It was only a short distance from the neighborhood where Sora, Riku, and Kairi all lived to their school. They thus endured the walk together each morning, setting out just after the sun rose. A few gently winding roads melded into the main part of town where Islands High School was located. It made for a wonderfully quiet, serene walk for the three.
"But noooo, the waffles wouldn't just wear the freaking hats already; they made me prank call Tidus before they decided they would fit on their heads. Apparently the waffles had heads in my dream. I just remembered that, yeah." Unfortunately for Riku and Kairi, Sora was an incorrigible morning person. "No, wait, by the time they put the hats on they were already Tidus's mom, and then she got all mad at me for running up her phone bill. Riku, are you listening?"
Riku grumbled what Sora assumed to be an affirmative. Really, all of Riku's early-morning grumbles sounded alike. Kairi was at least coherent by the time she got outside.
At this point, they were entering the main part of town. Now, conveniently placed along the path to their school was a charming little coffee shop and bakery. Nudged between a bookstore and a florist, it was lovingly maintained with warm paint and a cozy atmosphere. Naturally, the smell of roasted coffee attracted the three teenagers walking down the street. Between that and the positively delightful staff, it had become something of a tradition for many of the Islands' students to stop by before school.
A bell chimed above their heads as the trio walked in. "Nao!" Sora waved to the blonde behind the counter.
"Like, hey! You guys are first today! The usual?" She didn't wait for a reply before shuffling around behind the counter.
"Hey, what if I want something different for once?" Sora tried to sound hurt.
Nao continued on her way with nary a backward glance. "And, like, do you?"
"Uh, not really."
"Here you go!" Nao set three cups on the counter and was promptly paid in a pile of grimy Munny. She tried to refrain from making a face. Absorbed as she was, she failed to notice a much larger problem in the making.
Sora had carelessly grabbed the cup closest to him.
"Sora, wait!" Kairi's voice rang through the little café. "That's Riku's!"
Riku suddenly jerked to life and moved to grab Sora's hand. He was too late. By the time the warning registered in Sora's head, by the time Riku got a hold of his friend's wrist, a quarter of the espresso was gone, and Sora's eyes had widened ever so slightly.
An observant onlooker might have noticed a small twitch in the hand gripping the paper cup.
"S…Sora?" Kairi squeaked.
"Ohmygosh, I am like, so sorry!" Nao wrung her hands for a moment before dashing into the back room. A panicked wail emanated through the door. "Booooss!"
Riku and Kairi were frozen, their wary eyes on Sora, who by that point had set the cup down and was shaking noticeably.
The tinkling of a bell broke the silence, and a brunette walked in, followed by a small group. "Morning! Na-Nao… Sora?"
"Selphie! Guys! Get out of here!" Kairi ran over to herd the small crowd outside. Questioning faces peered in but were hurriedly shooed away. Kairi finally slipped out herself and slammed the door behind her, leaving Riku to fend for himself and finding herself surrounded by curious stares and shouts inquiring as to the reason they couldn't get their freaking coffee. Only two other people had seen enough to get a good idea as to what was happening.
"What's… Is Sora…? No. He didn't!" Selphie squeaked.
"He accidentally picked up Riku's… I should probably go back in and help."
A tanned hand rested on Kairi's shoulder as she spun around to head back in. "Hey, I don't think that's such a good idea. Riku can handle himself, ya?" Wakka looked pointedly at her.
She frowned and shuddered, reluctantly releasing the door handle. She prayed silently for her best friends' safety.
Riku gripped his friend's shoulders and spun him around, staring intensely at glazed blue eyes and bracing himself. "Sora?" There was no response, save for Sora's continued trembling. The younger boy continued to stare into the space beyond his friend's right ear.
Riku noted vaguely in the background the muffled sound of Nao's apologetic near-hysteria in the back, followed by the deeper, calmer voice of the shop's owner.
He pushed them out of his mind, focusing on the catatonic remains of his friend. He was getting frightened. He shook Sora gently.
Silence. A brief moment passed.
"Riku!" Blue eyes snapped to life, and Sora launched himself like a cannonball at the other boy.
"Oof!"
Just then, the door to the back room slammed against the wall and Vincent strode out, crimson eyes ever stern. Long black hair blew across his face, and the gold highlighting on his boots and his left arm seemed to flash more than the lighting of the room should have allowed. His deep red cloak, a faint white dust dotting the hem, billowed out behind him.
He appraised the situation: Sora, latched onto Riku's torso. Riku, attempting to pry him off lightly despite what looked like a dwindling supply of oxygen. Nao, hovering behind him and utterly destroying her manicure with her teeth. An assortment of teenaged faces, staring wide-eyed through the window (Vincent realized at that moment that the windows were really far larger than was practical; he might just have to get rid of them entirely. As soon as possible).
Sora had begun nuzzling Riku's shoulder, which was slightly awkward considering the circumstances, when Vincent reached out toward him and lifted him up by the most convenient handle available. It took a moment for the functioning portion of Sora's brain to register the fact that he was being strangled by his own necklace, and in the interest of self-preservation, he dropped Riku in favor of haphazardly clawing at his own throat.
Vincent dropped the chain and Sora leaped away, unconcerned with the chairs he was knocking over and skidding to a stop at the other end of the room. Electric blue eyes, even brighter than usual, zipped from side to side, eying everything from the intricate molding along the ceiling, to the people determined to keep him from doing any permanent damage to anything (or anyone), to the guilty cup of coffee still resting innocuously on the counter. Just as Riku starting inching forward, the eyes fixed on the other person standing there.
"Vinnie!"
Having considerably more warning than Sora's previous victim, Vincent slid safely out of the boy's trajectory. Except for one little detail.
"You have flour on your cloak!" Sora wailed as his eyes welled up, voicing his feelings of utter betrayal. "You've been baking again!" He clutched the offending cloak desperately and yanked at it, inadvertently paying Vincent back for the earlier choking episode.
"Sora… he owns a bakery. Yes, of course he's been baking."
Sora was unfazed by Riku's logic, addressing Vincent shrilly. "Where's my chocolate éclair? Don't you love me?"
Vincent was at a loss. He tugged futilely as his cloak and looked to Nao, wordlessly demanding that she come remove his leech. The mutinous employee could barely keep from laughing.
"So did you guys ever even tell Sora that Vincent gives him decaf every day?"
"Well, no... We figured he'd get all indignant on us and insist on getting something else..." Kairi was only shuffling her feet a little bit, really. "And, well… You guys know how that goes."
"You mean he goes batshit?"
"Um… yeah, that." Kairi risked looking over her shoulder and through the windows along with everyone else.
"Oh, man, dat's gotta hurt, ya?"
"Isn't that necklace Sora has really pointy?"
"What, you think Vincent's gonna stab him? Nah, he'll be fine."
"Holy crap! I didn't know Sora could move that fast!"
Kairi frowned as Tidus accidentally shoved an elbow into her arm. "Guys…" No response. "Guys…!"
"He is going to calm down eventually, right?"
"How's Vincent gonna pay for all this damage?"
"Fifty munny says Riku takes him out!"
"Hey, dummies!"
A few bewildered faces turned to meet the disapproving frown of what was now a rather upset Princess of Heart. "I know all this is all really entertaining, but don't you have better things to do than watch Sora get strangled?" Her arms crossed. "You're not being any help here, and they do sell coffee in other places too, you know."
Any remaining whispers broke off awkwardly.
"Hey, uh…" Wakka fidgeted and looked away. "We didn't mean nothing mean, ya know? We can't just leave now, not while he's all…" He trailed off with a few extra vague gestures thrown in.
"Yeah!" Selphie piped up. "We're here for moral support! Sending Sora good vibes, right?"
Kairi sighed, massaging her temples and smiled ruefully. "Yeah… Sorry guys, I didn't mean to go off on you. I mean, with everything he's been through… I'm sure he'll be okEEEEK!"
The unmistakable sound of delicate objects shattering into thousands of pieces drew all their morally supportive faces back to the window in an instant.
Whatever had just happened was over. The café was practically in ruins, but all was quiet. Sora was nowhere in sight. Nao still stood behind the counter, eyes wide. Having run out of nail to gnaw on, she'd moved on to her fingertips. Vincent and Riku appeared to be crouched over, talking about something too quietly to hear from the outside. A moment later, Vincent nodded once and stood up. As he walked back to the kitchen with a flash of red, Riku shifted slightly to the left, revealing—Oh. There he was.
Sora was lying face-down on the hardwood floor.
He did not appear to be moving.
Riku flipped him over and hoisted him up onto his shoulder, proceeding to carry him to the door.
"Hey, uh, Riku?" Wakka was the first to say anything. "Sora is… alive, right, man?"
Riku seemed genuinely surprised, though it could have been either at the question or at seeing the sizable crowd waiting outside. "Yeah, of course. Uh, what are you guys doing here?"
"Waiting for you two, of course!" Kairi crossed her arms. "We're your friends; did you expect us to just abandon you?"
Riku looked slightly confused. "Er, no… it's just that school started." He gestured at the clock of the nearby bookshop. "About fifteen minutes ago."
Kairi followed his gaze. "…Eheh, heh, right…" She giggled sheepishly as the larger part of the crowd behind her squeaked and scrambled away in a rush to get to class with minimal punishment. "I guess we'd better go too, then. Ah, about Sora…?" She peered at the unconscious face drooling slightly on Riku's shoulder.
"He'll be fine. You know him." Riku, apparently unaware of the drooling, shrugged and started heading off in the direction of their classmates. Kairi followed suit.
"So you two worked out what to do about all the damage?"
The pair had decided to take their time getting to school in the vain hope that Sora might wake up on the way.
"Yeah, Vincent said he'll pay for it if Sora and I help out fixing some of the furniture. I figure Sora'd feel bad enough about it to try and fix it all on his own, but it's probably better if I pitch in, too."
"Mm-hm…" Kairi realized she'd left her latté sitting on the counter back there, but thought better of bringing it up.
They walked on a few more minutes in silence. Within sight of Islands High School, Riku noticed Kairi eying Sora, a questioning look in her eyes. Gathering her courage, the girl took a deep breath. "So, Riku… what did actually happen in there? At the end?"
Riku shook his head and sighed, adjusting his grip on Sora's limp body. "Well, the details are a little… It's kind of…" He gestured futilely with his free hand. "Let's just say… that claw thing Vincent has? Not just for show."
That, Kairi decided, was all the detail she needed. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the trio entered the schoolyard.
UGH, I UPDATED. OH MY GOSH, I UPDATED. UGHHH. x_x
Okay, so in the middle of Chapter 2, I may have gotten a little sidetracked. I didn't intend it to turn out so cracky, and I am so sorry for how I so utterly murdered Vincent, but… somehow, I love baker!Vinnie.
For the unfamiliar, Nao isn't an OC. She's another Nomura character, from The World Ends with You, which by the way is an incredible game that everyone should play. I figured she was fair game as much as Final Fantasy. ^_^