Hello readers my name is Calismo and I'll be your authoress this evening. For your enjoyment I have provided for you peanut packets and sodas. Let's enjoy the ride, yah? Well then, lets get on with it.
This is my first Kingdom Hearts fiction, inspired by me finally beating the Chain of Memories game. I finally finished Riku's little adventure of it, and now I have to go back and beat the first one. Heh. Well what to say about this fiction--the pairings are not to be revealed yet, as I'm not sure what exactly I want to do with this one. It might just end up being SoraXRiku / CloudXLeon, but we'll see... This first chapter is really long; longer than I expected it to be. I think I might add in a short prologue before this, but maybe not.
NOTE: This story contains yaoi content; don't read it if you don't like it. I will not accept flames coming from those who don't read the warnings ahead of time. If you flame me you will be stuck with me, and no one wants that.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix / Jupiter. I own no part of this game, nor do I own any of the Final Fantasy characters, namely those from VII and VIII.
Date Begun: January1, 2006
Date Posted: January 17, 2006
- This fiction is dedicated to Slashapalooza and The Machination for writing the best Kingdom Hearts fictions I have ever read. -
Chapter One
A silence ran throughout Destiny Isle, encasing the city in its iron grip and crushing it slowly, slowly. It was early in the morning, and no one was out on the streets. No one, that is, save for one person. Cloaked in darkness, the figure gave off the unmistakable scent of blood; blood that was splattered all over the figure. Slowly, slowly the figure made its way down the street and out of sight, determined to make it home before the sun rose as to avoid suspicion. It clambered up a large hill towards an apparently empty house, shoving open the door and collapsing on the grand staircase. Five blocks away, one of the maids of the many hotels of that side of town let out a piercing scream as she came face to face with a corpse; its throat had been slit and trails of dried tears were apparent on its cheeks, as if it had been killed by a very special person. A very special person indeed.
-0-0-
It was a putrid day outside. While there was no rain, there was no sun either, and it was just cold enough to make you need a sweater. But the moment you donned it, you became too warm. There was ultimately no wind until you had to walk in the direction where you'd be fighting against it, at which time it would start to blow furiously. So with all that said it was safe to assume that all the students of Kanagakure High School were tucked warmly inside their beds with a mug of cocoa and a manga, safe from the world's attempt to destroy their morale by burying them in such horrid weather, right...?
Well they would've, had it not been Monday.
In one house a boy of fourteen was rising with the hopes of seeing beams of light washing his walls in rosy color, only to find them looking more placid and grey than ever. Half-expecting to hear his mother marching up the stiars ready to force him up said boy shifted and let his cold feet dangle over the side of the bed, prepared to let the torture commence. But no one came, and the minutes ticked on. 'Why isn't she coming?' He sighed; it was so deep and so loud, and it punctured the silence of the room so much that he instinctively called out for his mother; there was no response. A bit frightened now, and all drowsiness gone, the boy sprang from his bed and out into the hallway, scurrying down the stairs and on towards the family room. Blue eyes widened; big, round, and full of concern. Cinnamon locks--held in place by what he liked to call "hair glue"--shaded his eyes and gave him a haunted look. He desperately strained to hear the up-beat music that was usually playing; smell the cofee his mother brewed.
"Mom!"
There was still no response, and all was dark.
"Mom! Mom!"
"Oy, stop yelling Sora."
"MOM!"
He clung to her in desperation, trying to stop her from edging away from him. He heard her laugh, and was amazed that he fell for the all-is-silent-so-someone-must-be-dead ploy that she had set upon him. 'It was just to get me out of bed without any effort...' Thinking back on it, Sora realized that he'd acted rather silly and childish during the situation, and instantly flushed with humiliation. Only his mom could get a rise out of him making a fool of himself. At least she still loved him, even after he'd acted like a dolt. Smirking, she peeled him off and flicked on the lights. With a shout of "surprise!" she turned Sora around and forced him to look at the room. Balloons and streamers decorated the room in mix-matched organization, colorful beyond imagination. Tied to his usual chair at the table were two black balloons, each bearing the words 'Happy Birthday' in white letters.
At the center of the oak table sat his cake--beautifully decorated--with fifteen burning candles situated in odd spots. His mother pushed him into his seat and began singing to him in her sweet soprano voice. He grinned widely as he realized he'd been set up more than he thought. Not only had his mother not had to drag him out of bed, she managed to pull off a surprise party for him. And he'd completely forgotten that today was his birthday! He felt rather special. But as he stared up into his mother's sweet face, a pang of sadness shot within him. There were many more memories like htis. Memories where another voice was singing, duet style, with his mother's soprano voice. He pushed the memory away, resolute to enjoy his fifteenth birthday to its fullest. Starting with praying for better weather...
"Here," his mother fed him a moutful of his cake. "Now go get ready for school."
"Mom! On my birthday?"
"Yup," she winked. "Now go."
Thirty minutes later he was standing in front of the bus stop waiting for the bus. It clunked up over the hill in slow-motion, lumbering down the road at its own place before stopping ten feet away from where he stood. Sora smiled; it always did that. He nodded to the driver and moved to the last free seat available--all the way in the back. The other occupant of the seat had his face bent over something and his hand was moving furiously across the page. Sora coughed, trying to catch the boy's attention. However, the boy must have been rather engrossed in his work because for five minutes Sora did nothing but stand there in the back, staring down at the boy who was depriving him of his seat. The bus driver, looking back, must've decided that Sora had chose to stand because he revved the engine and made a U-turn, ready to chug back up the hill. A bit impatient and insulted at being ignored, Sora gave the loudest cough by far, tapping the boy on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
For a moment, Sora forgot what to say. Deep blue eyes gazed into his own; a piercing blue. Soft blond hair framed his pale face and his mouth was set in a thin line. Sora gawked; it was the face of an angel. An angel who was staring at him as if he'd seen him somewhere before.
"Um, may I sit here?"
"Oh, yeah! Go right ahead."
He scrambled up his stuff and Sora sat down. The blond's hand moved briefly from where it was covering the book and he caught a sight of a picture. It was a beautiful picture from what he could see; handrawn it depicted some sort of scenery. He pointed to it and the boy conceeded, so he snatched the book up. The boy sat blushing, knowing that he had been temporarily forgotten. Sora stared at the picture, awed at the beauty of it. The detail. A cherry-blossom tree hung over a pond and in the middle of the pond danced a Dryad made of the fallen petals. 'This is so beautiful...' He moved to flick through the other pages, to see the other drawings of the boy, but was interupted by a somewhat frantic voice.
"Can I have my book back?"
Pulled from his daze Sora too blushed, handing the drawing book back quickly. "I'm sorry."
"S'okay," the boy shrugged. "My name's Cloud. You?"
"Sora. Nice to meet you," Sora gestured to the book. "You've got talent."
"Oh no--my work is nothing. Hey Sora, you wanna eat lunch with me today?"
'Wha...?' "S...sure."
Cloud beamed, sitting back and letting the rest of the bus ride pass in silence. Sora was glad for it; he was never invited to eat lunch with someone very often. It wasn't that he was anti-social, it was just that he always found the perfect time to say the absolute wrong thing. It never failed and thus he'd given up on friends completely, preffering to be a lone wolf. What would he do this time? Make a stupid joke, insult someone without knowing, sit in something? 'Maybe this isn't a good idea.' What excuse could he use to worm away from this mess?
Their high school loomed in the distance, contructed fo dull gray bricks, surrouned by parched yellow grass and dying trees--the only blemish on an otherwise flourishing and prosperous city. As the bus pulled to a creaky stop Sora and Cloud made their way off. Just as Sora opened his mouth to gently decline the lunch offer a football came whizzing at his head. Luckily Cloud intercepted it before it came crashing to his skull. In the distance a low shout of "sorry!" was heard, and Cloud replied with some witty comment. Thus two seconds later he found himself in a headlock with Sora watching in amusement. The attacker paused to push back his silver hair and flick his aquamarine eyes up to Sora's blue ones. And once again he found himself blushing as this boy stared up at him.
"Hmph. Stick to fortunes, Riku. You're aim sucks."
"Hey is this the boy?"
"Yup."
"Oh, so I was right."
"You always are."
The warning bell rand and sent Sora into a frenzy. As he ran Cloud called after him "oak behind the gym" and siappeared with Riku behind the old, dilapidated building by the bus stop. 'What, they're not going to homeroom?' The bell ended sqiftly with its last 'dong,' giving Sora five minutes to get to class before he was marked tardy. He let his mind wander back to the other boy for a second...Riku... That sex-god who was the epitome of all things sexy and perfect--he was supposed to eat lunch with him? Oh, he was screwed.
While Sora was running frantically towards the school--and occasionally pausing as Riku's face came to mind--Cloud and Riku were watching. They smirked at each other; Riku had definately made an impression. As Sora finally disappeared from eyesight the two made their way stealthily through the city and ending up in front of a fancy house. It sat on a hill, which seperated it from all the other fancy houses. The building gave off an air of elegance and danger, as if warning people to stay away. Riku rang the doorbell. The door opened on its own accord, giving the two their means of entrance. In the shadows lurked a figure, dark and terrible. Storm grey eyes drew them in further and the door closed, encasing the three in total darkness. Sighing as he groped his way through the dark, Cloud felt his hand come in contact with the dest table and from there he made his way even further into the dark.
"Leon turn on the lights!" Riku called.
"Hn. Fine."
Light flooded the room and Cloud found that he had been saved, for his hand was a mere inch a way from where it should never be, and Leon most certainly would have whacked him; he withdrew quickly. As the shadows diminished Leon was revealed to them even more. His face was stoic, as per usual, and he was silent. He had the aura of a killer and even his scent always managed to hold a trace of blood, no matter how faint it may be. This morning his eyes were circled with wearniness; it seemed his entire being was drooping over. Thus with Riku's and Cloud's combined efforts--and Leon's protests and glares--the two carried their wearied friend to the couch and lay him down. And then they jumped on him.
"Get off of me!"
"You finished the job, right?" Riku whispered in his ear.
"You didn't hear that maid scream?"
"Nope; I was dead asleep."
"Oh, lucky you."
Cloud nuzzled Leon's neck while Riku lavishly ran his fingers through his hair. The three were close, and if they wanted to they could've called themselves a threesome. But they chose to remain just friends for reasons no one would understand. Gradually Leon's glare lessened to that of nothing, and then a small smile was playing on the edge of his lips. Even though he rarely showed it, he loved the attention he recieved, and loved the attention he gave to the other two when it was their turn to recieve it from him. Riku shifted position, allowing himself to nuzzle the other side of Leon's neck, leaving the boy in a wonderful position. He was happy--he had two completely molestable boys at his side--and he didn't have to go to school.
No annoying teachers, no rabid fangirls, and no homework. What more could a person want? Time dripped on and they began to talk, mostly about nothing; occasionally about something. But soon it turned to the night before...
"So did you meet the boy?"
"The one I saw after we finished the job? Yeah, Cloud found him just like I knew he would."
"And did you see anything...promising?"
Cloud laced his fingers with Leon's, "No."
"But we're eating lunch with him."
"Oak tree?" Leon kissed Cloud's fingers. Cloud nodded, sighing lightly.
The three lapsed into silence, and then on to gentle sleep. Two hours or so ticked on, measured by the old grandfather clock sittin gin the hallway outside the door. Stirring, Riku took in the soft scent of his friend. Leon almost always could take his worries away: there was something about his quiet, reseved demeanor that calmed him and his fears. And Riku did have many fears. His future, mostly. Even though he excelled in everything and could have any job... Well, anxiety and doubt always gnawed at his soul. 'Oh, my head...'
He ran a hand through his tousled hair, trying to straighten it out. He intended to head upstaris towards the bathroom near Leon's room--it had always been his favorite, since it smelled of Leon, and he could always take a relaxing bath--but he glanced upon the clock, nearly choking to death. '10:30! Oh shit, we're late!' There was no point in trying to awaken the other two; they were too deep in sleep and snuggling to ever get up now. Momentarily he paused and looked back at his friends. Cloud's head was resting softly on Leon's chest, and the bigger boy had his arms wrapped around Cloud's waist protectively. There was no way he would be able to break that up. No, if he was to make in time he'd have to go alone. Energized, Riku ran out the door. 'I hope he doesn't think we diched him!" Riku began his descent down the hill, trying very hard not to trip. The school wasn't very far away; as he was running he could see the drab building and parched grass.
It was going to look rather odd to the boy--what was his name?--that he had no lunch to eat. Very odd indeed... He panted hard, cursing the school system. Lunch always started at 10:40 sharp. Just five minutes away--both the school and the lunch bell. How was he going to pull this lunch date off? Why he was going to turn on the charm of course! There was nothing he couldn't achieve with his charm. 'I just hope I make it there!' He put on a burst of speed, pumping his legs. 'Come on, lemme make it!' Two blocks away, Sora was beginning to cry.
-0-0-
"I knew it was too good to be true."
A tear slipped down his cheek, followed by several more. The courtyard was completely deserted, everyone having already gone off to eat. And Cloud and Riku were nowhere to be seen. Sora let out a choked sob. His fifteenth birthday had not gone well once school started. His favorite bully, Tidus, had ambushed him and gave him a swirly in a deserted boy's bathroom as a birthday present, ensuring that he would be tardy. Mrs. Utada--who was supposed to be on vacation until next week--had decided to come back early, and the two were not on great terms with each other. He hadn't done the homework, earning him a detention for tomorrow, and the weather had not brightened since the morning. And now, he'd been ditched for lunch. He bent his head low in shame, unsure why he was crying. It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before, but this one was affecting him much more than the others. '10:50...ten minutes late. Oh well.'
"Waiting for me?"
Sora's head shot back up; the voice was so close. And that was because Riku had bent his head in close towards Sora's in silence. A pale hand moved towards his face, wiping away a tear. Riku. The boy gave a sad smile, hands now behind his head. He'd been held up by stuffy adult who had seen him j-walk across the street and was determined to lecture him on the dangers of it. If it hadn't been for his graceful tactics of escaping, he would have been held up for the rest of the day.
"Sorry I'm late. And that Cloud's not here. It's just going to be me and you today, okay?"
"Uh...yeah. M...my name's Sora, by the way."
'We're opposites.' "Great! Come on!"
Riku took his hand and dragged him away from where he stood. They were headed towards the back of the school, where a large trellis made of vines led the way up towards the school roof; Riku took hold of the vines and shimmied up, one step at a time. Sora followed, less certain of his movements and ultimately slower than the boy in front of him. As Riku reached the top and hauled himself over, Sora was still at the halfway mark. Determined to make a good impression in place of his earlier tears he quickened his pace, on the roof before Riku could even turn around to look down at him. It was then that Sora noticed that the boy had no lunch. In fact, he had nothing with him save the clothes on his back.
"R...Riku, you're lunch?"
"S'okay, I'm not hungry," Riku gave a devilish grin, sliding over to Sora and wrapping his arms around his neck. "Unless you want to share with me?"
Sora's blush was immediate and rather deep; Riku inwardly smirked. The brunnete opened his lunch, tossing his companion two of his homemade onigiri. One of his two juices followed, and after that a few rice crackers. It was apparent that Sora had a healthy appetite. Turning a bit from Riku, Sora took the last part of his lunch and split it in two: a piece of his birthday cake. Happy for the chance to share his cake with someone, Sora handed the piece to the other boy with a wide smile.
"Your birthday?"
"Yup! Fifteen years old!" Sora clapped his hands over his mouth as he finished, knowing what was coming next.
"Fifteen, huh?" Riku whispered slyly, before pouncing on the boy and punching him--lightly--fourteen times.
"H...hey, that was only fourteen. If you're going to punch me, I'd prefer you not take pity on me and--"
He was silenced as Riku placed a kiss on his cheek, whispering, "Fifteen. There you go." He pulled away. "Now lets eat!"
"A...ah."
As Riku bit into his first onigiri, marveling over how quickly he'd been able to fluster the boy. And at how fast he'd turned the lunch date from serious to completely playful. He had work to do; he couldn't waste it making Sora uncomfortable, no matter how entertaining it was. So as the two ate in silence he tried to come up with a gentle way to turn the conversation towards where it needed to go. He frowned a bit; it was his job to find people and Leon's job to find out about them. 'Maybe I should have woken them up after all...'
"So where is Cloud?"
"With a friend. You noticed that we weren't going to homeroom, right?" Riku flicked his hair; Sora nodded. "We went to see a friend who isn't feeling to well. Late night job."
"Oh."
"Why?" Riku tipped his head to look at Sora closer. "Prefer his company over mine?"
Okay, maybe it wouldn't hurt to fluster the boy just one more time.
While Sora stuttered to reply, he vaguely heard the trellis behind them shake and shudder, as if someone were coming up. And his guess was true--Cloud tumbled over the side and landed on the ground with a 'thud.' And two seconds later, another boy came over the side. Now, while Sora had never seen Riku or Cloud, he knew this boy. He was first in his class and was president of nearly ever club he partook in: Leon. The boy gave him a slight nod, and the dark circles under his eyes indicated to Sora that he'd been the one Cloud and Riku went off to see. Bending down, Leon gathered up Cloud's limp form--the boy was not made for running distance--and sat down next to Riku.
"Sorry we're late."
"You owe me a bath when school is over."
"Hn."
Cloud opened one of his pretty blue eyes to gaze at Sora, smiling slightly, "Hey."
With Riku alone, Sora had been a bit uncomfortable. But now, with all three of the boys sitting before him--and him still having no idea why they wanted to have lunch with him--his uncomfort increased by tenfold. And he was getting cold. Riku took some time splitting his lunch with Cloud while Leon scrutinized Sora accutely. Before long, Leon was asking him questions. Random questions such as what his favorite color was, what his favorite subject was, and things of absolutely no importance. But he answered them with the utmost seriousness because if Leon was taking the time to ask them, they had to be important. The student-council president didn't waste his time on anything, let alone stupid questions such as these. They must have some importance. Cloud and Riku watched on as he was questioned, nodding their encouragement. Occasionally Riku would lean over and whisper in Cloud's ear, and the boy would glance disapprovingly at Riku, who only smirked in reply.
Needless to say, Sora was rather relieved when the bell rang for classes. He slid down the trellis quickly, as not to be caught on the roof, and--waving goodbye to those on the roof--headed off to his next class. He wondered vaguely what they were going to do; were they going to just sit up on the roof for the rest of the day? 'As long as they don't ever ask me to lunch again, I'm fine.'
-0-0-
As Sora thought, the three did stay up on the roof for quite a while. Just long enough for everyone to come back to school, and everyone to get settled into their classes. And that's when they made their escape back up to Leon's house. They walked leisurely, as they knew that by now even the adults would be back working and they would have no one to fear. Cloud and Riku spoke amongst themselves for Leon was still analyzing the results of Sora's questioning. Riku finished telling Cloud of how he had so tortured the boy, even adding that it might have interferred with how he'd answered Leon's questions. Cloud gave a short laugh, telling him that he should never mention that to Leon if he valued his life. The favored house came into view and the three scrambled up the hill in no time, Riku eager to take a nice, long bubble bath. The door was open--no one would dare try to rob Leon's house--and Riku bolted to the bathroom before Cloud could try to take it from him, thus leaving the other two in the living room.
"Where is everybody?" Cloud popped open a can of Coke, sipping it.
"Mother and Father are skiing in Aspen and Saku is at boarding school."
"You don't seem very happy about it, though..."
"Trust me, I am happy," Leon scowled as he stared at the large collection of family pictures on the wall. "Any time I don't have to hear them stuffing family history down my throat, I'm happy."
"Demo..." Cloud smiled. "You're lucky to have such parents. They accept your talents, and actually try to help you strengthen them!"
Leon was silent, so Cloud continued on, "They appreciate mine and Riku's talents as well, and they don't...they don't hate us for it. They appreciate that we're sacrificing a normal life to rid the world of...evil."
Leon looked away, "Killing isn't a talent..."
'He's stil...' Cloud took Leon's hand, "We wouldn't be the Three without you. You're talents are amazing. You have the ability to...to get close to anyone and then..."
"Kill them," Leon finished quietly. "Yes, it seems nice doesn't it? Riku sees them in his visions, you draw them, and then I go kill them. My family knows what I do and they try to send me off to classes to learn to kill better. Is that supposed to make me feel good?"
"Leon..."
"You try killing someone you've come to know, Cloud. And then we'll see if you still think it's a gift." he stalked off in anger.
Tears welled up in Cloud's eyes; he'd managed to anger Leon again. No matter how close they might've been, he was always the first to anger Leon into running off, and he could never seem to fix his mistake. Riku always had to help him. The minutes ticked on and Leon didn't return, so Cloud was left to wait in silence for Riku to finish his bath. The many pictures on the walls were beginning to scare him; generations and generations of scowling faces--didn't anyone in Leon's family smile? Riku's footsteps were dulled by the carpet but were still audible enough for Cloud. He turned to stare at his friend.
"Again?" Riku sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's not your fault. Leon still hasn't come to understand his position. You just have to give him some time."
"I still didn't have to go and--"
"And tell him exactly what needed to be said," Riku tapped his forehead with Cloud's. "Don't feel guilty. It's the way things were meant to be."
"That sounds weird, coming from you," Cloud sighed and handed off his Coke.
"Well it's true," Riku shrugged. "We're the chosen three of this day and age. We have the talents to 'rid the world of evil' and we have to follow the path we've been set on...right? I can see parts of the future and as I describe them you draw a picture of the person we're supposed to kill, and then Leon..."
"Leon goes out and kills him." Cloud responded.
"He got shouldered with the most responsibility, to be sure--but with everything else he does how could he not recieve this talent? He's the Student Council president, leader of eight clubs, and always the top of the class."
"I know, but still--he shouldn't have to deal with this," the blond shrugged. "He does all of that, sometimes spending days on end away, maintains his grades, and still looks after us."
"We have to be saviors of the world until we die, so let's not make this harder than it has to be," Riku stated, ruffling Cloud's hair.
Cloud's blue eyes flicked up, reproving, "You have no right to talk, with the way you were with Sora today."
"Heh," Riku shrugged lightly, "I couldn't help it. He was too cute to resist."
"You have to remember that he's just another target, nothing more."
"Mm, maybe that's why Leon is so bent out of shape. Killing a boy of his age is a bit disturbing," Riku licked his lips. "It should be a law to kill boys with asses as cute as that."
"He's just another target," Cloud repeated firmly, pulling out his notebook and turning to a page. "And we can't get close to him."
Tossing the book down onto the coffee table before them, he stalked out after Leon, wondering where the boy had gotten to. Riku sighed, setting the Coke can down and stretching his legs. Unfortunately he kicked the leg of the table and the soda can tipped over because of the movement, dousing the drawing book in sticky substance. 'Ah, shit.' Picking up the can, Riku looked warily down at the book, watching the liquid spread. A soda covered picture of Sora stared back up at him.
Well that was a bit confusing, wasn't it? The part where Ri-ku is trying to explain what their current situation is... Oh well, it will all become clear within the next few chapters. That was just to give you a brief taste of what extra responsibility they have. Killing evil people...where did I come up with that? oO Anyways, the next chapter might not be up for a while--just to warn you--because I first have to write it and then revise it. I highly suggest that if you plan on continuing reading this story, you should put it on Story Alert because I tend to get grounded a lot, or my computer breaks down, or something of the sort. So you never know what's going to happen with me, or when I'll update next. Just a warning.
Review please!
- Please note that over time this chapter will be revised. -
