March 16, 2012 - ENDING OF CHAPTER 1 REVISED.
This is the edited, non-explicit version. Go to my profile for the link to the original.
A/N: I know I have other fanfics that need some attention, but I really wanted to start this idea before I let it slip into the depths of the ideas I let get away from me. :[
This is going to be loosely based on the popular Vocaloid song, Alice Human Sacrifice. I'll also throw in stories from other Vocaloid horror songs for on the side. No, you don't have to have any prior knowledge of the Vocaloid fandom to enjoy this fic—I'm merely using it as a base for the horror C: (Then again, knowledge of the Vocaloid fandom won't really make this fic any more predictable either… hee.)
Unfortunately, at the moment I have tons of schoolwork piled on me, so updates are going to be hella slow. Don't expect one for a while—I'm just throwing fair warning.
Credit where credit is due: Translated lyrics were taken from lordxwillie of YouTube. I don't know the original creator of Human Alice Sacrifice.
There was once a little dream. No one knows who had dreamt it. It was really such a small dream. This made the little dream think, "I don't want to disappear… how can I make people dream me?"
The little dream thought and thought, and at last had an idea.
"I will make people come to me, and they will make my world."
A Small Dream
Chapter 1 – The Beginning
Riku anxiously checked his cell phone for the third time in the last five minutes. 1:24. Kairi and Sora were supposed to meet him at the restaurant about a half an hour ago. Where could they be?
Finally, after an agonizing twenty-four minutes, Riku spotted Sora running in the distance, looking disheveled. Well, at least he knew that he was running late.
"S-sorry, Riku!" he cried out as he quickly approached. "I couldn't find my wallet, and—"
"Whoa, slow down, Sora." Riku chuckled as his best friend bent against the stone wall to catch his breath. "It's all right; Kairi's not even here yet."
"Oh…" Sora replied between pants. "Huh. I wonder where… huhhh… she's at."
Riku shrugged. "She didn't answer my call. I guess we'll have to wait."
Sora's breathing slowed, and he stood up straight again. "I'll bet she caught up in her shopping again," he guessed with a shrug, "and probably didn't hear her phone."
"Maybe." Riku played with a button on his top, flicking it back into place over and over. When did being with Sora be so awkward? Quickly Riku squashed those feelings that were threatening to come to light. No, not now.
"So I've been thinking," Sora started, catching Riku's undivided attention, "about the future."
"Time's moving faster than it used to," Riku observed offhandedly. It was already five years since they'd returned from their epic journey through other worlds.
Sora nodded and continued. "About when we get older and where we want to be. Everyone's been asking about when 'Kairi and I are going to get a place of our own,' and 'when Kairi and I are going to get married.'"
Riku inwardly twitched about the thought of Sora and Kairi being together. Everyone on the islands talked about them being the cutest couple, and how Riku's the third wheel in the trio's apartment.
Sora went on, "But I decided that's not what I want." Riku was watching Sora intently. "I love Kairi. But… us, dating? It's weird. We tried once, remember?"
"Yeah." Riku didn't want to think about it or where this conversation was going. There were other girls that had an eye for his—with Sora.
"So then, I thought about if there was anyone else I'd rather be with." Sora glanced away, watching customers enter and exit the restaurant. Suddenly, Sora was blinking rapidly and swallowing thickly. "And I thought it about it really hard. Every time I started making a list, all I could think of…" Swallow. "Was you."
"Me?" Riku inquired, trying his best not to prematurely get his hopes up and failing.
Sora nodded, returning a tentative gaze back to his best friend. "Yeah. If I had to choose someone to spend the rest of my life with… it'd be you." And there he was, words spilling out of his mouth without control. "Because I just lately have been having these weird dreams about us and then I think about one day being away in our own lives and I realize I couldn't bear that because it's you I look up to and look for strength and I want no one else but you…"
Sora's voice dropped to silence when he realized he was indeed rambling. Mentally he scrambled for the pieces and concluded with a single sentence that was softly spoken but brimming with absolute certainty, "Riku, I love you."
It was so quiet that Riku had almost missed it, but he was sure he heard it, because he would never miss something he'd been waiting to hear for years. To reaffirm, he searched Sora's eyes, which were staring back at Riku with unwavering determination. Riku couldn't smother the grin starting to spread across his face and the blush painting itself on his cheeks. And Sora grinned back, presumably because he could read Riku's expression clear as day.
he loves me he loves me he loves me
But instead of the kiss that would set fireworks ablaze, Riku took Sora's hand in his own, the touch making his nerves crackle like sparks of electricity and whispered in the brunet's ear, "And I love you."
Sora's grin grew so wide that Riku's own spread thicker across his face, and Riku could feel his heart thrumming so hard he thought it would bust at any moment. It was a feeling that lifted the heavy questions and sent them spiraling in the air, disappearing as if they'd never been.
And as Riku contemplated the action of reaching for Sora's lips despite their current location, they numbly heard a familiar voice in the distance. Simultaneously they turned to see Kairi, her hair splayed and knotted from her sprint.
"I know it's waaay after one o'clock, I am so sorry. I just went out to get groceries and then I ended up getting roped into helping Mrs. Morrow take her groceries home and then I was getting cookies shoveled down my throat, and until I looked at my phone I hadn't realized how late it was."
"Kairi, I couldn't find my wallet and just got here five minutes ago," Sora laughed. "Poor Riku was standing here by himself."
"Yeah, and I was even early. Poor me," Riku jested.
Kairi took a moment to peer at Sora, then to Riku, and back to Sora. "You two look suspicious," Kairi spoke as she started to smirk. "Okay, what did I miss?"
"Nothing!" they shouted together. Kairi shook her head in disbelief.
"Eventually you two are going to have to tell me. So… are we gonna get a table or what?"
Inside the cozy restaurant, Kairi sat across from the guilty-looking men. They buried their faces in the menus, even though they always got the same thing at Costal Hideaway every Saturday.
Flicking her menu across the wooden table with her fingertips, she tried again. "Seriously, you two are acting like giddy school girls. What happened within the five minutes of me coming?" Sora and Riku looked up like two animals caught in headlights. "What could be soooo secret that you can't even tell me, your bestest friend in the whole world?"
Sora looked at Riku for help, and Riku said promptly, "We were wondering if you dating anyone."
Kairi's eyebrows furrowed as Sora's threatened to fly right off his face. With a soft smile, Kairi answered, "Maaay-be."
"Maaay -be who?" Riku admittedly wasn't expecting that kind of answer.
"Well—"
"Hello." The waitress had arrived back at the table. "Did you decide what you'd like for lunch today?"
"Yes, I'd like the strawberry chicken salad," Kairi requested whilst compiling her and the boy's menus.
"A California burger with extra mayo, please," was Sora's order.
"The crab-cake sandwich, with coleslaw on the side."
"All right," the waitress chirped, collecting the menus from Kairi atop her small notebook she'd been scribbling on. "I'll put your orders in then and a refill of Cherry Coke for you." With that, she bounced away, leaving the three back to business.
"How do you guzzle down an entire glass of soda before we even put orders in, Sora?" Kairi giggled.
"Sor -ry!" he quipped, playing with the straw in his empty cup. "So you gonna answer Riku's question? Oh! Is it someone we know?"
Kairi beamed at the two. "I'm withholding that information until you two spill the beans about what happened outside the restaurant. And don't try to lie. You know you can't fool me!"
Riku's eyes flickered over to Sora's blue ones. Sora nodded and the former returned his gaze to Kairi. "Well, we… uhh…"
"Riku and I are dating now!" Sora declared, sensing Riku's insecurity. Not believing how blunt Sora's outburst was, Riku hid his face with his palm. He heard the waitress set down a second glass on the table and snatch the empty one.
"Well, about time." Riku peered up and saw her crossing her arms. She was taking this better than expected. "You two have been staring at each other for years now. I was just waiting until one of you cracked."
"So you mean…" Riku croaked, "you knew this whole time?"
"Before you two even realized it yourselves." She took a sip of her soda, lips delicately placed around the straw. "And to keep my end of the deal, I'm going out with Tidus tonight."
Both men rocked forward across the table in shock. "Tidus?"
"He asked me to go out with him to dinner yesterday while I was at work," she giggled. "So long as the three of us didn't have any plans tonight." Riku and Sora shook their heads in unison. "Yeah, I figured."
The conversation drifted into lighter matters, and soon the food came. As Riku crunched a mouthful of coleslaw, he noticed a young girl in the corner of the restaurant. She was a teenager, maybe around 14 or 15. Her pink hair hung in two high pigtails, tendrils swirled an inch above her shoulders. The girl appeared to be waiting for the bathroom in that corner, but no one ever came out.
Instead, she stared at their table fixedly. It was creepy. For a moment, their eyes locked, malicious intent sharpened in her features. He broke the connection, afraid of that sense that was nagging the back of his mind.
As soon as the bill was down on the table, Riku snatched it, stuffed the full amount and tip in cash inside the bill folder, and made a bee-line for the door. Kairi and Sora weren't far behind, overwhelmed by Riku's sudden exit.
"Riku, what's wrong?" Sora asked, tugging the back of his sunshine yellow button-up.
"I felt something," he murmured.
"Something?" Kairi asked.
"Darkness," he hissed. Kairi held a hand to her chest in disbelief.
"I didn't feel anything," Sora offered. "Maybe you were imagining it."
"No, it was Darkness." He could feel his voice trembling and breaking. "I spent a long time drowning in it. I can sense it a mile away. Did you see the girl with the curly pigtails?"
Kairi and Sora looked at each other with the same question visibly on their lips. What is he talking about?
"I didn't imagine this," he said, aware that his friends thought he was unreasonably freaking out.
"Riku…" Sora wrapped a hand around the taller man's, relaxing and stimulating Riku in one fell swoop. "It'll be okay. Let's just go back to the apartment, okay?"
"Wait," Riku ripped his hand out of Sora's grip to peek back into the restaurant. But there in the corner where Creepy once stood was no one. And the swallowing grip of darkness had dissipated too. Maybe he had just imagined it.
"Riku," Sora repeated. "It's okay." He held out a hand that Riku couldn't resist taking for his own. His Sora. No one else's. "Let's get goin'."
It'd only taken an hour since the time Kairi left for her date for the two men to be caught in an unnerving silence. They'd turned on an action movie, but it was one they'd seen dozens of times and neither were really watching.
Sora was the first to turn, admitting that he'd never been paying attention. "Riku?"
Riku rolled his head to the side to look back. "Yeah?"
Sora's eyes were darting back and forth. But they were always focused on Riku. Riku felt his face flush at the thought. "How long?"
Riku didn't have to ask for clarification. "I don't know," he admitted. "A long time. Before we left the islands. It's… vague, though. One day it just kind of hit me."
Sora smiled shyly, something the brunet didn't do very often. "Yeah, me too."
And they stared at each other in silence, save for the shouting and vehicles playing in the background. Sora was first to make a move, reaching his hand to touch Riku's face. His fingers tentatively skimmed the raised bone of Riku's eyebrow, and traced the outline down to where his cheekbone began. His palm pressed to his cheek and a thumb rubbed the corner of Riku's mouth.
Riku's stomach did a flip in response to the soft touches, previously unaware of how something so small could make him feel so warm. The raggedy crème couch creaked as Sora balanced himself with his free arm to lift him towards Riku's face, both of their breathing getting faster by every passing second. Blood rushing in Riku's ears drowned out the sounds of the television.
The gap between their lips closed, and heat seared through Riku's neck, spine, and all the way down to his toes. They broke the kiss, and both reached for another. Riku felt Sora's mouth open a little; he himself did the same. After a few more soft kisses, Riku experimentally poked the very tip of his tongue to taste Sora's lips.
Sora groaned lowly and replied with a brave thrust of tongue. Eagerly the two deepened their kiss with tongues sliding against each other, and Riku pushed into Sora's mouth fiercely. Sora gave a little yelp and separated himself.
"What's wrong?" Riku asked, worried that he'd taken a step too far.
"You're getting me with your teeth, jerk." Sora laughed, giving Riku a poke in the shoulder. "I think you're kissing too hard."
"Sorry…" Riku murmured. Kissing didn't come as naturally as he thought it did.
Sora laughed openly, breathy from his hormones kicking it in full drive. "Don't be sorry. I don't really expect you to be good at this."
"Have you ever done this?" Riku asked, unsure. He knew that Sora and Kairi's relationship had been a bit rocky, but he never dared asked how far they'd taken it.
Sora shook his head, and then flashed Riku his trademark toothy grin. "Nope, first time."
Riku smiled. That was a pleasant surprise. This time Riku was first to go in, picking up where they'd left off. Heat pooled in the pit of his stomach and made him tingle all over.
Sora reached to touch Riku—fingers slowly trailed down the front, feeling muscle through his shirt. Sora's fingers explored up, down, and around, until it brushed against a perk nipple.
Riku couldn't fight the soft moan he'd voiced in Sora's mouth. It encouraged him to roam both hands with palms flat against him. His left hand stopped right below a nipple, gently massaging it as the other hand lay around the side of Riku's neck.
The skin prickled with heat where Sora's bare palm lay against it, and where he was receiving attention was making him lose his mind. Returning the favor, his hands skittered across Sora's torso rapidly. His left hand imitated Sora's, grazing a nipple absentmindedly as he tried something he'd seen in a movie before.
He grabbed the pinna of Sora's ear, and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. He felt Sora shudder between kisses; it'd worked after all. Riku was tired of following Sora's lead, so he took it upon himself to push Sora backwards on the couch. Their limbs caught tangled in an awkward mess, and they took a moment to pause and lay themselves out comfortably.
As Riku shifted and slowly lowered himself atop Sora, he felt something hard against his thigh. Butterflies flittered down somewhere deep within him; Sora wanted this just as badly as he did.
Settled in with one arm partially curled between the both of them and another alongside Sora's head, Riku began to kiss Sora feverishly. Sora hummed and reached for Riku's back with both arms, wildly grabbing and running up and down his shirt. As Riku shifted slightly to get flood flowing back into the arm that had been crushed, Sora leaned up into Riku, rubbing their full erections together.
Riku grunted in surprise, but pushed back. His skin was on fire and his heart was in his throat. At this rate…
A thought came to Riku as he suddenly stopped altogether. "Sora…" he mumbled. Sora glanced up questionably at his lover as his mind scrambled to form a coherent thought. "How far do you want to take this?"
Sora's pupils were dilated from lust, and he was clearly trying to think himself. "As far as you want to."
Somewhere deep within Riku, he twitched in anticipation. "What if it's too soon? We just started dating today, Sora, and already..."
"Riku, we're guys with sex on the brain," Sora stated plainly, "and I know I love you. It's not a mistake, if that's what you're thinking." Sora was spot-on. "It's nothing to be afraid of. In my heart, I know it's okay. Don't you believe that?"
"Yeah. I do." Riku smiled softly, kissing Sora once more. "Does that mean you do want to…"
Sora laughed. "Isn't that obvious?" Riku's chuckles bubbled out uncontrollably, unable to handle the immense amount of emotions overflowing. He trembled in excitement, the anticipation making his guts melt into a puddle.
When they floated down from the orgasm, Sora laid down gently on top of Riku, twisting his legs around Riku's. The bed was only meant for one, so it didn't leave much room for them to lie otherwise.
"I love you," Sora whispered, planting a kiss on Riku's salty cheek.
Riku smiled and left a kiss in Sora's spiky hair. "I love you too, dork."
Slowly Sora slid himself out of Riku, and stood on his knees to stretch widely. "Whaddaya say to a shower?"
"Sounds good," Riku replied, "But you'll have to give me a little bit, I'm a bit sore here…"
Sora sniggered a little at Riku's expense, who got a soft wallop in the head for it.
"Next time, you're bottom."
"Aww, Riku!..."
It was the next day when the trio was back out again to catch a bus to the dock. Today they were headed back to the small island they grew up on for a visit. In reality, they probably would have stayed on the island, but all there was offered now were beach houses that couldn't be afforded by three young adults fresh out of school.
Sora let out something that was like a sigh and a yawn. "Riku…" he managed to breathe out. "How much longer until the bus gets here?"
Riku looked down at his watch to note the time. "It should be here any moment," he answered. "Be patient. We have all day, you know."
"Bahh," Sora groaned. "But I'm bored…"
Kairi giggled at Sora's silliness. "Sora, Riku's right. Calm down."
Sora grimaced. Riku turned to Kairi whilst giving a small yawn as well. "So," he stated, "how was your date with Tidus last night?"
Kairi gave a small smirk. "Fine," she chirped.
"No juicy details?"
Her grin only widened. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would." As Riku spoke, the bus pulled up to the stop. Without hesitation, Sora flew inside the instant the doors opened, immediately depositing the correct change before clambering towards an empty seat.
"I'll tell you on the bus," Kairi said quietly with a hint of mischievousness as she hopped on next, much more graceful than her excitable friend. Riku followed her in, doors shutting behind him moments after he filed behind Kairi and sat between Sora and her.
"Well, first he took me to that new fancy restaurant they just built on the boardwalk…"
"You mean the one with the green and purple umbrellas?"
"Yep."
"That one looked so cool! Was the food good?"
Now that the three were settled in, Kairi and Sora were chatting about Kairi's date. However, Riku found himself unable to concentrate on the conversation. Although it was only sunrise, the bus was completely empty. He supposed that it was a Sunday morning, but he still had the heebie-jeebies about the situation.
Adrenaline flooded into his stomach when he found himself staring at the back of the driver's head.
It was as if he wasn't allowed the time to assess the weight of the situation before the bus rollicked wildly through the streets, no yield given to opposing traffic or pedestrians. Riku held on to a seat for dear life, failing miserably as fingers slipped against the plastic seat. Meanwhile, Sora clutched Kairi on the floor to try to keep their balance steady as much as possible.
Tendrils of inky darkness flooded the bus floor, and Riku knew that his suspicions were true. The girl from the restaurant—she was going to kill them right there.
But before Riku could do anything to stop the inevitable, the bus rolled to the left, and there was nothing more.