Gee, I wanted to update sooner...well, this sucks. T.T I still have my goal, though. I shall finish this fic by Christmas day if it kills me! Although...hopefully it won't. Oh, and thanks for the awesome reviews. Much love and cookies for all. :) We meet Sora in this chapter! -Squeals-
Summary: Riku's mom signs him up to help out with an orphanage around the Christmas holiday. Riku groans at the idea. He doesn't want to em help /em them, but he doesn't have an option.
Disclaimer: -Laughs- Me? Own Kingdom Hearts? Maybe in my dreams. xD –Goes to sweet dreamland-
Warning: This fic will contain shonen-ai (boyxboy love). If you do not care for boyxboy love, I suggest you leave. This fic will also contain language.
Reviews Ah! Thanks so much for all the reviews, people! You all are too kind. –Bows- Keep 'em comin', and the chapters will keep coming, too. ;)
A/N: Okay, here we go again... If I'm lucky, the next chapter will be out in about three days or so. I already have it written out, but I haven't checked it for errors yet and I have no time on my hands with the Christmas ice show and my skating test coming up this weekend. -Crosses fingers hoping she'll do well and still be able to finish the story on time-
Riku: She'll never make it on time...
An Unexpected Gift - Chapter 2. Tarzan's Got a Tan
-o-
"Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks." - Samuel Johnson
As soon as Riku had entered the building, he knew his life had been changed forever. How long was he supposed to help out with the orphanage, anyway? Until Christmas Eve, that was when. That meant twenty-three days in this hellhole.
Riku followed the blond down the hallway. He heard no noise; he saw no one. What the...? Was anyone even in here? Besides him and the spiky blond dude, of course. Riku was startled when the blond suddenly spoke.
"Some of the youngest children are still sleeping," he spoke quietly. "But the rest have already had their breakfast and are back in their rooms. They're just up these steps," he said, beginning to already climb the set of stairs.
Riku quietly followed the blond up the staircase, or at least attempted to. Each step creaked every time Riku set a foot on it, and it felt as if they were going to fall out beneath him. Thankfully, they didn't, but it still felt like they were going to.
Finally, the blond and Riku made it up the creaky steps, and then they walked down another small hall, until they made it to a door. Before they entered, though, the blond introduced himself, "I'm Cloud Strife."
Riku nodded his head. "I'm Riku Sugisaki."
Cloud smiled before he quietly opened the door.
Riku smacked a hand to his forehead. Of course this guy knew his name! His mom had already told them that! Geez, he was an idiot!
"These are where the children from babies to three sleep." The door was cracked open, and Riku looked inside, his eyes shifted back and forth, amazed at how many small children and babies were quietly sleeping inside.
The door was shut quietly, and Cloud walked further down the hallway. He said, "This is where the children from the ages of four to eight sleep." He opened the door, and Riku peered in. All the children were playing happily, and there was an older girl in there. She had raven hair. Cloud smiled when he saw Riku staring at her.
"That's Yuffie," he explained. "She helps out here along with Leon, Aerith, Reno, Kadaj, and myself." He turned towards Riku. "You're the only who signed up to volunteer here right now. I'm quite thankful. Things can get quite hectic around the holidays, so we need all the help we can get."
Riku nodded his head. Cloud then opened the door and they walked inside. Yuffie grinned when she saw Cloud with their new helper. She stood up, patting a little girl's head.
"Is this Riku?" she asked, not being able to hold back the wide grin on her face.
Cloud looked down at Riku, then he looked back up at Yuffie. He nodded his head.
She ran over to Riku hugged him to death. "Oh, you're so cute!"
Riku growled as the girl hugged him, but thankfully she let go soon, or else she probably wouldn't be among the living any longer.
She then turned to Cloud. "Have you shown him around the entire orphanage yet, Cloudy-pants?"
Cloud shook his head.
"Then you better hurry!" She ran back to the little blonde girl. "'Cause I've got some great games planned for all of us!"
Cloud laughed. "All right, Yuff, I'll hurry up." He then motioned for Riku to follow him out the door, Riku threw Yuffie one last evil glare; she only stuck out her tongue and smirked. His eyes widened as his mouth was left agape. The nerve of that girl! Hmph!
He followed Cloud back out to the hall. Cloud walked a few more steps, and then turned to the door on the right. "This is where all the other children sleep. All the ones the age of nine and above, that is." He then opened the door, and Riku peered in. Cloud opened the door wider, and then the two stepped through the door.
When Riku looked around, many children were playing, some weren't, and even a few were sleeping. This room had the most children; that was pretty obvious.
Well, Riku thought, I suppose not that many people want older children .
Cloud smiled at all the children when they yelled his name. He turned to Riku. "This is where you'll be spending most of your time. Actually, since you'll be staying here, you are going to sleep in here. This is the only room where we have an extra bed." Cloud took a breath, after saying all of that. He then said, "Would like to meet all of them?"
Riku shrugged his shoulders, but was slightly grimacing. He had to stay in here? It was absolutely filthy! (It really wasn't-but Riku is being snobbish Riku again.)
Riku slowly followed Cloud, as he introduced him to all of the teenagers and children. Riku attempted to remember all the names. All right, he thought. So there's Kairi, Pence, Ollete, Hener? Or was is Hiner? Gah, screw this!
Riku looked around at the children, he then spotted someone lying in a bed, looking at a window that let sunshine pour into the room.
"Who's that?" Riku asked.
Cloud turned to look at the person Riku was motioning towards. "Oh, that's Sora..." He paused before he spoke again. "Sora is...very special."
Riku rose an eyebrow at this, turning back to face Cloud. "What do you mean, special?"
But Riku's question remained unanswered, for at that very second, Yuffie barged through the door, several of the younger children right behind her.
She started dancing and grooving as she went over to Riku and Cloud, she then sang out, "It is time...for a SONG!"
All the children cheered. Riku glanced nervously back and forth. What kind of a place was he in? It was soooo weird.
Yuffie rubbed her chin, walking back and forth. The children watched her with eager eyes. Riku looked at the raven-haired girl in a puzzled matter. Why did they like her so much? She seemed like a freak to him, anyway.
"Hm. Hm. Hmm. What song should we sing?" She stopped pacing, her face lighting up. "How about...'Tarzan's Got a Tan'!"
All the children cheered, Riku looked even more confused. "Tarzan's Got a Tan"? What kind of screwed up song was that? He crossed his arms and looked around for the only sane person in this room: Cloud. But he was nowhere to be seen. Oookay, he thought. People just randomly disappearing. I'll love it here, I'm sure. But Riku was startled out of his thoughts when Yuffie began to sing, all the children repeating every line after her.
"Tarzan!
Swinging from a rubber band
Tarzan!
Crashed into a frying pan
Don't that hurt?
Now Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banana!"
Riku's eyes widened, he was now absolutely horrified. He had not been sent to an orphanage, he had been sent to an insane asylum! He ran to an empty bed, and curled himself up into a ball.
"Jane!
Was flying in a jet plane
Jane!
Crashed into a weather vane
Don't that hurt?
Now Jane's got a pain
And Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banana!"
Riku attempted to cover his ears, but the next thing he knew, a hand touched his shoulder. His eyes widened when he realized it was the singing Yuffie. She gave him a death glare so evil and deadly, that Riku knew it meant, "If you don't sing right now, you can consider yourself dead."
Riku grumbled something under his bed, but quietly sang along with everyone else. Gah, this song sucked.
"Cheetah!
Was running on a pizza
Cheeta!
Burned his little feet-a
Don't that hurt?
Now Cheetah is Velveeta
Now Jane's got a pain
And Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banana!"
Okay...Tarzan ran into a frying pan, Jane crashed into a weather vane, and now a monkey was Velveeta. This song made so much sense!
"Shamu!
Was swimming in the ocean blue
Shamu!
Crashed into a big canoe
Don't that hurt?
Now Shamu's feeling blue
Now Cheetah is Velveeta p
Now Jane's got a pain p
And Tarzan's got a tan
And I hope it doesn't peel
Like a banana!"(1)
Everyone repeated the last line several times, getting louder and louder and louder each time. Riku groaned as the song finished. He collapsed onto a bed, a blank expression on his face.
"I'm in Hell," he said. "I'm in Hell. It's the only explanation. You know...no sane human being could stand such torture."
All the children cheered, exactly the opposite of Riku, and then Yuffie bounced over to Riku, Cloud beside her. "Soooo...what do you think we leave Riku alone so he can get to know them even better?" Yuffie asked Cloud, but as he was opening his mouth to object, she grabbed him and said, "That's exactly what I thought you'd say." She then dragged him out the door, and slammed it shut.
Riku's eyes widened. Alone...with these little monsters? Okay, first of all, he couldn't stand his brother, and he couldn't stand most people at school. Well...Axel was somewhat an exception, although he still did get on his nerves. But...but being alone with all these children? Ohhh, he swore that freak Yuffie would pay. Oh, yes, she would.
Riku sat up on the bed, pulling his knees to his chest and looking down, hoping all the children and teens would simply ignore him. But that wasn't the case.
"What's your name?" asked a young girl, tugging on a lock of Riku's silver hair.
He growled slightly, pursing his lips together. He lifted his head and stared down at the girl. She only giggled. "You're funny," she said. "My name's Rikku."
Riku arched an eyebrow at this. "Nice to meet you, Rikku. My name's Riku," he introduced himself, although his tone wasn't the nicest in the world...
The girl laughed. "Hehe. You're so silly. My name's Rikku, not yours."
Riku was now getting slightly irritated, so he then said, not hiding his irritated tone, "How do you spell it?"
"R-I-K-K-U," she answered.
"Well, I spell it with only one K. See? My name is Riku, now leave me alone, Rikku."
But this only made her laugh again. She tugged on Rikku's hair again. He grabbed her wrist as his face shot up. But before Riku told her off, he was distracted by something else. There was another girl, she had brown hair, and had one green eye and one blue. She hopped onto Riku's back. "Give me a piggy back ride!"
Riku stood up, dropping the girl on the bed. "No."
"Pleeeaaase," she said so sweetly, Riku cringed.
"No," he said again.
"But you must," she insisted.
"No, I won't," he said back, much more dangerously this time. His eyes were flashing like fire. He hated his mother right now...with all his had signed him up for this torture chamber. It was all her fault. But he was only thankful for one thing: This meant that he wouldn't have to see his mother or Sephiroth for quite some time. That was the only thing he was thankful for.
And just as the girl was about to say something, Rikku came back again, with another girl with gray-ish/silver hair and red eyes. She looked quite pissed, maybe even more than Riku was...
"Let's all play...hide and go seek!" Rikku suggested, smiling widely.
All the children cheered, even the teens seemed excited about this. Riku looked back at the brunet staring out the window. He furrowed his brows together. Why was he so "special"? And why was he still in his bed? But Riku didn't get to think anymore on the subject, because Rikku grabbed him and told him to close his eyes and count to 100, because he was the seeker.
Riku grumbled at this, but gave in. He knew that little Rikku would get him to play no matter what, and he didn't want to keep getting pestered about it, either. He glanced back at the brunet once more, he had hadn't moved in the slightest, and he hadn't even taken a glance away from the window. It were as if...he didn't even know anyone else was there. But Riku shook his head, closing his eyes and beginning to count to 100.
"1...15...29...36...48...57...64...72...89...91...100. Ready or not, here I come!" Riku shouted, he then looked around the room. Oh, my gosh. Don't tell me he had to find every last. single kid from four to teen? He groaned at that thought.
But when he spotted a braid of blonde hair, he grinned evilly. Oh, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all. He quietly sneaked over to where the blonde hair was and pounced. He immediately heard giggling. It was, in fact, Rikku.
"Gotcha!" Riku said, grinning widely.
"Ahh, you got me!" She stood up, now standing by Riku's side. "Want to go find the others?"
Riku nodded his head, his mood only swaying slightly. He was still grumpy from the evil raven-haired girl Yuffie, no doubt about that.
But after Riku and Rikku had found all the children in this one room, they all left to go find the others that could have hidden in any other room. And as all the children and teens left, the brunet boy turned his head toward the door, ever so slightly. He then slowly moved it back to the window.
Once all the children and teenagers had been found, it was already time for lunch. Thankfully, Riku's mother had packed Riku a delicious lunch. He was quite thankful for that, even thought the other children's food looked good, no one could cook like his mom.
So once he had finished his lunch, most of the other children were still eating. If not, they were playing happily, forgetting Riku for now.
A brunette with a long braid walked over to Riku, she looked very sweet, he noted. She had a tray of food in her hands. She smiled as she said, "You're Riku, right?"
Riku furrowed his brows together. "Uhh...yeah."
"It's very nice to meet you," she said, smiling further. "I'm Aerith. Umm...would you mind giving Sora his lunch? I have to go feed the youngest children now, and," she turned her head to where a redhead and silver-haired boy were playing with the other children, "everyone else is busy." She then looked to where Cloud and another brunet were; they seemed to be in a heated discussion.
Riku paused, thinking this over. He was really wondering who those other three guys were... "Uhh...yeah. Sure. But...which one's Sora?" Although Cloud had already told him which one he was earlier, Riku had completely forgotten it now.
"He's up the stairs, in the second door on the right. You can't miss him." She then handed the tray of food to him.
Riku nodded his head, taking the tray of food. "All right." Aerith smiled as Riku walked away towards the stairs.
Once Riku had made it up the stairs, he went in the second door on the right. He slowly cracked the door open, it creaking as he did so, and then went inside. He looked around back and forth, and then he spotted the brunet on the bed. Ah, now he remembered. That Sora kid...was the one that was "special".
Riku slowly walked over to the brunet boy, he still didn't turn to look at Riku. Riku wondered what the hell was up with this kid...but he wasn't rude enough to ask, that was for sure.
"Are you Sora?" he asked, even though he already knew he was.
The boy didn't look at Riku, but after a moment's hesitation, he slowly nodded his head. Riku furrowed his brows and frowned, he then shook his head slightly. "I'm Riku," he introduced, actually trying to sound happy and not so cruel for once. Yes, it was quite a shock.
But the boy said nothing in return. Riku was about to tell him off, when the brunet finally turned his head to Riku. That was when their eyes finally had the chance to meet. Riku was quite stunned, to say the least. He had blue eyes; very blue eyes-such a blue he had never seen eyes that color before. They're perfect, he found himself thinking. He shook his head, closing his eyes. When he looked back, the brunette had already turned back toward the window. Riku frowned at this. He then said, "I brought your breakfast."
Then the brunet said something, but Riku wasn't able to catch it. "What?" he said.
"Thank you," the brunet repeated, but it was still barely even a whisper. Riku gave Sora the tray and the brunet took it. Riku couldn't bring himself to walk back to the door. He actually stayed there, still staring at Sora, for about ten to fifteen minutes. But Sora never ate any of his food.
"Aren't you hungry?" asked Riku.
The brunet shook his head solemnly. Riku frowned at this. He stared at Sora for a little while longer, who was still looking out the window, before he headed back to the door. But just then, Sora called out something; Riku didn't even hear what it was.
"What?" Riku asked, turning back to face Sora.
The brunet continued to look outside. "Nothing," he said.
But Riku walked back over to the brunet. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," the brunet replied. "Nothing at all." Sora was thankful when he heard footsteps. He figured that silver-haired guy was finally leaving. He was relieved. But then he heard another noise. Someone had sat on a bed.
He whipped his head around, only to see that Riku guy smirking and crossing his arms, now sitting on the bed next to him. Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's stare. His smirk only grew. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what it is."
Sora opened his mouth to protest, but he dropped his head, and turned back to the window. He then said quietly, "I wondered if you'd help me."
Riku's ears perked up at this; this was interesting. "With what?" he asked.
But Sora did not answer. Instead, after a long time, he said, "But I really do wish you would leave me alone."
Riku found himself frowning sadly, he honestly didn't know why, though. He didn't even know anything about this Sora kid...except that he was considered "special". Why should he care if this boy seemed so sad? Riku didn't know why, but this Sora really interested him. But, he actually did leave. He stood up from the bed slowly, and walked back to the door. He hesitated, wondering whether to say goodbye or not. Eventually, he decided against it, and shut the door quietly behind him.
As soon as the door shut, Sora turned his head to look where Riku had just left. He blinked several times, with those beautiful blue eyes, but then he slowly craned his neck back to look at the window.
Riku slowly walked down the stairs, still puzzled by the whole thing involving Sora. Who was this kid? Why was he still in bed? Why was he so "special"? Why was he so quiet? Why did he seem so sad? And why did he have such beautiful blue eyes? Riku cursed himself for his last question.
When he made it down the stairs, Yuffie was there to greet him. He immediately started walking back up the stairs, only to be pulled down by her.
"Sooo...Rikuuu...would you like to meet the rest of our gang?"
Riku grumbled, but agreed. He did want to know whom else he would be living with, after all.
She grabbed a redhead by the collar. She then said, "This is Reno. He's crazy, so you'll have to learn to live with him." Reno smiled and waved, but then he was pushed out of the way, as Yuffie brought over the silver-haired boy. "And this is Kadaj, Reno's boyfriend." Riku perked up at this. Very...interesting.
She then grabbed Riku's hand, dragging him to the kitchen. She pointed to the brunet, who was currently talking to Cloud. "And that's Leon. He's desperately in love with Cloud, but he doesn't even know it."
"Then how is he in love with him?"
Riku got conked on the head for that. His anger meter immediately rose to a ten. Oh, this surely was dangerous. Then Yuffie patted him on the head. His anger meter rose to 12. If it got up to fifteen...you wouldn't want to be in the same city (or country, for that matter) with Riku Sugisaki, that's for sure.
But Yuffie had now run off to the kitchen, jumping on Cloud's back, begging for a piggyback ride. She squealed when he actually did so. Riku stood there still, silently fuming, but his anger meter had now dropped to a 10. Thank heavens...maybe it would drop down all the way soon.
When Riku's anger meter had finally dropped down to a safe level, he walked back to the living room area. Several of the kids were playing there, toys were out, and some were actually sleeping on the couch. Riku grumpily sat in a chair, wanting to be left alone. But that obviously wasn't the case. For the next thing he knew, a redhead jumped in front of him, scaring the living daylights out of him.
"Shit!" Riku cursed.
The redhead tsked at Riku. "You shouldn't swear; there are children here, Riku."
Riku looked up at the demented redhead, ah, it was that Reno punk. The one that was...crazy. Riku took in a breath, and then said, "Hello."
Reno grinned at this. "How old are you, Riku?"
Riku didn't really feel like talking, but he was bored, so what the hell? "Seventeen," he answered.
Reno whistled. "Awesome. I feel so old compared to you."
Riku looked at Reno for a long moment. For some reason...he reminded him of someone. Someone that had red hair, and emerald eyes. Hmm...
Reno grinned at this. He then asked, "Do you have any siblings?"
Riku's anger meter rose slightly. What...was he being investigated or something? But still, he answered the question, anyway. "I have an older brother... And I hate him with my guts."
"That's nice," Reno said.
Riku looked at Reno as if he had grown a second head. He really did think he was in an insane asylum now.
"Are you straight?" Reno then asked.
Riku chocked out at this. What the hell was this guy's PROBLEM?
Reno's grin changed into a smirk. "Maybe a better question is, are you gay?"
Riku continued to choke on air; Reno patted his back. Soon, Riku recovered, and he shot that dumb Reno his death glare. Reno merely shook it off. He then said, "Not sure?"
Riku coughed into his hands. He then looked at Reno, and slowly nodded his head.
Reno nodded as well, smiling. "Well, I'll help you figure it out."
Just as Riku was about to pounce Reno, he jumped out of the way, and went to go tackle the other guy, Kadaj. Kadaj seemed to be getting just as annoyed with Reno as Riku was. Riku laughed. And they were supposed to be dating? Pssh.
Riku closed his eyes, relaxing back into his chair. He hoped the rest of the day would be easy. Well, it wasn't, but Riku honestly couldn't complain.
Riku learned things about the group of friends in charge of the orphanage that night. First and foremost, Cloud was a very nice person. He was the most sane person out all of them, too, that was for sure. He felt like he could actually talk to him without his anger meter rising. Now that other guy that Cloud was with all the time...Leon...Squall? He honestly wasn't sure what he was called. The guy also barely spoke a word, and he left Riku feeling cold. Riku actually shivered just thinking about him.
Reno was obviously the most insane person in this orphanage, no doubt. He kept asking Riku questions all night, and Riku got very annoyed at this. Finally, Cloud came to his rescue, telling Reno to relax and go chase Kadaj. Reno had listened to Cloud. Now Kadaj...Reno's boyfriend, he was pretty much sane, but he acted quite funky sometimes, too. He kept cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. He must have been a clean freak.
And...that Yuffie. Riku's eyes flared at the thought of her. She was out to kill Riku he swore it. She wanted him to be murdered by a bunch of five-year-olds; oh, he knew he was right. And...for some reason now, she had walked over to him, grinning like a cat who had just eaten a canary. (2)
"Sooo...Riku...how do you like it here?" she asked, sitting down next to him on the couch. They had just finished eating dinner. Riku thought it wasn't too bad. Kadaj was a really good cook.
"It's Hell," Riku answered, before he could catch himself. He covered his mouth, gasping slightly, worried what the Devil Woman Yuffie would do to him.
"Aw, you don't mean that," she said, scooting closer to Riku. Riku wasn't comfortable with how close she was.
Riku groaned, deciding it was better to shut his mouth than get hurt by Yuffie. He had already seen her beat up Reno and Cloud earlier. He swore she was pure evil. Hey...she reminded him of his mother and Sephiroth all rolled into one! Yep, she did.
"Well," she said, "why don't you play with the children a little bit before their bedtime? And also, I expect you to go to bed the same time the teens do. Got it?"
Riku nodded his head. He REALLY didn't like how close Yuffie was to him.
"Good," she said, grinning. She then stood up, leaving Riku alone. He grumpily crossed his arms and legs, wishing he could be home...
...Although, the thought of home wasn't all that nice, either. Riku settled for here. He'd take Yuffie and the other kids over his crazy mother and brother any day of the week. So, with a heavy sigh, he stood up and walked over to where the kids were currently playing. Yuffie, though, actually jumped on Riku's back, begging for a piggyback ride (she was simply obsessed!). He caved and ended up giving her one. Although, his anger meter was now at level 10.
Let me explain Riku's Anger Meter™ (3) to you. If Riku's Anger Meter™ reaches a certain level, you are in danger. And if it goes even beyond that level, your life is in danger. Here is Riku's Anger Meter™:
../\15 - If Riku's Anger Meter™ ever reaches this level, you are dead
/... \12 - It should never EVER go beyond this level
... ..10 - If it reaches this level, planet earth is in danger
... ..8 - You should run if the anger meter reaches this level
... ..6 - You should not let the anger meter reach this level or above
... ..4 - You are in slight danger if the meter reaches this level
... ..2 - You are safe if the meter is here
So, going by the anger meter, planet earth was currently in danger. But don't worry, the anger meter soon dropped to six, and finally went down to a two. Our dear planet was safe.
That night, when Riku was getting ready to go to bed, he looked over to that Sora kid. He was still looking out the window, looking to the beautiful night sky, filled with the bright moon and the shinning stars. He hadn't moved at all...in the slightest. Riku found this...very odd.
Well, they did say he was "special", whatever that meant. What was wrong with this Sora...anyway? Riku was very interested in the brunet, and he would not leave his thoughts.
Riku was just about to speak to the brunet, when something hugged his legs. He looked down; it was the other Rikku. She looked up at Riku, smiling brightly.
"G'night," she said, her emerald eyes twinkling.
Riku sighed, but he couldn't help returning the smile, even if it was very slight. "Riku here, saying good night to Rikku with two K's."
She giggled at this, squeezed his legs further in the hug, and then ran off to her bed, jumping into it. Riku shook his head, smiling. Yes, he hated it here, but...it wasn't all that bad. Even if most people were crazy here, their hearts were in the right place...
Although...then I suppose you could say the same went for his mother and Sephy...never mind. Scratch the thought entirely. All crazy people equals bad. I mean, come on...look at Selphie, for crying out loud! She was an absolute NUTCASE!
Everyone admitted it, including herself.
And right before Riku crawled into his bed, he glanced over at Sora again. He hadn't closed his eyes at all. It looked like he didn't even blink. Riku shook his head. Why was he so wound up over some punk kid who was "special"? Heh. He had better things to do...like sleep, for instance.
He wrapped his special blue scarf around his neck, since there wasn't enough heat in the room, and his blanket was quite thin, leaving him cold. It took Riku quite some time to fall asleep, and when he finally did drift off, all his dreams involved that kid Sora.
When Riku awoke, before all the other children, that is, he noted that Sora was still looking out at the window; he was already awake. Riku wondered if he had even slept at all. Riku rubbed at his eyes, he was still slightly sleepy. That bed he had slept in...was an absolute nightmare. He groaned, sitting up out of his bed. He got out his backpack from under his bed, grabbed a towel, a toothbrush, and a change of clothes.
He then headed off to the showers. Today...was going to be another long day.
Once Riku had finished getting dressed and cleaned up, he played with the children a little, but mainly kept to himself. After this, they all ate breakfast. Riku missed his mother's cooking. Even though Kadaj was a wonderful chef himself, no one could compete with his mom. End of discussion. And when Riku was sitting down on the couch, his thoughts trailed off to Sora again. Just then, Aerith brought a tray of food to Riku, asking him if he could take it to Sora. Of course he did.
When he knocked on the door and entered, he wasn't surprised to see him staring out the window again. Yes, nature was beautiful...but wouldn't it get a little boring, staring out there all the time? Did Sora think? Did he comprehend anything else was going on around him? Riku wondered, but his questions would remain unanswered.
He walked over to Sora, saying a kind hello. Sora nodded his head in response. Riku sighed. He said, "I brought your breakfast." Riku then added, "Kadaj's a really good chef."
Sora nodded his head. He said, "I know," very quietly.
Riku pursed his lips together. He got more and more curious about Sora every second. He handed Sora his food, Sora took it, and yet again, did not eat. After watching Sora a few moments, Riku turned to leave. "Have a good morning, Sora," he said.
Sora said nothing in return. Riku left quietly.
Just as the other day, as soon as Riku had left, Sora slowly turned his head to face where he had just left. "Riku..."
Once Riku was downstairs, he searched and searched for Cloud. Once he finally spotted him, he saw that he was wearing a skirt, and ribbons were in his hair. Riku began to laugh, covering his mouth with his hands. Before he could dare say anything, Cloud spat out, "Don't. Say. Anything."
Riku stopped laughing, seeing Rikku run to get some make-up from Aerith. Oh, great.
Riku cleared his throat and said, "Cloud, what's the matter with Sora?"
Cloud sighed at this, removing a pink ribbon from his spiky blond hair. "Sora is very..."
"Special," Riku finished. "I know. But why is he special?" Riku persisted.
Cloud opened his mouth, and then he shut it, rethinking. He sighed. "Sora...he's... He has no feeling in his legs at all. He's handicapped."
1 - Crazy song my sister taught me. She's in college and once a week takes care of younger kids through this organization... They teach 'em funky songs—and that was one of them. I find it rather amusing. xD
2 - You have no idea how much I loathe that phrase. My canary hates it too (his name is Lemondrop—I love him to death. XD But Yuffie looks like it a lot, in my opinion. ;)
3 - Hehe. Riku's Anger Meter is so much fun. I have no idea where it came from, though.
Next chapter: Yuffie takes Riku Christmas shopping, Riku helps make lunch, and Riku gets just a li'l bit closer to Sora.
Okay, see you all next chapter! And don't forget to review!