dad pulled me out of MU."
The redhead sat in shock for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the sudden actions. Truthfully she was still thinking about their kiss, and now that the words escaped his mouth, all hope that they would be a couple flew out the window.
"Tell me everything, Riku."
He turned to look at her with sad eyes and told her everything that happened, from when he left the skype call all the way up to him arriving at her hotel room. Never did he stop looking at her, desperate to savor every second he would have with her. As he finished his story, her hand found his leg, gently rubbing it to keep him calm.
"He can't do that."
Riku looked at her with a questionable expression. "Kai, I'm not 18 yet. He can do whatever he wants as long as it fits along the guidelines of CPS."
At that moment he lost her. She pushed away from him and started pacing the room, curling and uncurling her hands. Kairi was clearly more upset than him in that moment, although he had reserved himself to a state of numbness.
"That abusive fuck! He has no respect for you, or your mother. How could he even say he was sending you away for you mother's sake?! That's like beating your child but telling them that it's for the good of their future. God, I'm about ready to go over there and give him a piece of my mind."
The silver haired boy sat quietly allowing her to go on her rant. She wasn't really going to go, but it was just better to let her complain. He hated that he had to tell her, but the alternative of not telling her and she finding out another way was worse.
"Kai, I don't like it either. I had my heart set on going to Midgar University and studying to be a paramedic, but now? I don't even know where I'm going, let alone being able to be a paramedic." His throat tightened, as tears started to well up in his eyes. The realization was starting to set in that all this was happening and he couldn't handle another round of tears. His body was so worn out from his panic attack earlier, combined with his scrapes and the long distance he had to ride to get here, he was hanging on by a thread of strength.
She returned to his side and pulled him to rest against her chest. He heard her heartbeat, a constant steady rhythm beating life through her, it started to lull him towards dreamland. Combined with the calming strokes she did against his back, Riku almost slipped away.
"I should probably take you home."
With Kairi's help, Riku managed to get his back tied to the top of her light blue Volkswagon Bug. It didn't exactly matter to him, but if he intentionally allowed someone to steal his bike, his mother would be ashamed from the lifestream.
The time that he spent with Kairi on the drive back to his father's house was spend in a soothing silence. She kept her hand on his thigh, as if trying to send him good vibes. It was the least she could do since he was basically going through this all alone. Before she left, she kissed him one last time. A sweet and lingering kiss, with promises for the future. He watched as she drove off, the powder blue bug soon turning to a speck of dust along the streets of Midgar's Sector 2.
The boy didn't remember how he had gotten to bed. The gap in his memory completely okay with him as he crawled into bed, kicking off the converse and surrendered himself to a blanket cacoon that swallowed him whole. That night he slept a dreamless sleep, slipping into a void of nothingness while he resigned himself to his inevitable fate.
