Sora pushed his lower lip out in a pout as they stood in line, and he looked around at the dark room surrounding them. Pulsing lights and loud music bombarded him and left him without the pleasure of hearing his own thoughts. He took a step forward as the line moved and reached forward to tap Riku's shoulder.
"Do we have to play lasertag?" He asked, louder than he liked because of the music. Riku turned and gave Sora a sly grin, crossing his arms as he faced him.
"What, you afraid you're gonna lose?" He teased and moved with the line. Sora narrowed his eyes.
"No, I just don't want to play lasertag. I was up really late last night and had to get up early today."
"Mhm," Riku murmured, turning back around and smirking at Kairi, who grinned back. "Sure."
"It's true! My mom had me clean the house with her! Spring cleaning or something…" Sora muttered, crossing his arms and continuing to pout. He looked up at Riku with big, puppy-dog eyes and Riku had to turn back around to keep from backing out. Sora can be such a little shit sometimes, Riku thought with a roll of his eyes.
"You know what they say," Riku hummed as he got up to the counter and pulled out his wallet to pay for himself. "admitting you're in denial is the first step to acceptance." Sora huffs and lowers his arms, taking Riku's place and paying, then following the two to get suited up.
"I don't think that's what they say…"
Riku stands next to Kairi, and Sora on the other side of her, grinning as he pulls on the electronic gear that signifies when they've been "shot". Sora keeps crossing his arms and pouting, letting the entire brigade know how unhappy he was to be there. He looked like a brooding child, and Riku couldn't help but let out a snort as Kairi stepped forward.
"Well, I'll go easy on you boys," She sang as she started moving towards the starting line of the game. Riku and Sora blinked at her in confusion.
"Wait," Sora muttered and Kairi turned back around, eyebrow lifted in surprise. "we're not on the same team?" Kairi smirked a little, looking between the two boys and crossed her arms in smugness..
"Since when do we play for the same team?" She teased, then turned back around, leaving Sora blushing and Riku in a small stunned silence. That is, until he turned to look at Sora and grin.
"Guess it's me and you, then. You wanna strategize?" He asked and Sora turned to glare at him for a moment before he sighed.
"Fine. But only because it'll get you to shut up and the sooner you shut up, the sooner I can go home and sleep." He murmured and Riku grinned, pulling him into a "huddle" - or, as much as a huddle could be between two people.
"Alright. We'll split up. That way it'll be harder for Kairi to get the both of us," Riku suggested, glancing back and forth to make sure she wasn't listening. Sora made a face as he glanced at the kids watching them with funny faces.
"You do realize that she's not the only enemy, right?"
"Yeah, but if we let her win, she won't let it go. Ever."
Sora weighed his response for a moment and then shrugged, nodding.
"True."
A buzzer sounded, and then a man called them to the starting line. Kairi stood at the end of it, and turned to grin at Riku and Sora, before pointing her "gun" at them and making small "pew, pew!" noises. Riku and Sora both snorted but grinned, then turned their attention to the man standing in front of them. He stood with his back ramrod straight, and Sora had to hold back a whispered "what's up his ass", afraid he'd get kicked out if he did.
"Now, remember the rules," He said in an authoritative voice, arms crossed behind his back. "if you are shot, your gun will be disabled for a total of ten seconds. This means you cannot shoot any other player until your ten seconds are up." He paused a minute to raise an eyebrow and glance around at the kids in front of him. "However, this does not mean that you can't follow them until your ten seconds are up." He added with a smirk, letting a more playful side show.
Sora and Riku each let out a small laugh, then glanced over at Kairi where she stood. She narrowed her eyes at them playfully, holding up her gun again, though this time she did not say "pew, pew!".
"The team with the most shots at the end of the thirty minutes will be declared a winner," The man said, taking a few steps over to a railing and slipping behind it before he raised his hand over a button to start the game. "The guns will be disabled for ten seconds at the beginning of the game. If you shoot before the ten seconds are up your team will lose a point; so don't even think of trying it."
And with that, his fist slammed on the button, and a loud timer sounded above them.
"Get ready,"
Sora brought his gun to his chest, looking around at the other kids and figuring out where to run.
"3…"
Riku bent on his knees, ready to spring into action the moment it was called for.
"2…"
Kairi grinned a bit wider, eyes narrowed in determination and set in front of her as she waited to go.
"1. Go!"
The three all took off in separate directions, and Sora silently let out a sigh of relief as he searched for a space to hide in. He darted between corridors quickly, shooting any blue-striped kid he saw - he'd noticed the difference in color a little while after Kairi had declared to be on separate teams - and ducking behind every object that would allow him.
He did not at all feel up to this, though he doubted it would matter to any other kid in the room. He stopped to rest, and tried to listen to his heartbeat for a moment, but found it difficult with the blaring pop music above and around him. He frowned in annoyance, but glanced around and kept his gun in front of him, ready for anyone to spring in front of him.
Eventually, he decided, he might as well venture out and try to find Kairi. Riku would probably beat him senseless if he found out he just sat there the whole thirty minutes. So he stood up and started jogging down one of the paths. He turned one, two, three corridors before entering another wide room, similar to the one he'd been hiding in. He frowned as he looked around, holding his gun in front of him, waiting for someone to jump out in front of him.
Unfortunately, because he was looking around and not down, he tripped over a familiar white and blue shoe.
Riku was immediately hovering over Sora, a concerned look plastered on his face.
"Shit, are you okay?" He shouted and Sora made a face, trying to ignore the throbbing in his hand, where he'd fallen. "I didn't know that was you! God, Sora, you gotta, like, announce yourself or something."
Sora raised an eyebrow and gave Riku a winning smirk.
"What, and let the enemy know I was there? Kairi'd have a field day if I did that."
Riku laughed and pulled back, helping Sora sit up, before proceeding to check him for any signs of injury - he felt horrible for not realizing it was Sora sooner than he did.
The two were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice Kairi standing in the doorway, slightly aiming her gun to shoot the two before they had even been able to process what had just happened.
"See, I told you we play for two different teams." Kairi gave a wink and then turned, sprinting off in the direction she'd come. Riku turned around to glare at her, before turning back to face a blushing Sora. He let out a loud laugh, before shaking his head and standing, pulling Sora with.
"Come on," Riku said, holding his gun up and grinning. "Let's go chase her down. It's not against the rules, after all." He winked, then turned and followed the corridor Kairi had gone down. Sora sighed loudly before following him, making a mental note to try and get some pity points from Riku later, for tripping him.
Twenty minutes later, when the game ended, Sora let out a sigh of relief. He looked up at the board and pouted, but shrugged as he started to go put his equipment away. He could finally go home, he could finally sleep! It was all he'd wanted all day, and at the moment he couldn't have thought of a better reward, even if his team had lost.
"You cheated!" He heard behind him as he put away his gun.
"Did not! You did!" Kairi retorted, standing in front of the beginning line with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. She seemed angry, Sora noted, but then her lip twitched up in a suppressed smile. Still, Sora couldn't help but frown, letting out a small breath and an "oh no" as Riku raised his arms in defiance and called for a rematch.
Sora could tell he wouldn't be going home anytime soon.
I've never been Laser-Tag... ing. So all of these rules are made up and completely (probably) untrue. Please forgive.
Thanks for reading! Please review, yadda yadda. :)