Setting Notes: Modern day alternate universe. Borrows/references 'Supernatural' in places, but it's more a homage than anything. Uses my own monster lore, but I've set out to explain most nuances through character dialogue and interaction.
Warnings: Language. Rating may go up later due to lemons.
Pairings: Cleon, Soriku, and a mild dusting of Vaniku.
Chapter One: Salted Butter Caramels
"Why the fuck am I wearing shorts?"
"Don't ask me."
"No. I know why. I woke up in a fucking good mood. Fuckin' good moods. I dress like a seven-year-old when I'm in a good mood, I have a half a mind to throw these stupid pieces of clothing out-"
"We both know you wouldn't do that. Next good mood would be completely ruined by you bawling and ringing me up with 'WHY DID I THROW OUT MY FAVOURITE SHORTS RIKU'. No thanks, Sor, don't wanna hear it."
His brunette companion snorted angrily, but he knew he was right. At least he'd picked out a black pair that came down below his knees a decent amount; he had a red set that kinda looked like he was strutting around in two bright crimson pumpkins.
Riku resisted snorting in laughter at the mental image, knowing it'd probably get him punched in his friend's current mood. Hard.
Sora was a basket case.
He liked to freak people out with that fact, so it wasn't like it was uncommon info. He had a fairly severe case of bipolar disorder that was borderline split personality. The thing was that he didn't forget any of his escapades; he just couldn't reason why he'd do a particular thing on the other side of the mood swing. For example, he'd had this very same conversation with him not all that long ago, except reversed; he'd been pouting about the fact he was wearing a tight pair of black skinnies and his nads were being crushed, whining about how he should've put on his favourite shorts on that morning. But he'd had a nightmare and woken up in a terrible mood, so he'd decided his poor family jewels needed a good mincing.
Riku had grown up with him, so he was used to the dramatic swings- he just wouldn't be Sora without them, in fact. It kept him on his toes, kept his life interesting. Normally it was ok to deal with, but when he was a bit younger he'd have difficulty coming out of the darker moods.
High school had come around, and he'd sworn of the permanent dark mood, ditching his given name in favour of Sora and its meaning- sky. Riku still remembered that night, the brunette both angry and tearful as he raved about being sick of wallowing in the dark. Riku had sworn to help him in any way he could, thick as thieves til the end, and thus the grounded, level-headed half of the two became something akin to a retainer for the unstable kid. He took it upon himself to shake out Sora's dark moods and keep him out of trouble, and the circumstances just served to make their relationship stronger. Riku had to learn to understand both sides of Sora's ever-swinging mood set; the happy-go-lucky cheerful teen who loved sweets, and the violent and temperamental sadist who liked to kick puppies (preventing that from occurring was one of Riku's many 'retainer duties', since the moment Sora wasn't in a pissy mood he'd start bawling about hurting the animal). There was probably no one out there who knew Sora better than Riku did; it could basically be summed up in that Riku was and would always be the only one permitted to use Sora's given name as a means of scolding him. Anyone else attempted it, and they'd be nursing a broken jaw if they were lucky.
That was where they found themselves that Thursday afternoon, Sora puffing on a cigarette in an effort to calm the hell down and not continue to rant about his balloon pants. They were out the back of the school near the end of lunch; the first warning bell had already rung, but Riku and Sora weren't going anywhere while Sora still wanted to rip his own clothing off and strut about the school yard naked, public decency be damned.
"Just try and talk some frickin' sense into me about these things, man" he muttered, shaking his leg. "I feel like I'm swimming in my own clothing."
"You like the breeze" said Riku, blowing a smoke ring. He smoked socially with Sora so his best friend didn't feel ridiculous once his mood eased up, but that was all. Good-mood Sora actually hated the cigarettes, but if he was in a dark mood for long enough he'd start smoking like some kind of spiky-haired chimney.
"Screw the breeze" he muttered, flicking some ash before taking in a deep breath. Riku knew his mood was going to ease up pretty soon- he already looked less infuriated in the pants.
His nose twitched a bit, before he dropped the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.
"Y'know what, Riku, you're right. The breeze is great" he said, thumbing his nose. "Forgot that was why I put them on this morning. We'd better get to class."
Riku smirked, dropping his own cigarette and putting it out before following his shorter friend through the school yard.
The other students avoided Sora like the plague, and for good reason. It was nigh-impossible to tell what kind of mood he was in. There was no physical evidence; just because Sora had worn shorts didn't mean he wouldn't cuss and scream like a banshee and threaten your mother.
He'd never actually hurt anyone at school. His temper was just…infamous.
They pulled their stuff out of their lockers and meandered into their classroom; the bell had rung only a few minutes ago. Sora and Riku took the back corner; nobody wanted to occupy the seat Sora usually took, and Riku was his 'retainer'. The class had been chatting loudly until the two had walked in- now they'd quieted a bit, most likely scared of pissing Sora off.
"You know, I had wanted to avoid being the scary-ass mofo in high school" Sora admitted glumly. "I didn't do so well, did I?"
"You told that one kid you were going to stick your hand down his throat and rip out his intenstines, then hang his dog with them."
"Oh come on. It's not like I could actually do that. There's too many organs in the way, I'd have to go in the back and that's just gross-"
"They don't know that" Riku said with a shrug, pulling out a pack of melon caramels and handing one to Sora before eating one himself.
"Do you have any salted butter caramel?" Sora asked, though he still ate the melon one.
"Giving them to you while you're in a good mood would destroy their effectiveness, Sor" said Riku, patting the brunette's spiky mess.
"So I just have to get into a bad mood, then you'll give me the salted caramels?"
Riku rolled his eyes and ignored the comment, the familiar clack clack of their teacher's heels echoing from outside the classroom door. The door swung open to reveal their teacher; a middle-aged woman with brown hair, neatly down up in a bun behind her head. She was average in height and a little plump, most of her perceived beauty being derived from the make-up she wore. Still, she wasn't an eyesore, and her eyes still had the warmth and consideration it took to be a decent teacher. Riku knew all too well from his other educational experiences that the jaded, bitter teachers were the worst ones to be around; the ones in the middle, the ones who had gotten over the stage where the students walked all over them, they were the ones who had his respect. Even if he was only just scraping by in his classes.
"Good afternoon, class" she said, placing a thick manila folder onto her desk. "I have a few announcements before we'll return to our reading of Hamlet. I trust you all annotated our last chapter- remember, pencil, not pen, unless you intend on keeping the book once you finish school."
There was a small chorus of chuckles and grumbles; Riku knew that at least four students had used pen despite the teacher telling them to use pencil. Pencil could be rubbed out- pen could not. Suffice to say, those who ignore the teacher's instructions were also the ones who would've liked to sell their school books, so it was their own silly loss in the end.
"Ok. That time of year has come around again, and our school will be hosting several student teachers to show them the ropes. They will be overseeing your classes while I monitor them from the back row."
Sora started muttering cursewords under his breath, and Riku, almost by force of habit, instantly had whipped out his box of Morinaga Salted Butter Caramels, passing one across the desk. Sora immediately ate it, chewing with a bit more aggression than what was necessary, but the scowl on his face eased up.
"I expect you all to be on your best behaviour when they arrive. We will still be watching, and acting like brats will earn you automatic detentions, is that clear?"
Sora raised his hand, and Riku resisted the urge to grumble to himself. He knew exactly what this was going to be about. He kept his hand near the salted caramels, ready to go into damage control if necessary. This was Sora's touchiest issue, and if not handled well it could result in some severe temper tantrums.
"Yes, Sora?" the teacher said, a knowing glint in her eye.
"They've been told about my name preference, right?" Sora stated, surprisingly calm.
"It's written on the roll call. Feel free to correct them if they don't use Sora, just keep it civil."
"Fine" Sora said, his tone a little sharp as he folded his arms. Riku exhaled, dreading the student teacher's arrival; some were ok, but there were those who insisted on being 'harsh' during their first teaching role, and he'd found that a few refused to use nicknames. Sora had grown quite attached to his name and what it represented, and he'd always had an innate loathing of his real name once they studied it in an etymology lesson. If a teacher ended up telling him he couldn't go by Sora, the brunette would probably just walk out of the classroom. If everyone was wearing lucky items or something. God forbid they try to call him back, too.
The announcement over, the teacher proceeded to start the lesson. One student was given the task of reading out loud, while the other students took notes and made discussion over the lines. Everyone's annotations were different, so buying a second-hand book with the notes already written was out of the question. Sora and Riku usually shared and compared their notes, trying to get as much work done during lessons as they could. Neither of them had time for homework beyond school, which was why they were both scraping by on precarious Cs. They got Bs in sport and occasionally in English, but that was as high as their marks went. After-school duties prevented anything higher, really.
Sora particularly enjoyed Hamlet, and had already started scribbling notes and discussion in his book. Most pages were annotated, including a few in red he'd adapted from Riku's notes. They both had different thinking processes, it was part of the reason they were such good friends- they were able to bounce solutions and ideas off of each other nearly infinitely, making them an extremely resourceful team. Unfortunately it meant they didn't work well when put into other pairs or groups without the other. Riku could cope, since he had a natural leader instinct and was able to allocate work effectively, but Sora tended to just get grumpy with the set-up and do all the work himself, or he'd slack off the entire time. He did not work well in groups. On his own, or with Riku- the teachers had learnt that fact the hard way.
Riku also pulled out his Hamlet book as the class began to debate a certain passage and its meaning, his ball-point black pen scribbling down shorthand notes on the conversation. He dog-earred his book and wrote in pen, since didn't mind not being able to sell it, and the dog-ears meant less leafing through pages to find where they were up to. Riku didn't see himself as a person with a lot of time on his hands, so the less time he spent doing mundane things, the more time he had for other aspects, like the note writing.
Their English class and the rest of the day went by smoothly. Sora didn't have any mishaps (they were actually pretty rare, he'd been dealing with it long enough to have some control) which meant Riku could go the rest of the school day saying less than twenty words. Riku was never particularly talkative- didn't need to be, he had Sora to blab on until people's ears bled and their minds were reduced to a greyish putty only capable of processing what flavours of Morinaga caramel Sora enjoyed. The silverette kept his thoughts to himself, and besides that, he struggled to have an active conversation with a regular person. He just didn't have the common ground; while others could talk about their sport picks or the like, Riku didn't even watch TV, let alone follow or play sport outside of school.
The final bell rang, announcing the end of Thursday, and Riku made his way over to his locker, fumbling around with a few of his books as he opened it and shoved them in, extracting his school bag.
"Yo!" came a cheerful yell, as his blue-eyed companion rounded the corner and nearly smashed right into him, halting mere inches away from Riku. "What's on the agenda tonight?"
Riku rolled his eyes and Sora grinned. They went through this charade most days, since they couldn't actually spout on about their after school agendas to everyone else. The silverette thought about his answer for a moment, checking his school bag's contents before shutting the locker with a bang. "Might go home and watch some movies. I think I have popcorn in the cupboard."
"Riku, do not tease me with popcorn" said Sora, getting his own things out. "Of all the things to say, seriously."
"We do have popcorn?" Riku said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you even pay attention when we do the shopping or what?"
Sora blinked a few times, before grinning sheepishly at his silver-haired friend. For good reason, Sora was not allowed within ten feet of the shopping list unless he had a genuine need, like razors or something. Riku honestly didn't know why Sora bothered with the razors, since his facial hair was very sparse and grew sporadically, but he suspected the brunette shaved regularly in the hope it'd grow faster. Either that or he was using the razors somewhere else, but Riku had no intention of asking.
The two headed out of the school, beginning the walk toward Riku's home, which was where the both of them lived.
Riku, to put it bluntly, was neglected. His parents worked jobs he didn't even care enough to ask about anymore; something like CEO of a huge company and a movie star. Riku didn't really care, honestly. They wired him through a personal allowance that was dependant on the state of their household, which they asked for photos of. The allowance was much too high, so Riku never spent it all, keeping it in a personal bank account for emergencies. As a result of the jobs they worked, they were never home. Riku had basically lived on his own since he was around twelve years old, and Sora had been living in a spare room since he was thirteen. Essentially, Riku was much less his parent's son and more like a house-sitter. They rarely, if ever, inquired on their son's behalf, and what they did ask was so pointless and ridiculous to the eighteen-year-old that he never bothered to answer properly. They hadn't even called on his birthday, which was probably a good thing; he and Sora had gotten their hands on a variety of mixers and spent their night playing Mario Kart and drinking shots every time one of them fell off of Rainbow Road. The memory was one very dear to Riku, even if a big chunk of it was hazy after he'd had the Bowser shot- Thai bird chili and cinnamon candy infused bacardi 151, with a cinnamon sugar rim, which they had then lit on fire.
It was a good night, let's put it that way.
Once they'd rounded the corner and were out of earshot to the rest of the school body, Sora put his hands behind his head. "Ok, Riku, what's actually on the agenda tonight?"
Riku bit his lip. The moment he said what they were doing that evening, Sora would become a glowering thunderstorm, and he really didn't want to deal with it just yet. Most of today had been a good one mood-wise, and these kinds of streaks never lasted…but Riku was always trying to prolong them as long as he could.
"I'll tell you once we get inside" said Riku firmly, and Sora pouted a bit but said nothing. He knew better than to argue with Riku's 'firm' tone. At least this way, the moment Sora's bad mood kicked in at the news, he'd go change out of his shorts and put his nut-crunching skinnies on. Riku still didn't understand why he wore them, though.
They came up to Riku's house, a largish grey post-modern building- all sharp lines and straight edges, with a two car garage and double front doors. It was almost sterile, which suited the loveless place; the only rooms inside that didn't follow the same pattern were the lounge (which had a few coloured bean bags) and the boy's bedrooms, which had their personal possessions. Sora's room was eternally a rainbow-black mess, since it didn't matter what mood the kid was in, he loathed cleaning. Thankfully most of the house's cleaning was automated, and what wasn't Riku could pick up for. That said, he still made Sora do some of the household chores to earn his keep, but they weren't your run-of-the-mill chores, so to speak.
Riku pulled out his keys and they headed inside, dumping their school bags at the front door and stripping out of their school jumpers. Sora exhaled, throwing himself onto the couch in the lounge room and putting his legs up on one of the arms.
"K, Riku. Spill."
"Inventory" Riku muttered, and Sora's eyes immediately narrowed.
"Can't you do that tomorrow night?" he asked, huffing a bit.
"He's got a…friend coming over. One who'll be staying awhile, and one we need to meet. Yes, I said we. Yes, you have to come. Yes, you have to refrain from punching things."
Sora scowled angrily, pushing himself up off the couch and storming upstairs to his bedroom. He spent a few seconds in there before thundering into the shower, clearly livid. Riku felt a small smile twitch up onto his lips, though he wished Sora wouldn't react so badly to something that was such a core part of both their lives.
Riku headed upstairs to get changed; he wasn't about to show up in his school uniform. When people see a school uniform, their first impression is 'kid' and that impression usually sticks. And he was not a kid in any way, shape or form.
Riku stepped up onto the landing and ignored the grumbled curse words streaming from the bathroom, heading into his own bedroom. It was medium sized, most of the furniture matching the rest of the house. However, the shelves were stacked full of memories and objects; an entire shelf sat gleaming with photo frames, most of them pictures of himself and Sora doing stupid shit. But that was the stuff that created the memories; you don't plan or intend for things to happen, they just do.
The silverette rifled through his wardrobe for some comfy jeans, a vest and a jacket. The weather was beginning to cool down, and he could always take the jacket off if he needed to. He threw on a few belts and slipped on a pair of comfy black sneakers, before checking his appearance in the mirror. Functional enough, with a hint of style. Good enough for meeting new people, he supposed. He liked to keep his fashionista nature a personal secret.
Riku walked out as the water in the bathroom shut off, Sora's muttering now very clear. The silverette rolled his eyes and headed back downstairs, grabbing his bag from out of the cupboard and equipping himself. Small knife on the side of each ankle, blade in the sheath underneath his jacket, small, makeshift bombs in his pockets. They weren't really bombs, and would do zilch to an ordinary human being, but Riku had no intention of fighting 'normal human beings'.
There was a loud bang as the bathroom door flew open and Sora walked out, still towelling his hair. He hadn't bothered with a shirt and was only wearing a pair of black skinnies, a belt and some socks, clearly exposing his toned chest and the tattoo that adorned it. It was a series of words in a half circle pattern, starting from just underneath the middle of his left collar bone and arching up and ending in the same place on his right collarbone, and read 'vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas.' It essentially meant 'everything is meaningless' or so Sora had said. He wasn't quite sure when Sora had gotten it; Riku fuzzily recalled a tattoo parlour at some stage but he had no idea how Sora had managed to tell the tattooist what he'd wanted. Sora was notorious for slurring his words while drunk, to the point you couldn't physically understand him.
The brunette rubbed off the rest of the water in his hair, carefully drying each spike. Even while wet, his hair had a strange way of defying gravity; it was apparently genetic, since Sora's father's hair seemed to do the same thing. How, though, remained unexplained and unspoken. It was just a thing.
"You intending to go out without a shirt?" Riku quipped, and Sora snorted.
"In your dreams" he snapped in retort. "Are we going to pick up some food on the way there or will we wait until this bullshit's over and done with?"
"On the way. Who knows how long this'll take?"
"Ok. Chinese" said Sora shortly, turning back to the stairwell. "I want peanut satay sticks, beef and black bean and fried rice."
"Oi, it's my money" said Riku sharply, and Sora snorted again, spinning on his heel with a nasty smirk on his face, though anger was still playing in his surreal-blue eyes.
"I clean the blood out of our clothing. I get to pick what we eat."
Riku rolled his eyes, pulling out his wallet and counting the notes as Sora headed upstairs to finish changing. He could just get his own meal anyway, it wasn't like he and Sora had to eat the same thing. Riku wasn't particularly fond of peanut satay or black bean, and Sora always hogged the fried rice, especially if it was ordered with extra prawn. Their city was a beach front town, so it was well-known for its seafood, and Riku and Sora had basically been brought up on it. Sora was big on the shellfish and the crustaceans- prawns, scallops, oysters, bugs, etc, while Riku preferred things like calamari (one of his personal favourite dishes was salt and pepper squid). Both of them enjoyed proper fish, though neither had the attention span to actually go out and catch it themselves. Sora was very fond of flounder, while Riku didn't really have a preference. He didn't know what kind of fish was in a Fillet-O-Fish, but he knew it tasted good, and that was the point.
After much deliberation, Riku mentally decided that he'd get some of the lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork, and an extra container of fried rice. They were better off if they didn't share it.
Another five minutes passed, and Sora came sauntering down the stairs, wearing a pair of clunky biker boots, a grey and red wife beater that started red at the bottom and faded off, and a black leather jacket. He already had a cigarette in his mouth, but he knew better than to light up inside; Riku didn't pay enough attention to his parent's schedules to know when they'd randomly pop in, but he definitely didn't want any kind of cigarette stink sticking to the furniture.
The brunette rifled through their equipment cupboard, equipping himself similarly to Riku. Neither risked bring their dedicated weapons, which consisted of one gun and one fairly large blade each. If they got pulled up by the cops, it took a hell of a lot of explaining, and neither felt like having to go through it. Reiterating 'they're props' or 'we're performers' got very old very quickly and both of them knew it. Thank god they had a contact in the police station.
"Oh, this is gonna be great" Sora hissed, as they walked out the front door and locked up. "So lookin' forward to it. I'm fuckin' ecstatic."
"Don't make me break out the salted butter caramels."
"I'm way beyond salted butter caramels, Ri. Like, so fucking beyond it's not funny. Why the hell does he want me there?" Sora grumbled, the both of them heading to the car. Riku already had his license, and Sora's license wasn't for a four-wheeled vehicle. Riku hated riding on Sora's motorbike, and the brunette teen knew well enough that Riku wouldn't step within ten feet of the damn thing while Sora was in a bad mood. He drove like a drunk maniac on a good day. Bad days were what nightmares were made of. Riku was fairly certain he'd had at least three nightmare variations of riding a motorbike with Sora and all three had left him horribly mangled, waking up in cold sweat.
Riku exhaled, pulling open the driver's side door as Sora lit up. Unlike the house, the car belonged to Riku, and it stunk of cigarettes. Sora always smoked on this drive, and he didn't take a break from them either. He'd go through something like four in half an hour.
"Look, I can't read his mind" Riku stated as Sora slammed the passenger side shut and Riku started up the car. "Must have something to do with the new guy. You almost never come on inventory runs, so stop being such a sourpuss."
"I'll be as fucking sour as I damn well like" Sora growled in retort, dragging lengthily on the cigarette before tapping out some of the ashes. They'd rolled out of the driveway now and were headed down the road, a path Riku knew all too well. Sora knew it too, and hated it, especially coming in this direction. The opposite direction, to Riku's, spelt safety and friendship, while this way promised darkness and misery and that idiot.
"He might have some new stock in, you never know" said Riku with a shrug, trying to find something positive for Sora to focus on. "And the new guy might not be a d-bag."
"All hunters are fucking douchebags, Ri. We are fucking douchebags and I'm not even supposed to be a hunter."
"I'm hurt" Riku drawled, feigning physical harm. "I can't believe you called me of all people a douchebag. Me. Lovely, little ol' me."
"Can it, Riku" snapped Sora, but there was a slight smile playing on his lips. Riku smiled slightly, before turning a corner in the direction of the chinese take-out.
"So Leon's a douchebag too, then?" Riku inquired, and Sora rolled his eyes, extinguishing his now-finished cigarette and lighting up a second.
"A bit. Gotta be a douchebag to demand a name change. Takes one to know one, Ri."
"You have a legitimate reason" Riku retorted lightly. "We still don't know what his actual name is."
"Leon said it was a 'thing' and being named after a 'thing' wasn't masculine enough. I guess 'Leon' is the epitome of manly."
"Leon is the epitome of ADA, WAIT. ADA, WAIT!" Riku stated, and Sora let out a loud, hollow laugh. If he was in a bad mood they always sounded like that, even if it was genuine. His good-mood laughter was nearly girly, a spout of giggles almost. There was no evidence of that in the laughter currently coming out of the brunette's mouth.
"Y'know, we should try and get him to start spouting 'Sora, wait!' and 'Riku, wait!' I wouldn't be able to stop laughing" Sora chuckled, blowing a smoke ring.
"I don't agree with that manly thing, you know" Riku said with a shrug. "Plenty of people are named after objects or things. At least he isn't named something ridiculous like Chair, or Grass, or Cup, or Cloud…"
Sora snorted under his breath. "My name means sky, d-bag."
"It's translated. Doesn't count" said Riku, sounding authoritarian. Sora only responded by snorting again, except this time he inhaled too much cigarette smoke and started hacking and coughing loudly, puffs of grey coming out. It happened often enough that Riku didn't even spare him a second glance, let alone attempt to help him.
They pulled up at the chinese take-out about ten minutes later, the both of them stepping out of the car. Sora put out his third cigarette, heading inside with the silverette to make sure he ordered what he'd asked for.
The place had two sections- a dining hall and a take-out waiting room. The take-out section was a lot less flash than the dining area, which was all potted plants and sleek black carpet with fancy white table cloths. Meanwhile the little off-shot room had tiled floors and wallpaper made to imitate wooden panels, and neither of the two teens could fathom why someone would want that kind of wallpaper. It was a bit dingy, but the food smelt good, and the red plush waiting chairs weren't uncomfortable.
Riku walked up to the window, checking his cash again to make sure he didn't have to use his card. The cashier was a petite Asian woman with her black hair done up in a fishnet, her face clearly showing signs of age.
"How can I help you?" she asked in thickly accented English, and Riku made one final check of his order before nodding to himself.
"Can I get two large fried rice with extra prawn, one beef and black bean, one container of peanut satay sticks-" Riku clearly heard Sora's leather jacket shuffle, and he already knew his friend was grinning- "one lemon chicken and one sweet and sour pork."
"The sweet and sour sauce comes with paopu fruit-"
"Only if it's from the one fruit and the rest is thrown out" Riku said firmly, "or you give the rest to me or something."
"That's fine" said the lady, to Riku's surprise. It must've been a common demand. Everyone knew about the 'power of the paopu fruit' and its ability to weave destinies. As someone who knew all-too well that sometimes the fictional was a little too real, Riku was not going to take his chances and have his destiny interwoven with someone he'd never even met and might not even like paopu or chinese food.
The lady presented her price and Riku handed over cash, the two going to sit down on the waiting chairs. Sora let out a low chuckle.
"Ri, you could've just ordered something we both like instead of actually listening to me" he said.
"Now why would I disrespect my laundry-man like that?" Riku quipped, feigning politeness. Sora scowled a bit, but he knew it was a joke, more or less. They went quiet for the rest of the waiting time, the things either wanted to discuss not appropriate for public listening. Eventually the lady called out his order, handing over two steaming bags of food. The smells wafting from them were delicious; he hadn't had chinese in a long while. Riku only ever picked up crappy snacks on these drives- usually a fillet-o-fish or some kind of wrap. He'd never tell Sora, since Sora hated these trips, but he loved having Sora's company for the ride. The silence in the car was stifling while he was alone, especially on the way back. It was very raw, and very tense. Constantly reminding him of every single close call and near miss right up until he pulled up at the driveway.
They headed out to the car and put the food in the backseat, driving the rest of the distance to their destination. They parked down the block, fishing through the food and beginning to open it up, taking deep whiffs of freshly cooked rice and the delightful tang of sweet and sour sauce.
There was one bag Riku couldn't identify, so he looked in it only to feel rather confused. It looked like half a star, with a leafy frill. Poking it revealed it to be firm but juicy, and it smelled very sweet.
"Sor, what's this?" Riku asked, handing over the bag. Sora looked in it and burst out laughing.
"Riku, she actually gave you the friggin paopu fruit! That's hilarious!"
"That's an actual fruit?"
Sora snorted, highly amused. "You didn't know? Paopu fruit are shaped like stars, man. Well, you know, the human interpretation of a star. The shape of a star is probably much closer to an orange."
"But what about starfruit?" Riku stated. "These are much closer to a star shape than a starfruit- you have to cut those to get a star."
"Don't ask me."
Riku wrestled with the incongruity of it all for a few more minutes before dismissing it and beginning to eat. As usual, the food from the place was superb; the lemon chicken had just the right amount of tang and they'd remembered the extra prawn. He was careful about sampling the paopu in the sweet and sour, but he found the sweet yet tangy fruit complemented the sauce perfectly, and was great with the deep-fried pork balls.
The two ate mostly in silence, since the car got enough filth and grime through it without both of them trying to talk with their mouths full. They both ate like dump trucks, unfortunately for their shopping bill. It meant that providing either with a decent meal basically guaranteed silence, though Riku was usually polite enough to make conversation if he was in a friendly-dinner meal sort of situation. The silence wasn't awkward or anything, they were both very used to it.
"Hrm" said Sora, munching on one of the satay sticks. "We should've grabbed drinks. I could go for a soda right now."
"You have a point" said Riku, swallowing a mouthful of rice. "There's a convenience store down the road?"
"Nah…I'll just nick some lemonade from the old man's fridge. He's always got some" said Sora with a shrug, though the scowl had returned a little. Riku exhaled, continuing to eat, not really paying much attention to what Sora was doing.
A few minute passed, and they'd mostly finished off their meals. He'd missed that chinese, and he'd missed coming on these runs with Sora, even if the brunette did loathe them with a passion.
He was happily enjoying his contented, full state right up until he realized Sora was eating something both firm and juicy.
"SORA, ARE YOU EATING THE PAOPU FRUIT?!" the silverette shouted, almost jumping right out of his seat. The brunette gave him a wide eyed look, already half way through eating the yellow fruit.
"Oh my god" Riku whispered, collapsing into his chair. "You do not understand what you just did."
"We're gonna be best friends for life anyway, so I didn't think it'd matter?"
Riku sat up again, looking entirely serious as he pried the fruit from Sora, knowing the damage had already been done. "Sora. Destiny isn't just this life, or this circumstance, or anything like that. Destiny is timeless and ever flowing. You eating that fruit means we are now tied together for ever and ever and into eternity. That doesn't mean just this lifetime, Sora. That means past, and present, and future, and everything in-between. In every parallel and possible universe we are now bound to each other. This is more permanent and more solid than marriage or anything like that. Every single instance of our existence, and not necessarily in a good way. One universe might have us as enemies, one might have us as friends, one might have us in a different gender, or a different age- god damn, in one universe I might be a paedophile or something and you're like, eight!"
"…I think you're freaking out way too much, Riku. Just focus on our own circumstances!" said Sora, giving him a withering look. "It's ridiculous to consider the amount of parallels, because we're never gonna know, are we? Fuckhead."
"Way to underplay the fact you just basically married me" Riku grumbled, folding his arms and leaning in his chair. Sora rolled his eyes, picking the paopu fruit back up.
"Damage's done, I'm gonna finish this thing. They're pretty tasty, you know" Sora said, smirking a bit as he ate the fruit. "Juicy, too."
"Uh huh" Riku muttered, before checking his watch. It was nearly five'o'clock- the sun would be setting soon. "We'd better head down there in five or so minutes, he said the guy would be there at five."
"Oh goodie" muttered Sora sarcastically, finishing off the paopu fruit. "I can't wait."
Riku rolled his eyes and jumped out of the car, his brunette companion doing the same. The silverette locked up the vehicle before putting his hands in his pockets and beginning the walk toward their destination.
The walk wasn't far, and eventually they arrived at the building. It was a two storey shop, with an apartment up top and the sales area down below. The sign hanging above the door simply said 'ARMS', and the windows displayed a variety of modern and older weapon tech. A few signs were posted up on the inside; a notice about a missing dog, someone trying to sell their bike, and a larger poster saying that the store was going to have a sale pretty soon to get rid of older merchandise.
Sora was staring at the door with an unpleasant expression on his face. Although it made him look unapproachable and angry, Riku knew this particular expression, and it was the one Sora made when he'd give anything to not be where he was. His blue eyes glinted with pain and the desire to turn tail and flee. Riku exhaled, and reached out and put a reassuring hand on Sora's shoulder.
"You're a better person than he is" Riku said quietly.
Sora bit his lip, before grimacing and nodding firmly. "Yeah. Let's go."
The taller boy gave him a half-smile and they stepped into the shop. Racks and rows of everything from guns to swords lined the walls, but Sora and Riku had spent enough time in the room to know exactly what it had; they were headed for the back room, which was to the side of the counter, the wooden door bearing a little sign stating 'Staff Only'. They pushed through it to find it already occupied by two brunette males. One was seated, and had an unruly mess of spikes, his eyes completely fixed on whatever he was reading, not even looking up to acknowledge the two new occupants. The second male was a couple of years older than Sora and Riku- around early twenties- wearing a pair of black jeans, a white singlet and a leather jacket. His hair was a little bit shorter than Riku's silver mane, and flicked upward a bit before travelling around the side of his head. He, too, had blue eyes, but his were darker and murkier than the intense pair both Sora and the seated man bore.
"Good to see you, Leon" said Sora, giving the taller man a short wave, which he reciprocated.
"Hey. How are things?"
Sora shrugged, taking a seat at the conference table and immediately putting his shoes on it. Riku knew he was trying to get the other man's attention, but he didn't even look up. "They could be better. We've got a group of student teachers comin' in soon, and you know what the newbies are like with preferred names."
Leon nodded sympathetically as Riku walked further into the room and out of the doorway, knowing that they had one other guest still to arrive. If he was honest, he was anxious for them to get here; the tension in the room was stifling, and there was nothing he could do to ease it. Sora hated his father, his father didn't care about Sora, and unless something drastic changed between them, that was how their relationship was going to stay. The silverette glanced at the clock, which read 4:58- he and Sora had eaten dinner pretty early, but there was popcorn at home, after all.
The clock ticked by, the only sound being that of papers shuffling and Sora drumming his fingers on the table. Each tap of fingertip caused the older man's eyebrow to twitch slightly, but he was obviously avoiding exploding just in case the guest walked in. Thank god for appearances; Riku knew the two weren't beyond stooping to brawling, as terrible as that was.
The clock clicked by onto five 'o' clock and within three seconds the doorbell from outside tinkled. There were heavy footsteps, before a surprisingly delicate knock echoed through the room.
"Leon, can you get that?" asked Sora's father, and the man nodded, heading over to the door and opening it.
In the doorway stood a blonde male who would be an inch shorter than Leon, if not for the unruly mass of blonde spikes jutting up from his head. They extended mostly upward rather than outward, like Sora's, making the two styles fairly different. He had the same coloured eyes, an unnatural blue, somehow still intense despite the lack of pigment contrast. He was wearing a black turtleneck, the sleeves rolled up just above his elbow, with a pair of black jeans tucked into brown construction boots. A bag was slung over his shoulder, which clanked ominously every time he moved. He looked a little anxious, his mouth pursed slightly as he surveyed the four men in the room.
"...I thought there were only three hunters?" was the first thing he said, his voice relatively quiet. Still, the tone held an air of someone who could lead if necessary; there was conviction in his cerulean eyes.
"Sora's not a hunter. Come in, Cloud, take a seat" said Sora's father, standing up. The blonde walked in, still looking a little fidgety as he took a seat.
"Introductions are in order. This is my first pupil, Leon, the one who answered the door" he said, gesturing to Leon. "The one with grey hair is Riku, I taught him almost in tandem with Leon, only a few years difference. Both are capable hunters in their own right."
The blonde male glanced over to Sora, who gave him a dark smirk.
"Pops says I'm a nutter, so he won't teach me" he said, folding his arms. The other raised his eyebrows, while Sora's father adopted a cold sneer, giving Sora a glare, but ignoring his comment.
"Everyone, this is my nephew, Cloud. He'll be hunting with me for a time."
Riku covered his mouth the moment he heard the name, resisting the urge to snort out loud. Sora's face had twisted up oddly, and Riku could tell the brunette was resisting laughing too. Leon caught both the expressions, but given he had no idea why they were acting that way he said nothing, just giving them both a raised eyebrow.
"So he's my cousin, right?" Sora asked.
"I really think you should've told me about Sora, Uncle Aris" Cloud muttered.
"I must have forgotten. I know I made Riku drag him along to meet you, so I didn't intend to hide him. I wouldn't bother with him, though. The only person who can handle him is his babysitter, the one standing behind you."
"Why don't you shut your fucking trap and get on with it?" Sora hissed, his eyes narrowing.
Aris gritted his teeth, his expression nearly mirroring the one his son currently bore, before he let out a long sigh. "I wanted to get at least one more hunter into this region. I've gotten some fairly reliable intel saying a nest moved in within the last two weeks."
"An entire nest?" Riku stated, walking over to the table so he could see everyone better. "Why haven't we gotten wind of this before?"
"Simple" Cloud murmured, placing his elbows on the table and folding his hands over each other, holding them in front of his face. "They're not killing people."
Aris nodded. "No deaths. Not one. Just the usual turn out of human-caused attacks and accidents, but nothing to indicate a vamp."
"A nest with no attacks?" Leon murmured quietly, thinking to himself. "What about hospitals? Have they reported any blood thefts?"
Aris smirked, before nodding. "Massive. And there have been complaints of rose gardens being destroyed, all the buds being removed."
"This city has a high concentration of blood rose plants, so it's no surprise if there haven't been any attacks" said Riku, nodding to himself. "The question is why? It's in a vampire's nature to seek destruction and they're not very good at resisting their urges, so why haven't any slipped up?"
"Yes. It's extremely suspect."
"They're recruiting" said Cloud, leaning back and folding his arms, his eyes closed. "If they were laying low they wouldn't have taken so many different sources of blood, but that's clearly not the case. They must've turned to a town with a high population, small number of hunters, and large blood rose growth to breed up a new horde."
"Damn" hissed Riku. "It's bad enough when they're killing people and trying to kill us."
"Yeah. Vampires love nothing more than turning hunters" Leon muttered. "We'll have to be extra careful."
Aris nodded firmly. "And that's why I wanted to make sure we're all travelling in pairs in every hunt from now on. That way, if anything happens, there's a failsafe."
"Staking a friend. Pleasant" Cloud muttered. "I can see why you had such a poor turn out."
"That, and nobody likes him" Sora snarked.
"If you're going to be a little shit, you can leave" Aris hissed, putting his hands down on the table.
"Going to kick me out again? I'm so scared" Sora retorted sarcastically. "I'm totally still a skinny thirteen-year-old who couldn't beat your skull in. Try it, old man."
"Enough" Riku said sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The both of you. We have a very serious problem on our hands. Newborns means massive appetites. If the leader of the group doesn't keep a tight leash on them, the death toll will rise very quickly. Not to mention that all of us are at an extreme risk in our own right. So can we please keep a steady head on our shoulders and not act like a pair of fucking teenagers? Thanks."
The two brunettes gave Riku a sharp stare, but it wasn't the first time the silverette was forced to step in between the two's nasty bickering. It'd only gotten worse the older they both got; Aris was get crotchety, and Sora's repertoire of cusses had expanded immensely.
"Alright. We need to avoid inciting conflict too much at this point. We'll do our normal rounds, we just need to be hyper aware. They will be going for the bite, not the kill."
Riku nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "I need to do inventory before I go home. Is the meeting over?"
"Yeah. Take whatever you need."
Sora and Cloud stood up, and they all shuffled out of the room. Riku went into the back storage room, Sora following close behind- though Cloud seemed to have also accompanied them.
"Can I help you?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow, and Cloud smirked slightly, closing the door to the storage.
"I was mentored by a man named Angeal rather than my dad, who happens to have some connections, so I brought along some of his spare stock."
The blonde shrugged the pack off his shoulder and opened it up, revealing several blades. One sort of resembled a scimitar, with the back edge formed in what looked like a bat's wing and a dark purple-red colouration. There was a second, more traditional blade, made of cold grey steel with a bandage near the handle. Parts of the blade were notched out, and the red handle had a square-shaped guard around it. The third blade was buried a bit deeper in the pack, so neither boy could see it.
"Since your father's being an ass, you can have the one intended for him" said Cloud, patting the brunette's mess of spikes. Sora's eyes widened, looking at the blonde in absolute shock.
"Wh-wha? Dad told you I'm not a hunter though!" Sora said, keeping his voice down despite the exclamation. Riku raised his eyebrows slightly; Sora only called him 'Dad' in a good mood, so he must've just switched after what Cloud had said.
Maybe he'd be good to keep around.
"Sora, I know a hunter when I see one" Cloud said slyly, smiling a bit. "Did you learn off Riku?"
Sora nodded, swallowing and rubbing his hair. "If my dad finds out he'll flip. It's why I hate coming here…there's always a chance there's blood still on me or I've forgotten something."
"Between you and me, Uncle Aris is pretty dense" murmured Cloud, shrugging. "Honestly, I'd rather he not use one of them- he's the type to forgo the TLC and leave them subject to wear, tear and rust. So, so long as you two can promise to take care of them, I'll give you these two and the third to Leon."
"There's a catch, isn't there?" Riku asked, raising one silver eyebrow. Cloud smirked slightly, before turning his on his heel.
"The catch? Stop the bloodsuckers. That's all I want" he said quietly. "A man's only as good as his equipment, you know. Dress for the part."
The silverette folded his arms as Cloud stepped back out of the room. Sora let out a low whistle.
"He's intense. I like him" he said cheerfully. "Well, we'd better get this inventory over and done with, eh?"
"Yeah. I need more anti-vamp bombs and ammo…we're running low on medical supplies, too" said Riku, thinking of the inventory check he'd done the night before. Sora immediately nodded and the two began rifling through the storage, packing up a set of supplies. Riku always took a little extra whenever he did inventory; he claimed spares, but the truth was that they were for Sora to use. As such the two were usually slightly undersupplied, in order to not raise Aris's suspicions, but both were naturally talented fighters and they managed to scrape by. Truth was, neither boy knew what Aris would do if he found out Riku had taught Sora everything he'd learnt at the same time. Aris was far from an even-tempered man, and the circumstances in which Sora had been kicked out weren't pleasant. Aris wasn't really an accepting person. He had a long, long list of prejudices, ranging from inherent racism to dehumanisation of gays and transgenders. This same sort of intolerance carried through to his hatred of vampires, and is inability to understand mental illness. Sora's mental illness was properly diagnosed, and yet his father treated him like his 'dark' mood was Sora being possessed. Riku knew better than most that the thought was a load of crap, since at his core Sora was always the same person, but Aris wouldn't listen to reason, not from the doctors, not from Riku, not from Sora himself. The last night Sora had lived in this place, Aris had attempted to exorcise him, and not gently, either. Riku had rescued him, and that was the same night Sora swore off his dark moods.
Riku shook off the memory, exhaling loudly and silently checking the items both he and Sora had grabbed before nodding.
"Alright, I think that's it. Let's head home."
"Yeah. I think Cloud's waiting until we're at our car to give you that sword. It was pretty cool looking, actually. Like a bat wing."
"I agree. Kinda dark for a vampire hunter to be using, but it'll be easier to claim collectible with that kind of shape" said Riku with a small chuckle. "Good thing we have such a good set of connections though."
"Mhm. If that guy we've got at the police station wasn't with us you'd have been imprisoned years ago."
Riku shuddered at the thought. He wasn't exactly an ugly guy and the things they did to pretty boys in prison weren't pleasant.
The two stepped out of the storage room, heading for the exit. They stepped outside to hear voices, and the two found Cloud and Leon chatting idly near the doorway, Leon now holding what looked like a combined gun and pistol. Although his face was neutral, Sora and Riku knew the older man well enough to see when he was pleased; the near-permanent scowl on his features had eased up and his eyes were twinkling merrily.
"You know how it works then?" Cloud asked, a hand on his hip. Leon let out a low chuckle.
"I trained with gunblades before I became Aris's pupil. Circumstances" said Leon, ending the sentence with an uncomfortable shrug. Nobody really liked talking about how they'd ended up in the supernatural business. If it wasn't vamps, it was something worse. Vampires were just very common since they were easy to spot and their conversion process was very short. The world was full of other nasties, they just didn't rear their ugly heads as often. Even then, Sora, Riku and Leon were content to let vampires slide by if they were keeping to themselves and managing their appetites. A vampire doesn't have to infect a victim, and vampires could survive solely on blood roses if necessary. The weird plant had a sort of 'blood bag' at the bottom of the rose, but the entire flower was food to a vampire. Nowhere near as satisfying as a proper meal, but for those who didn't want to hurt others they had to suffice.
"Right" said Cloud quietly. "Well, that's good. I was worried when Angeal gave me that- I know they're not easy to master."
"Yeah, if you don't know what you're doing the recoil is hell" Leon agreed with a nod. "But I feel more comfortable with a gunblade than a regular sword, so I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"Can it shoot bullets?" Sora piped in, looking very curious. Cloud raised his eyebrows, before shaking his head.
"The gun part creates a shockwave through the blade, making cuts uneven and more damaging. You seem cheerful."
"We're heading home, I'm always cheerful on the way back" Sora said with a grin. "Plus we've got popcorn!"
Leon chuckled a little at the grin, noticing Cloud's slightly confused face. "Don't worry, you get used to it. Where are you staying, Cloud?"
"Ah, Aris has a room" Cloud said, fidgeting a bit. "I don't really like the idea of staying here but I don't have much of a choice."
Leon folded his arms, thinking to himself for a few minutes, before exhaling. "If Aris gets to be too much of a handful, I do have a spare mattress or a couch…my house isn't very big though."
Cloud shook his head. "I don't want to intrude. Plus you barely know me."
"I think after we hunt with you a few times, it'll be ok" said Riku with a shrug. "I'd offer, but the only room I have spare is my parent's- Sora already lives in the other room. I could shift around some stuff in one of the others, but…"
"Seriously, it's ok" said Cloud, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Though I'm getting a little worried about Aris if you three are jumping at the opportunity to offer me a room."
"He tried to exorcise me" Sora said flatly.
"Oh" said Cloud, looking a bit shocked. "…right. Ok. I'll…think about it. I don't think he'll be too bad with me, though…my dad would be pretty pissed if that were the case."
"Yeah, it shouldn't be too bad" said Leon, patting the blonde on the shoulder before turning and walking toward his car. "Remember to lock your door at night. Get out of the house if he starts drinking, too" he added as he walked.
"…Sora, Riku" Cloud said, watching Leon as he walked away. "If you were given the option between a hungry vampire and Aristotle, what would you pick?"
"Hungry vampire" they said simultaneously.
Cloud's shoulders sagged dramatically. "I was afraid of that."
The blonde accompanied them on the walk to their car, where the silver and brunette males loaded up their supplies. Cloud pulled out the blades from his pack, placing them in the back of Riku's car.
"Ok" said Cloud, indicating to the bat-wing one. Out in the open, Riku could see it also had a turquoise gem set in the hilt. "This one is called Soul Eater. Obviously, you strike with the back edge, but the wing tips are sharp as well; they're used for gouging, handy with certain supernatural types."
"I see" said Riku with a nod, as Sora peered around from behind the taller two men. "What about my one?" he asked curiously.
"It's called Fenrir. The blade's embedded with silver, so it's damaging to both vampires and werewolves, but the sword was designed for taking out the latter. Still, it's just as effective on the children of the night. It's more or less a traditional sword."
"What do you use?" Sora asked. "Just wondering."
Cloud smiled slightly, but there was pain in his eyes. "…A weapon called the Buster Sword. It was a friend's…but he died."
"…Vampire attack?" Riku asked quietly, and Cloud chuckled quietly as he shut the boot of Riku's car.
"If only" he murmured. "…Zack was shot to death. A hunter group from across town found out he was a werewolf."
"You were friends with…?"
Cloud sighed, adjusting the now-empty pack on his shoulder. "He got turned about a year before he died. He was managing it pretty well, actually. Had some hiccups, but…well."
The blonde shrugged, before giving them a short wave and walking back toward the shop. Sora and Riku looked at each other, wondering what it'd be like if one of them died at the hands of the people they trusted. Silently, they both agreed they never wanted it to end that way, as they headed back into their car and drove home without a single word spoken between them.
