Author's Note: Chapter two. Chapter 1 has been proofread now as well. Read and enjoy.
Three months have passed since Riku's departure from Destiny Islands to head to Radiant Garden for college. Life went on as normal for the people there and everything was just fine. All of his friends would get a call from him once a week and they'd talk to Riku about stuff happening at home, while he informed them of what was happening with him. Everyone was happy to hear from him and treasured his calls. Although one person had more contact with him than most, Namine. The blond senior kept emailing, texting and on a regular basis web camming with the boy for help on homework or anything in particular. When something new would happen to Riku, she would also be the first one to know from the group who lived on the Islands. Even Sora, Riku's best friend, didn't have that much correspondence with him. At one point Roxas and Xion teased the blond girl about liking the silver haired teen, causing Namine to blush profusely and deny it.
For her part, Kairi missed Riku too. Having one of your best friends living so far away from them now made her sad, but the phone calls she gets usually made her happy. The two of them would speak about nothing in particular, or how Sora was still being a total sap. It was during those times he called that Kairi would notice just how much her friend meant to her, how he was one of her pillars of support when anything went wrong. That even though he was hundreds of miles away, he was still there for her. That made her smile to herself.
One day after school, Kairi had been invited to Sora's house to study for some tests. All those still in high school (Sora, Roxas, Namine, Kairi and Xion) had gathered at the brown haired boy's house, Axel sadly couldn't come to help out since he had some night classes. Kairi and Namine were the ones who helped the others study during that time, since they were in the top five of senior year. After a two hours of nonstop studying, Sora let out a groan. "Guys, let's take a break please," he whined.
"Sora, it's only," Roxas paused mid-sentence to look at the clock on the wall, "Five o'clock. We've only studied for two hours. You're not going to do well on next week's literature exam."
"I could do well on it. Heck, I bet I can pass with an A!"
"Oh so sure about that?" Xion asked with a smile. "If you're so sure then tell us, who's the author of the book we are reading."
"Uh...Which one?" That made all of them stop and look at him, as if he were serious.
"The one we were reading for the test. The one that we've been going over for the past few hours..." Kairi filled in for her boyfriend.
"Um…"
"Don't tell me you weren't paying attention the entire time Sora," Roxas groaned.
"I was! The title was...uh...The Prince!"
"Well, you got that right, but you didn't answer the question. Who wrote it?"
"Er...the person who wrote it was…" Sora left it hanging, causing all the others to sigh.
"I think...it is time to take a break," Namine suggested. "Maybe Sora needs to eat some food, to get his brain started up." At that moment, the boy's stomach growled, making him blush. This made all the girls giggle and Roxas roll his eyes.
"Figures, he'd be hungry and not focus," Roxas laughed. "I'll start up the stove. Anyone care to help me make dinner? I'm going to make some pasta."
"I'll help," Sora shouted as he stood up. "I'll make some soup." His brother nodded making him smile. Sora then turned to the girls who were sitting around the living room and were facing the TV. "Uh...any of you want to help?"
"Nope!" Kairi and Xion said at the same time.
"It's your house, we're your guests. So you should treat us with some kind hospitality and do all the work. Right Sora?" Kairi said while batting her eyelashes at him. The boy blushed, and opened his mouth only to close it a second after it. After a couple attempts of trying to speak, he just shut his mouth and nodded. "Thank you Sora!" Kairi then kissed him on the cheek. Sora nodded dumbly before heading into the kitchen, but before he did the girls could hear Roxas making a whip cracking noise in the background, causing all the girls to giggle.
Kairi sat back down on the couch and noticed that Namine pulled out her tablet. Xion peered over and smirked at her blond best friend. "Going to talk to Riku again?" the brunette asked. The blond girl just nodded her head, pressing things on the machine to connect to the internet and go on the instant messenger she used to speak to Riku with.
"Yes, he's helping me with my essay," Namine replied. There was a small crash in the background. The three girls turned around and looked at what the noise was and saw Sora on the floor with wide eyes.
"Essay? What essay? We had an essay due?" Sora asked in a panicked voice. Namine giggled, but shook her head.
"No. It's just the essay you need to submit along with your application to Radiant Garden University."
"Oh. You had me scared there for a minute Namine," he let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey! Get back in the kitchen and put the vegetables in the soup already!" they heard Roxas shout.
"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" The girls laughed again, before Kairi and Xion turned to Namine.
"So...any particular reason you want to go to head to Radiant Garden U?" Kairi asked with a teasing smile as well. Namine absentmindedly nodded her head, as a frown creased her face.
"He's not on today…" she mumbled to herself before turning to her two girl friends. "I want to go there because they have an amazing art school. I already applied for the art scholarship and submitted some of my work."
"Oh, that's good to hear. Xion and I thought it was because Riku was going to that school." The blond blushed.
"Wh-Why would you say that?"
"Oh come on, each time we even mention Riku you start to blush or immediately ask what's happening to him," Xion stated.
"Yeah, and you're the girl who talks to him the most," Kairi continued. "Actually now that I think about it, he was the boy you spoke to the most out of all our group of friends. With all that evidence, it's hard not to assume you're in love with him." After saying that, Kairi's mind started to turn. She remembered that Riku really never had a girlfriend and the confession he made last year was the reason for it. But now that she thought about it, Riku spent a lot of time with Namine as well. If he wasn't tutoring her, he was just talking with her and joking around. The red head remembered the times she'd call him but he said he was busy helping out their blond friend with something or the other. During those times, she'd feel a bit disappointed and admit she was a bit jealous of Namine. Kairi would always shake of those feelings though, seeing as Riku was her best friend and always would be there for her...right? Breaking out of her thoughts, Kairi looked at Namine who was still blushing but had not responded. The blond just continued to look at stuff on her tablet.
Suddenly there was banging on the door. Xion rushed over, looked through the peephole and opened it. An out of breath Axel stood in front of them. "Axel are you okay?" Xion asked worriedly.
"Does...anyone...have...a...computer...on them?" the red haired boy panted.
"Namine has her tablet."
"Give it here!" Axel shouted. He rushed to the girl, took the tablet and started to type on it.
"What are you doing?" Namine asked.
"Wakka showed me something on Yaotube." He was tapping buttons on it as fast as he can and had finally found what he was looking for. "AH-HA! Sora! Roxas get your asses in here!"
"This better be important," Roxas muttered as the two brothers entered the room. "I have to hurry back to make sure the pasta sauce doesn't evaporate." Axel propped up the tablet on something and showed it to the others.
"Wakka found this video of our old pal Riku posted up by some dude name Demyx." All the friends gathered around the tablet.
The video opened up and they saw a brown haired teen with an 80's hairdo. He had green eyes and a cocky smile on his face. "Hey, my name is Demyx and this is my project for my music class. I had to compose a song and have a friend sing it for me. I also have to put it up on Yaotube so it's easier for my professor to find it. Soooo…I dragged my new friend Riku to sing this song for me!" He turned the camera towards Riku, who looked the same. His yellow and black fashion sense hadn't changed at all, although his hair seemed to have grown past his shoulder and you could see he had grown some muscles. Riku rolled his eyes at the camera.
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," Riku sighed. "I have to study for my a project."
"Aw...you're just going to talk to that girlfriend of yours aren't you?" This caused everyone watching, save Axel since he already saw it, to look surprised. Kairi frowned when she heard that, Riku never told her that she had a girlfriend and from the looks of things no one else knew about it too.
"Shut up. Again, let's get this over with, and why does it matter that I spend time with a girl?" Demyx stopped and turned the camera to himself, to show his skeptical face, before turning it to Riku again.
"It matters because I want to see who this girl is! But, beside the point, let's get this show on the road." The camera was turned towards a stage where a lone mic was put. Riku jumped onto the stage and grabbed the mic. Music started to play from some speakers and the lights dimmed leaving only a spot light on Riku. The silver haired teen opened his mouth and began to sing.
Drenched after the knife-like rain
How long will it take
before I can smile again?
This world, where I can be
with the one I've longed for,
grant me light.
When did my true face
get lost completely?
Lost and crying out,
I extend my hands to the distant sky that's a deep, brilliant crimson.
The that should surely be in my heart…
I want to know it, I want to know…
The more I run from loneliness,
the more it corners me.
To where do I wander?
Why do my dreams
deceive me?
Crying out and struggling,
the tomorrow I can't keep hold of is continuously testing me,
until I can say that even the wounds that remain are part of me,
again and again…
You understand, don't you?
Who I am now,
and the place that I'm moving towards
(Forgive my fear,
Accept even my pain.
There's still a road that continues on.)
You are the one, we are the one.
That crimson radiance echoes in my heart,
while I strongly embrace all of me
anywhere, everywhere.
After the song, Demyx started to clap and Riku bowed. Turning the camera to himself, Demyx spoke. "There you have it prof, my project and my roommate. I know I usually write rock songs but I hope you liked it. Ladies and gentlemen, hit me up if you need a DJ or a singer. Do you have to say anything to your fans Riku?"
Riku looked at the camera before speaking, "Not really. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to meet up with my 'girlfriend.'" Riku stated while using air quotes. The camera turned back to Demyx, who shrugged. After that the video ended.
Back to the people watching, they were all stunned speechless. Xion was the one who spoke first. "Wow," she mumbled. "Who knew that Riku could sing?" Everyone nodded.
"You should should have seen the girls in my class when Wakka showed me this. They were all squealing like crazy. Those who knew him from high school were asking me if I knew who his girlfriend was, since I keep talking to him. Those who didn't just complained at not being able to have him," Axel explained.
"Damn. After this Riku is going to get a large popularity boost," Sora muttered.
"Hah! That is not a good thing. Remember that swarm of fangirls he had in the high school were annoying enough, now that it is around the world it will even be more annoying," Roxas laughed. "All the power to him. Okay, now if you don't mind I'm going to finish my pasta. Sora, go finish your soup too."
"Okay," Sora nodded. "I'm going to have to call Riku after this. Compliment him and complain to him. He was never that good when we went to karaoke!"
"Hey let me get some chips!" Axel shouted as he ran into the kitchen after the boys to get a snack, once again leaving the two girls. Xion was still a bit shell shocked at Riku's amazing performance. Namine looked a bit pale, before grabbing her tablet and opening the instant messenger, probably to see if Riku was finally on. As for Kairi, she felt as if that song was for some reason aimed at her. That this song he sang was a message for her to understand something about him
Author's End Note: The song used in this chapter is called Garnet by Miyano Mamoru, aka Riku's Japanese voice actor. Leave a review.