Disclaimer, et al: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This chapter didn't exactly go as planned, but here it is.
If time is a river then we shall all meet death by water. - Jeanette Winterson, Gut Symmetries
01: Ice Age
Riku gets good grades in school. He keeps his head down, ignores everyone with what seems like arrogance but is really a failure to relate. People are peripheral, and on the bus every morning they barely enter his field of vision. High-rise buildings and the cloud-covered sky they partially obscure pass the windows. He looks forward and reads the sign on the back of the driver's compartment: fares, fare reductions for students and pensioners, where to find a bus-pass application. When the bus stops he crunches his ticket in his hand and leaves it on the seat.
Sometimes the river near his house freezes. No place is perfect. He wonders if the world will one day be cold enough that the vein of the river will carry the ice into the ocean, and they will both freeze entirely, like a bridge: maybe travelling would be easier than his first attempt, and he'd discover something better.
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Sora gets off the bus two stops early. People are already complaining about the heat, heads resting against the windows. He shouts toodle-oo and tugs Kairi by the wrist, and she almost trips her way down the steps as he twists to wave goodbye to the driver. They're by the stop at the beach, its metal pole sagging to one side like it's giving up and the tide a distant line waiting to be pulled ashore. Sora kicks off his shoes and stuffs them into his backpack, signalling Kairi to follow his lead. She rolls her eyes but complies anyway. As she bends down, she misses Sora's impish grin and consequently misses the warning that she is about to be shoved none too gently into the dunes.
He watches and laughs as she dusts herself off, still sprawled on her back in the sand. Any minute now, retaliation is certain, so he cuts her off, takes his backpack and runs along the beach. A few seconds later she's tearing after him, abandoning her bag and shoes.
"Vengeance!" She screeches, and soon enough she catches up to him. Two seconds later, he has a mouthful of sand.
"You know, Kairi, you look like this weedy little thing, but you're really built like a sumo wres-"
As he speaks, she moves and sits down hard on his feet, and puts on a sickly-sweet voice. "It's called muscle."
Eventually she shifts and lies on her stomach, imitating Sora, and looks out to the horizon. He chances a glance at her and she doesn't return it, but Sora knows that she can feel him watching, thinking. She purses her lips in thought. "You don't get off the bus early for no reason, lazy. So?"
He turns away from her and looks out. The tide doesn't seem like it's edging any closer. The wading birds are far away, beaks stabbing and foraging in the shallow pools. "Do you ever wonder why we're here?"
Kairi turns and rests her head in her hand, one elbow in the sand. "Like the meaning of life?"
"Nah. Why are we on this island?"
Kairi turns onto her back and wonders why she feels restless when it's Sora who's asking restless questions. "Yeah. Sometimes."
Sora lets the pause drag a bit, and digs out a little piece of wood from the sand with his thumb. "Ever think of an answer?" Kairi shrugs her shoulders. He frowns, but only lets the expression sit for a few moments before looking out to the horizon again. Kairi burrows her feet into the sand and imagines thousands of tiny dormant creatures sleeping underneath and waiting for water.
The tide starts to move in, but slowly, so they stay where they are. Kairi says, "You know that test we have in English next week?"
"Uh, I do now?"
Kairi laughs and Sora joins in. They lie side by side until the tide is washing right in front of them. Kairi's hair is hanging in rat-tails by the time they leave the beach. When Sora reaches his front door he waves Kairi goodbye and she answers that she'll come over tomorrow. It's a Friday, so Sora expects that she'll arrive the next day with a stack of papers and highlighters, ready to study before he's even awake. He waits outside just long enough to hear a maternal wail about the state of Kairi's hair, then he closes the door behind him.
His mother is sitting in the lounge, a long list on the table in front of her and a wineglass in hand. She gives Sora a bright smile when he slumps onto the couch and hugs his bag to his chest. "Never should of stopped going to those AA meetings, mum."
She uses the notebook on her lap to whack him on the head.
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For whatever reason, Sora can't sleep that night. He groans and tosses onto his stomach, then mashes the pillow over his head. He can't think of any reason for a sleepless night: next week's test isn't important enough to worry him, the room isn't too hot, and the clock isn't mocking him. It just blinks three thirty-seven.
