Title: Anonymous (subject to change)
Rating: Teen for swearing, suggestions of sex, some violence later on
Genre: Humor/Drama, possible future romance
Pairings: SxK, no others at the moment, possible Roxas/Axel
Summary: Afraid of meeting disapproval from friends and his perfectionist father, Riku stays in the closet - for poetry. Only Xion knows about Riku's love for all things poetry and Riku's secret online identity, W.T. Dawn. Dawn's poems and love advice have earned him a small fan base, but Riku never lets Dawn's identity slip despite Xion's reassurances that he should trust his friends. Unfortunately for Riku, he's running out of time to hide when a mysterious someone claims credit for all of Dawn's work and starts raking in the millions...
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All rights to the creators of Kingdom Hearts and Square Enix. "Sanctuary" is by Utada Hikaru. "Real Emotion" is by Koda Kumi, and I borrow heavily from it for one of the poems. Please respect these artists.
Hi. Hazie here. I've got some things to say.
This is a rewrite of The Wordsmith. Why did I stop writing before? I lived in Madrid, Spain for a year and lost motivation due to personal, self-confidence problems and an abusive host mother (hint: one problem led to the other, and I was very confident before I went to Madrid). Why am I writing again now? I'm just finishing up a good deal of therapy and I feel a lot better now. I looked back at TW, and though it wasn't particularly bad, I felt I could do better. I also didn't think I could pick it back up where it was without it being clumsy. I was making my characters too 2D and not very flexible. I want to try to breathe life into this story. I know I may not succeed at first, but I can always try again! J
This story still holds the same elements as TW, but it's going to have a lot more gray areas, more room for character motivation, and hopefully more mature writing.
The city was just as Riku imagined it to be.
Radiant Garden was a mixture of old and new, combined in a splash of colors and brick pathways against gleaming stainless steel. It was said that all roads in Radiant Garden eventually led back to the plaza situated directly in the center of the town, and Riku believed it. Grand avenues swept down into the plaza that had been transformed into a hub of activity where venders pedaled their wares and tourists spent far more than they had originally planned. Large, elegant fountains reflected the summer sun and lent the entire area an almost ethereal glow, validating Radiant Garden's nickname of the "City of Light." Though Riku could see the occasional delivery truck full of goods for some local store, there weren't any significant public roads in the heart of the city. Consequently, given a safe pedestrian zone, the entire downtown area was crowded with more people than Riku had ever seen in one place together in his entire life.
Trees lined busy streets, providing shade for the numerous people walking on the older cobblestones or on the extensive bicycle route. A fair portion of young people on the bicycle route had forgone the traditional bike and skateboarded instead. Riku watched one skater perform a quick trick off a nearby bench before returning to the side of an older woman on a bike who scolded her gently; her mother, Riku supposed. He fingered some of the tacky merchandise on a vendor's cart and absently declined when the vendor started his sales' pitch. Somewhere behind him, a child laughed, and high, clear sound interwove loud argument that had started between an older couple to Riku's right. He could make out snatches of conversations from passer-by, some in unfamiliar languages. The din rose and echoed through the streets.
The city was full of life, and any regrets that Riku might have had about leaving the tranquil Destiny Islands behind were momentarily forgotten. He closed his eyes for a second and grinned, not worried about making a spectacle from standing in the middle of the central plaza all alone. A fierce sense of independence surged through him. This was his year – no overbearing father, no academic expectations, no ex-girlfriends shooting him glares in the hallways, just the chance to relax and do whatever he wanted during the gap year between high school and college.
With that in mind, Riku gave a dopey grin, pulled out a small notebook and pen from his pocket, located a vacant park bench, and started writing the first romantic, soppy love poem of the day.
When Riku was four, his father enrolled him in preschool. "Good at reading," his father told the teacher stiffly. "He'd be fine to wait until kindergarten. But he needs to learn to interact with kids his age. I can't have him behind in that."
"Is that so?" the teacher asked, eyeing Riku's father with amusement. She crouched down to floor level to meet Riku's curious gaze. "It's nice to meet you, Riku. I'll let you know today we're going to learn how to rhyme words. Since you're a good reader, I bet you're going to have a fun day today! Like bat and cat – those words rhyme. Isn't that funny?"
"Bat…and caat," Riku said slowly, trying to understand what was funny about it. He evidently got it, because then he giggled. "Bat…cat! Bat! Cat! Batcat!"
Riku's father shoved Riku at the teacher with ill grace. "He's your problem now."
It was another two weeks after the lesson that Riku finally stopped trying to rhyme every single word that came out of his mouth and giggling like crazy. It was another two months before Riku finally stopped signing all of his worksheets with "Riku Batcatratpathat."
When Riku was eight, his father enrolled him in surfing classes. "We live on an island," his father had told the instructor. "He already knows the techniques. But every time he tries, he simply falls over."
The instructor, an easygoing young teenager with bright red hair and a strong accent, nodded. "Sure thing, man. Okay, little buddy. Let's see what you got."
Riku, decked out in surfing gear and clutching onto a white surfboard so hard his knuckles turned white, nodded meekly and ran out into the water. The instructor and Riku's father watched the resulting train wreck together, sharing mutual winces when Riku was finally flung headfirst into the sea.
"Um," said the instructor, "it's okay. I think I can work with that. Maybe. I've never seen a surfboard look like it was trying to kill its rider like that, though. Anyway, no worries, ya?"
Riku's father snorted in disbelief and slapped some money into the instructor's hand. "He's your problem now."
The instructor shoved the crisp bills into the pocket of his bright yellow pants and sighed as a sand-covered shape finally pulled itself out of the water, silver hair barely visible. "Oh, boy."
As the sun set at the conclusion of their first surfing lesson, the instructor took a seat next to Riku on the end of one of the many docks that jutted out into the sea.
"I'll never be good," Riku said with all of the gravity and morose an eight-year-old could muster.
"Not with that attitude, you won't," the instructor replied. "When my little brother, Chappu, first started surfing, he couldn't sit on the board without falling into the water. That was four years ago. He was even worse than you!" At this, the instructor gave Riku a small nudge, earning a faint smile in response. "Just last week, Chappu won his fourth major tournament in a row. He's one of the best surfers in all of Destiny Islands."
Riku looked confused. "So what, mister?"
"Aw, none of that mister business, call me Wakka. And what I'm tryin' to say is that even the best surfers sucked at the beginning, ya?"
Riku nodded slowly. "I guess so."
"And besides," Wakka added. "I know exactly what your problem is and how to fix it."
"You do?"
"Yep." Wakka leaned in close. "You've gotta connect with the waves, man. You're all technique and no feeling for when the water is gonna try to throw you. You're fighting the ocean, and let me tell you, the ocean is always gonna win."
"How do you connect with the waves?" Riku asked.
"I know a shortcut, but you have to promise on your life that you'll never tell anyone."
"I promise!"
Wakka looked around the beach furtively and relaxed slightly at sight of the deserted beach. "Okay, I trust you." He fished deep in one of his pockets and pulled out a sealed plastic baggie with a slab of brown mush on the inside.
Riku's nose wrinkled. "It looks like poop."
"It's not poop, it's a brownie," said Wakka. He gave half to Riku. "It's a very special one. If you eat it, you'll be able to feel the ocean inside of you. It's a little piece of nature in a brownie."
With something akin to hero-worship in his eyes, Riku obediently popped the brownie in his mouth, Wakka finishing off his piece next to him. There was silence for about twenty minutes. Then Wakka spoke.
"You can feel the ocean, ya?"
"Yeeaaaaaaah," Riku breathed in agreement.
At the next surfing lesson a week later, Riku's father was amazed to see his son smoothly ride a decently-sized wave to shore. "You've worked a miracle," he said to Wakka, who accepted the praise with a bashful and somewhat secretive smile. Riku ran up to the to where his father and Wakka stood, slightly out of breath and with a large grin.
"Dad, did you see me?"
"I did, son. That's a big improvement. I can see you've worked hard."
"Nah, not really," Riku shrugged. "It was easy once I connected to the nature all around us and became one with the ocean so I could feel what to do next."
His father's eyes narrowed. "You connected to the what?"
For the next few years of Riku's life, his father endured several lectures about the importance and beauty of nature. The only thing that kept Riku's father paying for lessons with Wakka was the fact that seemingly overnight his son had gone from hopeless at any type of sport to extremely graceful with an athlete's natural balance. Riku's father finally found a solution when he chucked a bunch of spiral notebooks at his son one day.
"I don't want to hear any more of this hippie act. If you need to talk about this hippie nonsense so badly, write it out. Next time you start lecturing me, remember that our family business already donates to various environmental groups and that I can and will ground you, so stop bugging me."
Thus began Riku's foray into the writing world, where Riku's lectures on nature turned into lyrical prose that turned into poetry. And though his poetry was rudimentary at best, the special brownie had inspire Riku for life, and never stopped writing in what became his secret journals.
When Riku was sixteen and a well-known athlete around Destiny Islands, his father enrolled him in a top-notch sports camp for the summer. To make up for the fact that Riku's birthday would occur during the camp and he wouldn't be able to have a party, Riku's father bought him a laptop. To make up for the fact that Riku's father wouldn't be around to lecture Riku on how to properly use his laptop, Riku's father also bought him tickets to a seminar on the dangers of the internet at the local university. Luckily for Riku, he was able to convince his father to give the second ticket to one of Riku's friends.
"Son, I may not be going with you, but I want to know who you're going with," his father said.
"Um, one of the Hikari kids, I guess," said Riku, absorbed in setting his laptop to his personal preferences. Sora Hikari was Riku's best friend at the time, but if Sora couldn't make it, his twin brother, Roxas, probably would be able to. If Roxas was unavailable, the twins' older sister, Xion, was the same age as Riku and going to attend the same sports camp as him that summer. Though they were on friendly terms already considering how much time Riku spent with her younger brothers at her house, it wouldn't hurt to get to know her more.
"Okay. Don't forget to call in advance and let your friends know that it's tomorrow night."
"Sure thing," said Riku absentmindedly.
Riku ended up staying awake until three in the morning playing with his new laptop. By the time he woke up and showered, it was nearing one 'o'clock in the afternoon. Two hours later, Riku finally remembered that he needed to call his friends.
"Sorry, Riku, but Roxas and I have that group project assignment tonight for history."
Riku remembered doing the same project last year and shuddered. It had taken months to finish.
"No problem," said Riku. "Is Xion free?"
"Um," said Sora, not expecting Riku to ask for his sister. "Sure. I'll ask." A soft thump let Riku know that Sora had set down the phone to spare his poor ears. "HEY XION," Sora bellowed. "WANNA LEARN ABOUT THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY?" There was a brief pause as someone in the background yelled back. Riku waited patiently for his answer. Soon enough, he heard Sora fumbling with the phone.
"She says why not," Sora said.
Xion, Riku discovered, was practically a female version of Sora, only a little quieter and a lot more devious. They spend most of the lecture conversing in a mixture of hushed tones and passing notes, mocking the speaker who was not suited to speaking at all.
"The dangers of the internet must not be underestimated. The internet's dangers also exist in the form of false personalities. It's possible that instead of talking with a young lady from another country who wants to marry you, you're talking with a dangerous criminal. This is very dangerous because you might give away all of your information to someone who isn't real…" the speaker droned on.
Xion rolled her eyes. "Anyone can be anyone on the internet. What a loser."
Riku grunted noncommittally, but Xion's words lit a spark of an idea. Anyone could be anyone on the inernet… Hmm.
He was brought back into reality when Xion poked his arm. "So if we sneak out early," she began in a hushed tone, "your dad will never know."
Riku wasn't used to disobeying his father, but the speaker had just clicked to the next slide and the words "Internet Porn: Very DANGEROUS" jumped out at him. Xion, sensing his hesitation, hastened to seal the deal.
"We could go get ice cream, then eat it in front of Sora and Roxas."
Riku answered by quickly standing up and dragging Xion to the nearest exit, the first sign of what would become a very close and somewhat unholy friendship. And once he got back from a laughter-filled evening for him and Xion at the expense of the twins, he opened his laptop to work on a new project. Anyone can be anyone on the internet, he reminded himself, and he set to create a blog where he could post the best of the many poems he had accumulated throughout the years. Of course, Riku was not going to put the blog under his name, oh no. He knew exactly what people expected out of the stereotypical male, teenage athlete, and there was no way that he was going to be caught doing something as girly as writing poems. On the internet, anyone could be anyone, and when it came to poetry, Riku was going to have an alias.
Thus was the birth of W.T. Dawn, the online poet and blogger. W.T. Dawn survived many difficult challenges over the next two years, such as the time Riku's computer was broken for a month to when Xion found out his little secret at the beginning of senior year. However, slowly but surely, Dawn became a respected poet in certain online communities. Dawn was attracting enough website visits that Riku was making enough off the discreet ads on his site to fund a gap year in the city, where he planned to concentrate on his secret writing success.
And if Dawn was also famous for short romance stories and love advice to readers, well, that was another matter entirely.
Full of inspiration from his first day in the city, Riku spent much of his first day in Radiant Garden writing. It was only when his stomach started growling uncontrollably that Riku finally flipped his notebook closed. He was surprised to see that at some point, the sun had vanished and the streetlights had turned on. He hurried to his feet, back protesting after crouching over and using his lap as a surface to write on for so long. Though Riku wasn't too worried about his safety late at night – in fact, there were still plenty of people around – he had promised his father that he'd call after dinner, and there was no way Riku was going to have a private phone conversation out in public.
Besides, he had stopped at the local supermarket for groceries earlier that day, and Riku was positively starving.
His apartment was about a five minutes' walk from the central plaza. It was the second story over a bookstore whose owner moved out to live with her boyfriend in the giant castle that overlooked Radiant Garden. It was a well-kept, two bedroom apartment accessible from both inside the shop and an outdoor, iron staircase attached to the side of the building. As Riku clamored up the staircase and fished out his keys with one hand, he used the remaining hand to pull out his cell phone and start calling his father.
"Hello? Hi, Dad." Riku jangled the keys in the lock and turned. Nothing clicked, but the door opened anyway. Had he left it unlocked?
"Hello, son. Have you settle in yet?"
"Yep, everything's unpacked and the house is clean." He pushed open the door and paused. A few sealed cardboard boxes were stacked to the side, and there was an alarming amount of dirt on his cheap, wooden kitchen table.
"Okay. Don't forget to check in with your uncles every now and then."
"Yeah, yeah, got it," said Riku. He peered around the kitchen and dining area to the short hallway behind it and froze. The spare bedroom door was cracked open, and someone had turned on the light. As he watched, a shadow of a person flickered in the room. "Actually, Dad, I'm going to have to call you back. I just burnt my dinner."
"Riku, I thought those cooking classes I enrolled you in had taught you something -"
Riku flipped his phone shut, effectively ending the call. He grabbed the nearest weapon-like object, an umbrella, and crept as quietly as he could to the bedroom, doing his best not to alert the intruder to his presence. He sidled up to the doorframe, pressed against the wall but ready to strike as soon as the person crossed the threshold.
"Seriously, Kai, I swear I hear something…"
Wait. Riku recognized that voice. Was that…?
A short, black bob of hair poked out into the hallway, but by the time Riku recognized the face, it was too late. His body was still following orders to attack and Riku couldn't freeze quite in time, only lessen the blow at the last second.
"Xion!" shouted Riku as he brought down his makeshift weapon in a strike aimed at her head. Xion looked up at him, and as the umbrella Riku was holding bopped her, she dropped her cell phone and jumped.
"Holy frig, Riku! What the heck, you scared me!"
"I'm not the one messing around in someone else's house," said Riku, deciding to play it cool.
"No, but you are the one with a Hello Kitty umbrella. Really, Riku? I thought you got rid of that ages ago."
"I don't like it, my dad fished it out of the trash," Riku lied, quickly hiding the umbrella behind his back. "What are you doing here?"
"Check for yourself." Xion scooped up her phone and flung the door open on her way back inside.
"Fine." Riku stepped in the room and immediately scowled. Xion's dark purple blankets were recognizable under the massive amounts of clothes that lay on the bed, an empty suitcase on the floor. Her laptop and speaker system were set up on the light blue desk surrounded by personal photos, and Riku felt like facepalming when he saw that Xion had even brought her own dark purple curtains that contrasted against the off-white walls.
"What…why?" He was speechless. "Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. I'm moving in with you," said Xion cheerfully.
"Yeah, I see that," Riku grumbled. "I thought you were going to be at the community college at home?"
Xion shook her head. "It was a last minute decision to defer for a year, and I wanted to surprise you. I decided I want to get a job and save up money to go to a better college than the community one. Plus your dad said he'd pay for the airfare if it meant that you'd have a roommate."
"And here I thought my dad was going to back off since I'm an adult now and living on my own. Sorry, living with you." Riku rolled his eyes. Shoving some clothes aside, he plopped down on the bed and made himself comfortable. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, the idea of being completely isolated in a new city was slightly frightening. Some of his friends in his class year were attending school or working in the area and nearby Twilight Town, but Riku hadn't been looking forward to coming home to a cold, empty apartment each night. Besides, Xion was one of the few people he would tolerate sharing a house with.
To her credit, Xion looked a little ashamed as she toed the ground. "Sorry. I would have told you, but this all happened two days ago. I was actually on the flight right after you and thought I could meet you at your house. But the flight got delayed for some reason and I just got here an hour ago. And…your dad said, and I quote, 'better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission.'"
"It's fine," Riku said. "I'm not really annoyed with you, just my dad for going behind my back."
"Yeah, well, I know how much you hate it. I'm sorry to be a part of it."
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're here now, right?" Riku gave her a grin. "We can tell everyone we moved in together."
"Oh my god, Riku, no! Also, speaking of that, don't bring girls over here." Xion blushed a bright red. "I don't want to hear you going at it at three in the morning."
"Okay," said Riku. "Then I'll bring over boys."
"Fuck you," Xion groaned. "You know what I mean."
"No sex when innocent little Xion is around. Got it."
Xion sat down on the desk chair. "Yes, thank you. Now can we change the subject?"
"I thought you would have gotten used to it," said Riku. "I've heard Kairi and Sora can get pretty loud. Oh Sora-bear!" he mocked in a high, falsetto voice.
Xion paled rapidly. "Riku, are you hungry? Because I am! And did you know that I bought a plant earlier today? Because I did! Do you want to see the plant? I put it in the bathroom. Let's stop talking about my little brother's sex life and go get food and look at the plant."
"I could do with food," said Riku, smirking at Xion's unease but dropping the subject. Upon hearing Riku's positive response, Xion practically sprinted to the kitchen. Riku didn't follow, choosing to doze on the bed instead. At least with Xion around, he wouldn't have to fend for food for himself all of the time.
After almost inedible batch of burnt mac and cheese, Riku volunteered to be in charge of dinner as long as Xion washed up afterwards. Xion eagerly accepted – "You did take that cooking class, right, Riku?" – and offered to clean up as an apology for the horrible meal. Riku thanked her, gave her a hug, fetched his laptop from his room, opened his notebook, settled on the couch in the living room, propped his feet up on the coffee table, and set to work.
He had written a record fifteen poems and two short stories that day. Sadly, Riku thought as he examined his work with a critical eye, only three of the poems were worthy of revision. While the plotline of one of the short stories was decent, Riku didn't settle for "decent." With each piece of work he wrote, Riku strove to improve. One of the things W.T. Dawn was most praised for was that each of Dawn's pieces was equally as good if not better than the previous one. Riku might have been attached to the short story's plot, but in order to keep up standards, he would have to start over completely.
Shifting focus to the three poems he picked out, Riku quickly lost track of time, the sounds of running water and Xion's humming fading into the background.
…Her imagination ran wild and left her behind
She´s trapped in a world of emotion.
No safety, no comfort, as she steps forward,
Into the one direction her heart willingly goes.
Riku smiled softly as he finished typing up the last of the revised poems and hit the "post" button with a flourish. It always brought him a certain level of satisfaction when he completed something for his small fan base. He was particularly fond of the last poem and was confident his readers would feel the same.
"Here you go."
A bowl of ice cream magically appeared in front of his face. He pushed his papers and laptop to the side before taking it. "Thanks, Xion."
"Not a problem," said Xion. She set her own ice cream to the side and took the laptop. "Oh, I like this one. I don't really get it, but I want to."
"It's about a woman who's lost her true love and how she struggles with moving on. The concepts, though, is not just about love but the fragility of a person who's lost someone. Look at the second stanza," said Riku, fully in lecture mode.
Xion checked the poem. "And though she knows the world of real emotion wraps around her and warps her vision, she hears a voice calling out to her. In her hazy dreams, she surrenders to it, knowing that now she's not alone." Xion stopped reading and gave her friend a look. "That doesn't really seem to be about moving on."
"Hearing you read that aloud makes me think that I need to revise that part a bit more, but that the thing. She's not moving on fully. She's given her heart to her lover and takes the easy path of deluding herself that she's moved on versus dealing with the heartbreak. She's moving forward, but not in the right direction."
"Huh," said Xion. "I don't really get it. It's a pretty piece, but I think I'm just going to stick to my ice cream for now."
Riku laughed. "It's getting there. I guess I need to clarify a few things if you're having trouble understanding it. Here, give me the laptop so I can remove it from the site until it's double-revised."
"Sure." Xion stayed quiet as Riku finished with the laptop and grabbed his own cold dessert. He was enjoying the companionable silence when Xion started a familiar and unpleasant line of questioning.
"Have you talked to your dad about W.T. Dawn yet?" she asked. "You just put up the ads a few months ago, so that means you're earning income. You'll need his help when you file taxes."
"That's what you think. I'll find a way to do it on my own," said Riku. He scowled into his chocolate ice cream. "Xion, we've been over this before. I'm not telling my dad. I'm not telling Kairi or Sora or Roxas or Axel or Naminé or anyone else. I'm not even going to tell the plant in the bathroom. I'm going to write for a year, get some money, and then go to school and major in business while being a star athlete. When I graduate, I'll start working at the company and inherit it from Dad while earning my master's degree. We've been over this before, and I'd appreciate it if you'd respect my decision for once and drop it."
Xion blew at her bangs irritably. "I wouldn't push so much if this was your decision instead of your father's. You're not even trying to double major in English and business…" Catching the angry look on Riku's face, she backtracked. "Look, Riks, I'm just saying that I think you're a fantastic author. Authors are like wine. They get better with age. Sports? I love them too, but you'll stop doing if you're busy with the company all the time. Majoring in business? I know you, Riku, and though you're good with stuff like that, you don't love it."
"No, I don't love business, but I like it well enough," Riku said. "And the family business is important. I'm happy to continue the tradition of excellence."
"That doesn't mean you have to give up something that you've been doing for years for it," countered Xion. "And 'tradition of excellence' sounds like a line spoon-fed to you by your dad." Riku glared at her and she winced, realizing that she had gone too far. "I just…I don't want to see my best friend unhappy twenty years down the road because of choices you made when you were eighteen," she said. "And I don't think your father or any of our friends would care that much. They'd be happy for you."
"Xion," Riku said sharply. "Shut up." He stabbed at his ice cream viciously. Couldn't Xion keep her opinions to herself for once? Caught up in his own moodiness, Riku ignored the hurt expression on Xion's face and the tension in the room.
Xion suddenly stood. "I'm going to go call Kairi," she said. "I dropped the phone on her earlier."
Riku grunted in response and ate another bite of ice cream. His appetite had vanished, but on some nasty, unreasonable level, he wanted to make Xion feel as uncomfortable and upset as her questions made him. Xion dumped her dishes in the sink and slunk off to her room, head bowed and shoulders tight. She closed the door with a soft click, but the thin wooden frame didn't completely hide the beginning of her phone call.
"Riku is being such a dick! God, Kairi, he's such a drama queen…"Her voice faded.
Riku scowled. It looked like his passive-aggressive plan didn't work. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He would talk to Xion later. For now, he had dishes to clean and a poem to revise.
The kitchen's microwave clock read 11:52 when Riku finally rose from the couch. "Real Emotion," the poem Xion had looked over and had trouble with, was finally finished. He had gotten a handful of comments and people reposting his newest content to other social media. Their positive responses had restored his previous good mood and excitement about living in the city, and he headed off to get ready for bed in high spirits. He whistled in the shower under his breath, which soon escalated to belting popular tunes. He was still singing softly when he exited the bathroom at the far end of the hallway, clad in clean pajamas, and saw the light under Xion's door.
Riku was sure that the light had been off earlier. He rapped on the door and was rewarded with a sleepy "come in." Riku slid inside. Xion was sitting up in bed, halfway under her purple summer duvet. Suddenly reminded of the thin walls, Riku had an idea of what had disturbed Xion's sleep.
"Did I wake you up just now?" he asked.
"You were singing a little louder than you thought you were, but it was an okay thing to be woken up by," said Xion. She rubbed her eyes and gave Riku a tired smile. "You're not as good as Roxas, but you've got a decent voice. Was that 'Sanctuary' by the Gullwings?" The Gullwings, a girl band from Radiant Garden, currently dominated the music scene. "Sanctuary" had been their latest hit single.
"Thanks," said Riku. He sat down at the foot of her bed, bringing one leg up so he could turn sideways and face Xion. "And yeah. The song keeps getting stuck in my head at random points in time."
Xion hugged her knees to her chest and grinned. "And that's how those people make their money. Cheap, catchy tunes. You're just another sucker who wouldn't recognize real music if it bit them in the ass."
"Wow, and my dad calls me a hipster," Riku joked. "I'm sorry my music's too mainstream for you."
"I graciously forgive your lack of musical culture," said Xion in her most pompous voice. "And correction: your dad calls you a hippie, not a hipster."
"Eh, almost the same thing." Riku waved a hand lazily. "He wouldn't know the difference anyway."
"Probably not," said Xion. "Speaking of your socially ignorant father, I'm sorry about what I said about you and your dad. Kairi called me out on not letting the topic go when you asked me to. I should've stopped earlier."
Riku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a habit he had picked up from Sora over the years. "It's fine. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
Xion uncurled from her ball and held out a hand. "Friends?"
"Friends." Riku took her hand, but instead of shaking it, he pulled her into a hug. Xion tensed at first, not expecting the move, before relaxing and squeezing Riku tightly.
"By the way," Xion said in a low voice. "I said I'm sorry, but I don't regret what I said about you and your ridiculous double-life at all." They broke apart and she smirked. "Cuz that's what friends do, they push your buttons. And everyone knows that your moodiness changes at the drop of a hat, so don't worry about being a diva. It's just a part of you."
Riku frowned. "That's not true," he protested weakly. "I'm chill most of the time."
"Most of the time," said Xion, rolling her eyes. "And the other 10% of the time you're extremely upset, overprotective, or in a homicidal rage. Back when you spent time with mainly Sora and Roxas, I thought you might have been on drugs."
"What, me?" Riku said. "I wouldn't have messed up my childhood like that!" an image of a piece of brown mush popped in his mind. "At least not on purpose," he added. "Why would you even think that?"
"There's a lot of kids who use drugs to get ahead in sports or relax when it's off-season." Xion shrugged. "And you're so good at everything gym-related I thought it might not be far off. And aren't there some artsy fartsy people who get high for inspiration or something?"
Riku rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous," he said. "You really think I'm that type of person? That I can't rely on my own natural talent?"
"Not since I've gotten to know you," said Xion. Then she yawned. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
Leaving Xion to her sleep, Riku entered the room opposite hers. The desk was pushed into a corner and slightly bigger than Xion's. There wasn't a bedframe, leaving the mattress on the floor covered in Riku's grey and blue blankets and pillows. The walls were the same off-white as Xion's, reflecting the streetlight that flooded the room – apparently, Riku had left the window and shades wide open. He sighed, and resolved to ask the landlord about shutting that particular streetlight off so he could sleep. He went to go close the blinds, but at his first look out the window, he stopped.
Hundreds of stars shone in the sky, their brightness accenting that of the almost full moon. It hadn't been a streetlight outside his window, but the strong moonlight that dusted the houses and buildings silver as far as the eye could see. The City of Light kept its rightfully earned nickname even when the sun had descended; turning from a bright, upbeat city to one that was tranquil and mystic.
Radiant Garden was beautiful, and he was going to live here for an entire year.
Riku smiled, let down the shades, and went to sleep.
Note: I know how Radiant Garden's map is supposed to look like. However, for the sake of the story, I wanted RG to be more city-like than what's presented in the games. I wanted to preserve the old-timey feel to Radiant Garden that you get in the games, so I'm loosely basing my version of RG off different, old-fashioned-architectural-and-layout European cities.
Also, Riku's raving about RG because he's been STUCK ON A SMALL TOWN ON AN ISLAND FOR YEARS. He's been as bored as heeeeeck. City = bestest place ever right now for him. This is the initial period of moving away from home. Everything super awesome cool! Then reality kicks in… and suddenly life is hard. Riku'll get there in due time. Also, for his behavior, yes, Riku is kind of a moody bitch at times. Seriously. Check the games.
Next chapter: Riku does a lot less sitting and a lot more action action action! Also, who is this!? A visitor and his…girlfriend? Introducing a side-kick and a villain!
If you want Sephiroth to be Riku's father, REVIEW!
If you want romance in this story, REVIEW! Then give me your type. ;)
If you want your own poetry in this story, REVIEW! After that, you may PM me your submission.
If you just wanna show some love (or let me know where I can improve), REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! 3 and your love will be returned.