Adding Incomprehension
Summary: It's common knowledge that Sora sucks at math, so his mom tries to help by getting him a home tutor. Well, too bad she hired Riku Hayashi, the most popular and obnoxious guy in school. – AU. RiSo with a side order of AkuRoku. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly.
Sora hit his head on the table, groaning loudly. Hayner immediately dropped Pence's camera on the pale surface.
"I swear, Sora, if you do that once again, I'm going to cut your head off!" The blond one warned, obviously pissed off. "What's wrong with him, anyway?" He then asked, looking at Roxas with an arched eyebrow.
"Riku is his home tutor," the brother stated emotionlessly, eyes on his book.
"I know that," Hayner said, rolling his eyes. "What's the problem with this? Sora is the one who said Riku was cool. He should be delighted."
"Yeah, well, apparently Riku isn't as cool as he looks like," the other blond said, looking at his brother for a split second.
"He is a beast!" The brunette boy suddenly shot up, eyes wide. "I thought he was going to kill me!"
"Hush, Sora, you're exaggerating!" Kairi waved her hand, as if trying to make a point. "I bet he is really sweet and cool and dreamy…"
"Kairi, get to the point," Hayner said, trying not to laugh.
"Oh, right!" The auburn-haired girl blinked once, as if getting back to reality. "Anyway. I'm sure you're just jealous, Sora. Riku is perfect!"
"No, he is not! You should come to the lessons, Kairi! You'll see! He's a monster!"
"What did he do?" Pence asked, picking up his camera and hanging it again on his neck.
"He threatened me! He is worse than my mom!" The brunette boy cried out, pulling at his brown spikes.
"Well, Sora, why don't you try talking to him about it? Maybe he was just stressed by something," Olette offered, her calm voice making her idea sound possible.
"Olette, you are the only one here who thinks your crazy ideas would help! I bet the truth is Riku hates Sora," The dirty-blond haired boy said, successfully dodging the slap Olette aimed at his arm.
"Why would he hate me? I never did anything!" It was not a problem that the Riku Hayashi hated him. The problem was that Sora was never hated by anyone, his cute face and cheerful personality only served to make him be ignored at school and, at the worst situation, be slightly mocked by his childish behavior. No one ever hated Sora. It was against the laws of nature.
"Maybe he doesn't hate you, per say, Sora. Maybe he just… Doesn't quite know you. Yet! This is your perfect chance to get to know him! Go ask him to go home with you today, you two have to study, anyway!" Kairi's voice was overexcited, her eyes shining with happiness.
"You just want Sora to introduce you and Riku after they get friends, Kairi. Don't think you are fooling anybody," Hayner grinned, clearly enjoying his friend's reaction.
"Hayner, you! That's not true!" The girl argued, pale face turning slightly pink. "I'm doing this for Sora!"
"Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Hayner said, still grinning.
"Don't listen to him, Sora. Now, seriously! Go talk to him, he's right there!" Kairi encouraged her friend once again, indicating the silver-haired boy with her head.
"I-I can't. There's so much people there!" Sora said, lowering his eyes, embarrassed. Riku was a celebrity in school. The chances of finding him by himself were the same chances of Roxas admitting that he was gay. Things like that just didn't happen. "Besides, I have track practice this afternoon. That's the only thing mom allowed me to do!"
"So what? Riku has archery practice! The practices end at the same time and you two are going to the same place afterwards. Why not go together?" The girl insisted, and when Sora didn't reply, she pushed more. "C'mon! There won't be many people here after school. It's the perfect opportunity!"
"Do I have a choice?" Sora asked, half defeated.
"Nope!" She replied, all smiles.
"Fine! But I hope you know I'll haunt you after Riku kills me."
"Sure, Sora. Whatever you want," the auburn-haired girl said, not really paying attention. Nothing could ruin her good mood.
"So… How are you feeling about all this?" Roxas asked, his voice panting a little.
"What?" Sora asked back, his face red and sweaty, panting hard.
"About Riku being your home tutor," the younger brother continued, pausing a little to take a deep breath, "do you like it?"
"I don't…" the older one started, stopping because of his lack of breath and to think of an answer. "It's just… I had this whole different idea in my head from how he would be if we met. Is it just me?"
"No," the two of them stopped talking for a while, then, speeding up the pace when the coach told them to, adapting their breaths before speaking again, "anyone could have been mistaken. You had no way to know that he was like that."
"Do you think I did something to him?" Sora asked suddenly after a few minutes racing, both boys side by side.
"Not that I know of. You two didn't even know each other before yesterday, right?"
"No. I mean, I bet Riku didn't know I existed before mom called him," he said, looking down with a sad look on his face.
"Why are you so upset?" Roxas asked, eyeing his brother, a drop of sweat running down his neck.
The older brother looked down at his feet, realizing for the first time that he was kind of sad. Why was he upset? It's not like Riku's opinion of him mattered. He was just his home tutor and, as long as he was teaching, it didn't matter what he was thinking, right?
But then again, it did bother Sora. No one had ever hated him before. Not that he had known of. He had always been the cheerful kid who never spoke badly of anyone, and always tried to help. Although he was far away from being popular at school, people didn't bother him or his friends. Overall, it was kind of hard to hold a grudge against him.
"I think… This is just a new situation to me, you know?" Was the answer after a while, both boys finally finishing their five warming up laps. "What do you think I should do, Rox?"
"I don't know, Sora," his brother said, picking up his water bottle and drinking some. "It depends on how you feel about him. Do you think he is worth trying something?"
"I just want to be his friend," Sora replied, a sad expression on his face.
"You're too nice for your own good, Sora," Roxas ruffled his brother's hair, chuckling softly. "Then I say, don't get affected by what he says. Maybe it's just the way he is. I bet he'll soften up to you."
"You think so?" The brunette asked, his face brightening up suddenly. Roxas smiled and was about to answer when the coach called them for the next exercise. Sora promptly ran off, leaving his brother alone.
"I hope so," the blond said to himself, watching his brother with concern.
"I'm going to Pence's house. Are you going to be ok, Sora?" Roxas asked, his hair wet after the shower they took.
"Yeah. I think so," Sora said, a nervous smile on his lips. "Wish me luck!"
"Good luck, Sor. I'll see you when I get home," and then Sora was gone. Roxas watched the door for a few seconds before sighing audibly. It seemed like he was going to have a few problems, if Riku kept on acting that way.
Sora's footsteps on the hallway were slow and quiet and tired from all the running, his muscles protesting against the movement, that delicious pain one only got when they exercised a lot. He was in a better mood, after all. Running was his escape from reality, what made him feel good no matter what happened. And, even though he wasn't the fastest one there (heck, he was still among the slowest ones after all those years), he didn't mind at all. Running made him feel like everything would be fine.
When he reached the archery team locker room, he took a very deep breath before knocking twice on the door, a smooth voice telling him to come in. He opened the door to the clear walls filled with navy blue lockers. There were a few boys there, Sora's blue eyes lingering on a fiery red hair that definitely defied nature's law before finding Riku, his face free of any expression.
And then Sora suddenly forgot what he planned to do. "I… Um…" His throat felt unusually dry, with all those pair of eyes looking at him. He was getting incredibly nervous, and he knew his face was heating up because his damp hair felt too cool.
"What? Are you lost or something?" The guy with the fiery red hair asked, his voice holding a hint of humor.
"N-No!" Sora finally found his voice, the sound coming out a bit hoarse. He cleared his throat once before speaking again, "I… I'm here to talk to… To Riku."
The silverette's expression narrowed slightly, almost unnoticeable. He said nothing as he calmly walked through the room, passing right through Sora without saying a word. As Sora turned around to face the older boy, he was pretty sure he heard something about 'love confession' right before the door closed with a soft 'click'.
Blue eyes faced aquamarine ones, opposite expressions clashing against each other. Hesitant with blue and now clearly annoyed with aquamarine. Sora said nothing as the seconds passed by, just staring at Riku and Riku staring at him – or more like glaring at him.
"What?" The older boy finally said, his voice composed despite his eyes looking clearly dissatisfied. "You just called me to stare at me? Doing that during lunch wasn't enough?"
Sora gasped, his face surely turning red. It's not like he stared. At least not intentionally. It was hard to keep your eyes away from Riku. But then again, everyone stared at him. He didn't think the boy would notice. "I wasn't-!"
"I don't have time to listen to your excuses. What do you want?" Riku demanded again, his voice still so composed. How does he do it? Sora thought to himself, the smooth voice a great contrast with the hateful eyes that were obvious enough for Sora to notice.
"I just… You're coming over to tutor me today, right?" Sora asked in one breath, feeling suddenly quite brave. "I was thinking that maybe we could go home together. Y-You know, since we're heading to the same place…" He finished lamely, under the rough glare Riku was giving him.
Sora then lowered his eyes, unable to keep looking at the aquamarine ones. They were too harsh. He could feel time passing by, and yet no answer came. He raised his eyes again, and there Riku was, still looking at him with the same expression, his face blank but his eyes narrowed.
"S-Say something…" He asked, feeling too conscious.
"What gave you the idea I would go to your house together with you?" The silverette said suddenly, this time his voice carrying some annoyance. "I'll go there when I'm done here. And you better be there by the time I arrive. I'm already wasting enough of my time," and then he went back to the room, Sora being able to see the same redhead giving him a mocking look before the door closed.
He never felt so humiliated in his life.
Sora was in his room when Riku arrived. His textbooks were spread on the table, pencil in hand, waiting patiently. Riku entered in his room without knocking, sat without saying a word, and opened his own textbook without looking at Sora.
"I taught you how to do this one yesterday," he said suddenly, pointing at one exercise. "Do it."
Sora didn't look at his tutor when he nodded his head, picking up his notebook and starting the exercise. He didn't feel Riku's eyes on him, and didn't feel his presence while his pencil danced around the paper, writing numbers and signals and words that didn't make sense to him. Riku didn't make a sound.
"I'm done," he said, turning his notebook so that Riku could see it. The reply came a second later.
"Wrong. Do it again."
And Sora did. He didn't ask what he did wrong, he didn't think about it. He just found another way to resolve the problem, his memories of the previous lesson a foggy mess of silver and aquamarine and harsh words. And once again he got it wrong.
"I don't know," he finally said after the sixth attempt, another failed attempt. Another waste of time.
"You're hopeless," was his answer, but Riku didn't give him time to think of anything to say because he started explaining the exercise again, his voice calm and low, almost as if it was just saying the words, and not expressing anything.
The rest of the lesson was pretty much like that. Sora didn't get any exercise right when trying by himself, and Riku would explain it to him like he did at first, only when Sora gave up, never when he got fed up. Sometimes Riku would throw harsh words at Sora, sometimes not. Sometimes he would make eye contact with Sora, sometimes not. But he never touched Sora, never got closer, as if he was avoiding the brunette at any cost.
By the time the lesson was over, it was already dark, the moon shining high up in the cloudy sky. Riku was packing up his things when Sora's mom entered the bedroom, knocking once on the door.
"Riku, dear, you already leaving?" She asked, her innocent face looking up at the much taller boy.
"Yes, Mrs. Kayaki. Thank you for your hospitality, and also thank you for the snacks. It was delicious," he relied, gesturing slightly to the empty tray on the bed.
"Hush, honey. It's no problem at all," and then she blushed, Sora finding incredibly creepy the sight of his mother flirting with Riku, who could very well be her son. But then again, that was how his mother was, always making embarrassing things. "It's already so late, also. Don't you want to stay for dinner?"
"I'm thankful for your offer, Mrs. Kayaki, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline it. It's pretty late already, I should be going home," Riku was at that again, that overly polite self. The perfect image of perfect man.
"Oh, honey, didn't Sora tell you? I don't take a 'no' for an answer. You are already here, what harm could another thirty minutes do? Come, you two must be hungry. Dinner is already served," she left no room for answer, as she made a circular motion with her hand as if trying to make a point while exiting the bedroom.
Riku made sure Sora's mom was gone before he turned around and shot the younger boy a deathly glare.
"W-What?" The brunette asked, raising his hands in front of his chest as if trying to protect himself. "I didn't make her ask you over for dinner! If it were up to me, you would be gone by now!"
Riku gave him a smug smirk that made Sora's heart skip at least three heartbeats before he spoke, "that's how you thank me for the lessons?"
The silverette left a fuming brunette in the bedroom that only came out a few minutes later, after he had calmed down.
To Sora's surprise, the dinning table was full. His mother was happily humming a song, putting a full load of mashed potatoes on Riku's plate, who was too distracted chatting with Sora's father. Roxas and Hayner looked too awkward, eating almost in a robotic manner and trying their best to keep their eyes away from Riku, the fact that the three of them were sitting at the same table was already weird enough by itself.
When Sora sat at the table, he caught his father saying to Riku, "thank you for tutoring my son. He can be a little too dense, you know?"
Sora's father was the Japanese one. He was the one with the horrible habit of saying bad things about their sons when he was talking to others. His mother, although not being Japanese, acquired that habit, too. Roxas was lucky that he was satisfactorily good at whatever he did, so Sora had to carry the burden of being the son his parents talked about when they needed to say something bad about someone.
Although he was already used to that, Sora couldn't deny that he was feeling a little too self-conscious and mad that Riku was the one listening to all that. He lowered his head, embarrassed, as his father went on and on and Riku chuckled and said something in response, keeping a light conversation.
"Hey, man, how was it today?" Hayner asked in a low tone, Roxas instantly looking up.
"Same as yesterday," Sora whispered in return, his voice miserable. "He hates me, I tell you."
"Yeah, well, maybe. But why does he need to like you, anyway? He is your home tutor. His job is to teach you, not to like you," The dirty blond stated, matter of factly.
"Yeah, well, if he likes Sora his job will be more pleasant," Roxas hissed through his teeth, as if his statement was obvious. "Did you two come home together?" He asked then, looking at his brother.
"No," the older brother said, his voice cracking. "He said he would come when he was done with whatever he was doing. I guess it was just an excuse."
"Hey, Sora," Roxas called, getting his brother's attention. "Don't worry about it. Riku is an asshole, he will finish tutoring you and then you won't have to stand him ever again."
"Boys! It's not polite to whisper, let alone at the table. We have a guest today, so behave," the brothers' mom called their attention, the three of them murmuring a 'yes ma'am' and went back to eat.
At the end of dinner, Riku thanked Sora's parents and left with a promise of coming again the next day to tutor Sora. The boy's mother asked if Riku wanted any company on the way home, but the silverette politely refused, smiling as he left.
"Riku is such a great boy! See, Sora, you should be more like him!"
The brunette didn't answer to his mom's remark. He said good-night to his parents and went to his room, Roxas following closely behind while Hayner was taking a shower.
"You shouldn't listen to mom and dad," the younger brother said, closing the door behind him with a silent 'click'.
"I know," Sora murmured, throwing himself on the bed before burying his face on his pillow.
"Then why are you upset?"
"We already had this conversation today, hadn't we?"
"We did. But you're still upset," Roxas stated, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"It just sucks to be hated by someone you admire, you know?" Sora finally said, sitting on the bed. "Mom is right. I knew it before she said it. I was always watching Riku, he is so cool, you know? I thought, if I could be like him, things would be so much easier. It just feels that everything I believed in is a lie, now that I see that he acts like a jerk whenever he is around me."
"That's Riku's problem, isn't it?" Roxas asked, getting away from the door and sitting by his brother's side. "You don't have to act like Riku. Riku is Riku, and you are you. Riku is a jerk, you saw that. You are a good kid, Sora. You just need a little push to the right direction. Maybe not by Riku, but you'll find your way, eventually," then he ruffled his brother's hair in an affectionate way.
Sora glared at his blond brother, a cute pout on his lips, "I'm the older brother."
And then both of them burst out laughing.
I have no words to express how happy I was with all the reviews I got. Thank you so much, guys!
Also thanks a lot to everyone who put this story on their favorite and alert lists, also thanks to the silent readers out there. Don't be afraid, make an author even happier: leave a review!
This chapter was kinda hard to write, but also really fun. Can anyone guess who the redhead at the locker room is? Not that difficult!
I hope you all liked this chapter, although it is a little shorter than the first one. Leave a review and tell me what you think! You've already made it this far anyway, no harm can be done with another five minutes!
Beijos, Clementine.