Thanks for your reviews everyone. Got all sorts of ideas – sorry about the chakrams, someone told me they were pinwheels and I became super confused, but this still gives me a funny idea.- with your help. Truthfully, I was praying you guys would say Leon for Cloud. It works either way.
Disclaimer: - Forgot one last time – I do not own Kingdom Hearts 2, it's characters, or it's worlds.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please don't get angry if Roxas and Axel become a little out of character. Axel's role is to play the protective – and insanely crazy- friend to Roxas, if not more if you read the right hints. Roxas… I think he needs to loosen and have a little more fun. Sorry, I'm just experimenting with them…
CHAPTER TWO: You smell good
"Axel, we don't want any trouble from you, ya know!" Rajin tried to defend his group. But this only made the grin on Axel's face grow wider and wider with every passing fearful word.
"If you don't want any trouble… just hand the kid over before I set one of you on fire." Axel ordered, in a casual 'Not that big of a deal' tone.
Sora's eyes widened in realization. Axel was the pyromaniac… who was Roxas' best friend… that meant a pyromaniac was going to be his hero!
"Um… I think I can handle them by myself…" Sora tried to whisper to Axel. Truth be told, Sora didn't know exactly how to defend himself, much less rescue himself. But it was better then almost being set on fire in the process of his rescue.
"Rajin! Fujin! Take care of Roxas! Seifer, Axel is all yours!" Riku commanded. Seifer smirked almost as dangerously as Riku as he began coolly walking toward Axel. No matter how evil Seifer looked, Axel's grin refused to fall.
"You think you can handle them?" Roxas whispered, watching Rajin and Fujin step toward him. Axel leaned down toward his ear, emerald eyes glowing mischievously.
"I can handle all of them on if you want me to." Axel said, eyeing the Sandlot Gang. A nudge from Roxas made him frown.
"Don't get cocky. If you beat Seifer, go for the one with silver hair." Roxas ordered with his bright blue eyes locked onto Riku. Unfortunately… Axel was looking over at Fujin. Roxas was actually asking him for help! Axel's grin widened at the thought.
Roxas knew something was wrong when he noted Axel grinning at him in a 'You're so cute' way. But he didn't have anytime to question his best friend… especially when Rajin took a jump at him.
Roxas!" Sora called, watching his new fried be tackled to the ground. His attention was then drawn to the pale colored hand now grabbing onto the collar of his black sweat jacket, pulling him to his feet.
"Worry about yourself more." Riku snapped. Sora held his hands up in defense, closing his eyes tightly as Riku raised the blue club.
"This is a Cloud moment…" Sora thought, picturing his brother's serious face in his head. "What would Cloud do or say…!"
"If you ever get caught in a fight without a weapon, use your wits." Cloud said, sitting on the edge of the pale brown sand of Destiny Islands. A younger Sora played at the edge of the water, making two toy boats ram into each other violently. He even added terrible sound affects
At seeing his younger brother… Cloud suddenly held a disappointed look. What wits? Sora was never the brightest person…
"S-Scratch that Sora." Confused, Sora looked over his shoulder to see Cloud walking toward him. "If you ever get in that situation… say something to shock the person. That'll give you enough time to either knock the weapon away or to run. Got it?"
Instead of nodding, Sora turned back to his boats and made them crash some more.
"That's it!" Sora thought, instantly knowing what to say that would throw Riku off his feet. Opening his eyes… Sora squeaked to see the blue club getting ready to land on top of his head hard… "You smell good!" He all but shouted, closing his eyes tightly again.
The hit never came.
Opening one eye… then the other… Sora frowned at Riku. The older teen's face was priceless, really. Teal eyes wide as ever while his mouth hung open slightly. For a cool guy like Riku, this must've been a once in a life time experience.
"E-Excuse me?" Riku questioned, his voice a little high pitched as he spoke. Maybe Sora hadn't spoken his words right, Riku was just imagining … "What the hell did you just say!"
"You smell like…" Sora suddenly went into panic. He couldn't smell Riku… except for the sea salt ice cream… but Riku would have only gotten angrier if Sora pointed out his mistake again. "You smell like…" Something to shock him…
Riku felt a tinge of anxiousness jolt through him as Sora's gorgeous blue eyes lit up, like a replacement for his light bulb.
"You smell like vanilla. Not a girly vanilla, but a nice, manly… vanilla?" Sora started out bold but his question began becoming shaky as he confused himself. Out of complete shock, Riku dropped Sora.
"Riku!" Seifer called, snapping Riku out of his daze. As the rapster-wanabe opened his mouth to ask what was wrong… but not before ducking as a chakram whizzed by his head, threatening to steal his favorite hat.
"Eyes on me, punk." Axel laughed, green eyes burning with the desire to kill. And there was no doubt in Seifer's mind that he would have killed him. But if Roxas was around, Seifer was safe. Axel could never kill anyone in front of Roxas.
Just as Riku turned back to his opponent… a giant yellow boot shot up to his club…
The blue bat went flying. Sora was leaning against his hands, his leg falling back to the ground. It was a desperate kick, but at least it worked.
"Ha!" Sora laughed. Riku's piercing teal eyes quickly glared at him. "What are you gonna do now?" He asked his eyes twinkling as a goofy grin came to his face.
For some reason, that goofy grin struck as much irritation up from Riku as his mocking smirk to Sora.
"This." He coolly answered, taking a charge at Sora. Sora's jaw dropped; he obviously hadn't expected that.
BAM!
The sky greeted Sora's view followed by Riku's face. His silver hair tickled Sora's lips… and Sora couldn't avoid getting a sniff at his shampoo.
Shockingly enough, he did smell like vanilla.
"Just because I don't have a weapon doesn't mean I still can't fight!" Riku said. Shortly after he spoke, his fist met harshly against Sora's right cheek, then another to the left.
"K-Knock… it off…" Sora mumbled through blows, getting a fistful of silver hair and tugging it as hard as he could.
And the two kept fighting. Riku grunting at feeling his hair being tugged at and Sora whimpering as his cheeks turned a new shade of red with each punch.
Roxas made all sorts of grunts as he began beating at Rajin's knees.
"I wonder if he's got anything in his pants, ya know?" Rajin laughed, holding the smaller male upside down by the ankles. Roxas' face was turning beat red as his blonde haired brushed the cobblestone like a broom.
"That's for me to find out! Got it memorized!" Axel shouted, getting ready to toss a chakram at Rajin if he pulled anything dirty on Roxas. His attention was quickly twirled back to Seifer when the blue club hit his head, making a plastic sound. Almost like a toy bat you played with when you were younger to hit a baseball with. "I think I liked it better when they were afraid of me…" He grumbled, turning to Seifer.
"Eyes on me, lamer." Seifer mocked, getting in some sort of fencing stance with his blue bat. Axel couldn't help but raise a short trimmed red eyebrow. What a dork…
To Roxas' horror, munny began dropping out of his pockets and making a quiet ring as it struck the yellow cobblestone.
"No! I was saving that for Sea salt ice cream!" He cried, making desperate reaches to grab it. But Fujin's pale hands quickly began collecting the munny into her other arm. "H-Hey! Thieves!" Roxas cried, swiping at her funny silver haired. If he got a hold of her, he would have ripped so much of her hair that you would've been able to see both of her eyes.
But as she stepped back to let Roxas fall painfully to the ground… something bounced over to where his hand was reaching.
A blue club – hell, the club of hope at this point- was under him. Tilting his head back slightly, Roxas was able to see Axel throwing down Seifer and stomping on his back… but Seifer still had his blue bat. Then that could only mean…
"Sor-"Was all Roxas could get out before the yellow cobblestone came up to lick his chin. All he heard in his rocking world was Rajin's deep laugh…
And personally, it annoyed the hell out of him.
Gripping the blue bat, Roxas turned and sent a powerful plastic-toy blow at Rajin's right knee. Instantly, he went down holding his knee. Fujin looked surprised as Roxas sent her a glare. "Either you give me back my munny… or else…" Once again, Roxas couldn't finish what he was saying. But it wasn't Rajin's fault this time.
"No worries, Roxas! I got her taken care of!" A whirl of black and red flung itself in front of Roxas. Fujin only had time to let her crimson shaded eye widen ever so slightly… before a black boot collided into her chest. The wind got knocked out of her… and Fujin silently found herself lying on the ground, eye set on the sky.
Axel's face peered over hers, that crazy grin taking up nearly half his face. "What do you have to say about that?" He laughed.
"… Pain…" She half growled, half whimpered. And yet, she still managed to keep her straight face as she spoke. A pleased grin graced his features until Roxas came over.
"What the hell are you doing! I told you to get Riku!" He yelled, glaring angrily at Axel. Axel held a blank face… until he quietly looked over to see another silver haired person rolling on the ground, punching Sora senselessly.
And it all became clear for Axel.
"I thought you meant her." Axel simply said, pointing to the stunned Fujin. Frustration kicked in and Roxas could only hold his head to calm himself down. How could Axel not have noted who he was looking at!
"Red headed idiot!" Roxas sighed, turning to help his new friend. A black glove squeezed his shoulder though, forcing him back. "D-Don't hold me back, Axel! I can take him!" He bellowed, watching red bellow in front of him.
He didn't realize it wasn't Axel who had pulled him back until… Axel caught him from falling, frowning confused at the new guy who had stepped in.
"I'm not holding you back…" He whispered in Roxas' ear. When Roxas' eyes caught sight of the pointed blonde spikes on top of the newcomer's head… he got a clear idea on who was helping Sora. "Who's that?" Axel questioned, now giving Cloud a funny look after spotting his hair. It was almost as bad as his!
"Cloud… Sora's older brother…"
"This is for my shirt! And this is for pulling my hair!" Riku bellowed, sending more punches to Sora's face. With each punch, he managed to make up something else Sora deserved a hit for.
A boot collided into the silver haired teen's side, enough power to kick him right off Sora.
"That's for messing with my younger brother…" In Riku's ears, the smooth voice belonged to who he thought was Satan. Those piercing blue eyes that didn't even look related to Sora's in anyway. A red cape picked up in the wind, giving Cloud a more dangerous killer look.
Now, Riku had always hated picking fights with people he knew were stronger then him. But if he asked nicely…
"My older brother could whoop your ass in seconds, Blondie." Riku said boldly, getting up and brushing dust and bits of sea salt ice cream off his yellow vest. Cloud quirked a thin blonde eyebrow. At that second, Seifer, Rajin and a stumbling Fujin got behind Riku. "Ever heard of the name Leon? He'll rip the spikes right off your head."
As much as Riku hated turning to his older brother like this, he had to. Better to be smart and back down then to rush in blind.
To his shock… Cloud gave him what he thought might have been a half-smirk.
"Tell him I'll be waiting here tonight at midnight for him. Bring a weapon… I won't bring mine because either way I can kick his ass before he can…" Cloud paused to let his half smirk become a whole smirk. "…Rip the spikes right off my head."
Sora yelped when Cloud grabbed him by the back of his black jacket, lifting him up to his feet.
"Sora, you get to unload twice as many boxes for this." Cloud mumbled, loud enough for Sora to hear. Sora held a defeated look, shaking his head so his brown spikes swayed gently. Casting a glance over his shoulder… Sora caught sight of that stupid smirk.
Riku's teal eyes danced to Sora's blue eyes… and to the brunette's horror, the platinum blonde mouthed 'Sora'. Great! Now he knew his name!
Sora gulped, quickly following Cloud's long strides. Roxas did the same when Sora's older brother sent him a glare from the corner of his eyes.
"Roadkill, move it. You're helping unpack." Cloud simply said, tired of talking to the annoying teens all ready. Roxas glared at him, a cute pout on his face.
"That's Roxas!" He corrected, walking after Sora and Cloud.
"They both start with 'R', so get over it." Roxas shook his head at Cloud's response. He waved his arm, signaling his best friend to follow.
"Hey boys!" Seifer and Riku immediately looked up to be greeted by devious emerald eyes. Axel snapped his fingers… a lighter sliding out of sleeve and into his hand. In a simple click, it was lit. "Mess with Roxas again sometime… I dare you!" He gave them a crazy grin, snapping the lighter shut.
Except for the silver haired teens… the rest of the Sandlot gang couldn't help but look even a little bit nervous.
"Riku… are you seriously going to tell your bro about this?" Seifer asked, crossing his arms over his perfectly carved chest. Riku smirked at him, almost as horrid as the one he had given Sora.
"Of course. I'm not through with Mr. Spikes… or Sora." Riku chuckled, allowing the criminal's name to roll on his tongue. A sudden frown crossed his face when he took a good look at Seifer.
Feeling uncomfortable under those green-blue eyes, Seifer narrowed his eyes. "What's your problem, Riku?" Riku made a gesture to his hair, eyes growing wide at the sight.
"Hat!" Fujin chirped, earning a nod from Rajin. Slowly… Seifer felt the top of his head. All that could be felt… were blonde locks of hat hair. His eyes grew as huge as dinner plates as he clenched his hair.
His favorite hat was gone… !
Roxas flinched when something covered his eyes, it felt like soft fleece.
"Check it out. Seifer's hat." Axel murmured in his ear, his hot breath tickling the earlobe. Instantly, Roxas grabbed the hat, tearing it off his head like a vampire with a cross. Axel broke into laughter as Roxas shoved the hat back into his hands.
"I don't want to get head lice!" Roxas hissed, glaring straight into Axel's eyes.
"Tonight, we burn it to celebrate our victory over the Sandlot gang. That make you feel better?" Axel laughed, sticking his finger into the hat and managing to spin it a little.
"What are you, some sort of pyromaniac?" Cloud's voice questioned. That usual grin fell onto Axel's face.
"How ever did you guess?" Axel asked. Cloud turned to glare at Sora, one of those 'Nice new friends you got…' looks. His eyes seemed to soften ever so softly when he noticed Sora slowly walking forward, eyes glued to the street.
"Sora, cheer up." Cloud ordered, catching Sora's eyes as he looked up at him. Sora tried his best to give him that silly grin he gave to everyone.
"Just thinking…" He admitted quietly, trying to a start a conversation with his brother only. But he didn't need to worry, Axel was taunting Roxas with Seifer's hat behind them. However… Cloud's hand gently touched his arm, startling his little brother. Cloud never touched anyone.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, holding an actual concerned expression on his face. Getting the joke, Sora made a childish face at him.
"Ha-ha… very funny…" Immediately, Cloud returned to normal.
"I try to lighten up the mood when I feel like talking." Cloud said, giving a shrug. Sora rolled his eyes, setting his hands behind his head casually.
"Thanks for coming to save me, bro. I really thought I was gonna be murdered…" Sora said, his cheeks lighting up slightly. Normal brothers never did this, but if Cloud hadn't come… well, Sora didn't want to think of that.
"Don't get me wrong. If we had all ready moved in, I probably would have left you to die. But someone has to help me unpack." Cloud said. As usual, he never spotted Sora stopping to stare at him horrified.
"E-Excuse me? That was a joke, right?" Sora stuttered, praying it was a sick joke. His brother turned to him, that all too serious expression on his face.
"What do you think?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow. Honestly, Sora wasn't too sure. With that face, who knew if he was joking or not.
"Are you really going to go fight that Leon guy? Riku sounded like he wasn't kidding." Sora warned, picking up his pace again. No emotion could be traced on his brother's peach face.
"Of course not, I said that to shut the kid up." Cloud admitted. Now, it wasn't that he was backing down from a fight. He just didn't want to stay up until midnight fighting what could have been a loser
Just as Sora got ready to talk more and warn him that Riku might do something to them, Roxas rammed back first into him.
"Get that thing away from me, Axel!" Axel couldn't stop laughing as Roxas squirmed to get away from Seifer's greasy hat.
MIDNIGHT, SANDLOT
It was dark by the time, but the sunset seemed to have only grown a bit darker. It was Twilight Town's way of knowing it was night time.
The town itself was bear, shops closed and house lights turned out for the 'night'. The sandlot was almost bear as well… except for Riku and someone else…
"Don't tell me you brought me out here for nothing, Riku…" He was 22 or so, Cloud's age, if not older. His long chestnut brown hair was layered like Riku's, but you were actually able to see most of his face. Really, he didn't look like Riku one bit. Riku took more from his mom's side, Leon from his dads.
"If he's not here within 2 minutes, I'll find Sora and kick his ass tomorrow." Riku said through gritted teeth. Leon looked just as disappointed, itching to fight the 'blonde bastard who beat me up and ruined my favorite t-shirt' in Riku's definition.
Minutes passed, and Leon gave up. The fight for now, declaring Cloud as a weak wimp.
"Blonde spikes… blue eyes…" Leon mumbled to himself, turning toward the direction of their house. No one besides Roxas met that definition, so he wouldn't be hard to track down.
"I'll find him tomorrow! Then you can fight him!" Riku protested. He hated looking bad in Leon's eyes; it made him feel like a liar. "He said here at midnight!"
"Whatever…" Leon growled, closing his eyes. Blonde spikes… blue eyes…
Tomorrow, he was going to find Cloud and see if he really was a wimp…
What did you think? Hopefully you reviewers keep reviewing. The more reviews, the faster this is posted.
Thanks for all the advice on Riku/Sora moments and who Cloud should get with. I hope you don't mind Cloud talking so much in this chapter. Unless Leon is around, this will become rare. Even though there weren't many Riku Sora moments due to the fight, I plan to have more next time since something will happen and Riku and Sora have to spend the day together… - Laughs-
DESCISION: Cloud will go for Leon, but Aerith will come for jealousy and tension. I don't know, jealousy is more fun to write about.
QUESTION: I'm just gonna randomly ask questions every now and then, I have a habit of doing this. Do you think Cloud looks better in Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2? I made him look like from 1 in this because I think this suites him more.
Please review!