Riku and the Cage

Riku glared at the dense, dark green foliage in front of him, wishing that he could just set it on fire. He glanced up and down the shady and deserted street. It was lined on each side by tall, dense vegetation. Walking through this side of town was almost like walking through the jungle. Riku sighed and looked down at the edge of the forest in front of him, scanning the junction between the plants and the road until he found what he was looking for: a brightly coloured mosaic tile. They were dotted all along the roadside on this street and others like it, all marking a bright path into the thick vegetation. This path was made of loose blue gravel. The colours of the mosaic and the colour of the gravel marked this as the right place. No matter how hard Riku had tried to forget about it, he could still remember every detail.

The gravel crunched under his feet as he walked up the path. It stopped abruptly at a small, lush, bright green lawn and in front of him stood the building that he had dreaded seeing again. It was a square one-storey house with wide eaves that was slightly raised off the ground so that it had to be accessed by the wooden steps leading up to the front veranda. It was angled oddly so that the front of the house was actually the corner with the veranda taking a sharp turn around it. At first glance there appeared to be no front door, just a wall made of wrought iron that was moulded to look like curling vines with a flower bud appearing every now and again. The walls on either side of the veranda were arranged in a zigzag alternating between patterned wire mesh and solid wall.

Riku crossed the lawn and climbed the stairs apprehensively, wiping his feet on a mat on the edge of the veranda before walking up to the corner of the curly bars. He wrapped his fingers around the barely noticeable handles and a short tug was all that was needed to pull two smaller rectangular pieces of the wall away and slide them apart. The inside of the house was dark, as it always was. The main area of the house was open and spacious but all around there were opaque closed doors leading into rooms and cupboards. The kitchenette at the back of the room followed the sharp bend of the house and the imposing jungle that surrounded the building could be seen through the awning windows. There was no television in this part of the house, just the bamboo furniture – padded with bright, multicoloured cushions and pillows – that surrounded a glass top table upon which there was a tasteful flower arrangement in a vase. There was no lack of art in the house. Between all the doors and sometimes even above them there were paintings, prints and sculptures. All of it was contemporary.

As well as the darkness there was silence and stillness in the house, which meant that either nobody was home or one other person was home and refused to be seen for now. That suited Riku just fine. He sat down on one of the sofas and leaned his arms on his knees, staring blankly at nothing. Even though he left the doors wide open he still somehow felt trapped.

Laughter and shouting broke through his thoughts and he stood up abruptly. He slowly walked over to the doors and stared out over the lawn to the edge of the path. The laughter came closer and closer until a small child broke through the foliage and raced across the lawn holding an ice cream stick tightly in one hand. He was chased by an older, taller child who was crying as he yelled for the younger one to give back what he took. The smaller boy got halfway across the lawn when he spotted Riku and halted, staring in awe at the tall, dark figure standing in the doorway. The older boy snatched the ice cream stick from the younger boy and wiped his tears with his hands. He was about to snap at the smaller boy until he noticed the wide-eyed stare in Riku's direction and turned. His own face contorted into very much the same expression. Another boy – a middle child, seeing as he was between the two on the lawn in terms of height – appeared at the edge of the path, looking impassive. He took one step onto the lawn and stopped there, noticing what was going on immediately and staring directly at Riku, even though the teenager's position in the shadows of the house made him difficult to see.

Riku stepped onto the veranda to get closer to the boys. They didn't move. In moving closer to the light the glare of the sun on their features diminished and he could see all of the detail and colour in their faces. They were all pale and silver-haired, just like him. All three of them had the same shade of green eyes, the same shade as Riku's. The eldest boy had short, wiry hair, the middle child had long hair with a fringe that almost obscured his eyes and the youngest boy had longish hair that was cut to the limit of his chin and partially veiled his face. Riku remembered them all so well.

He smiled awkwardly and waved to them, stepping off the veranda. The three boys all took a step back. Riku stopped. They remembered him, he could tell by the looks on their faces but perhaps they didn't believe what they were seeing.

"Hey, guys…" Riku finally said. "It's just me. It's Riku."

"Big brother?" the youngest boy said.

Riku chuckled slightly and put his hands on his hips. "Looks like you haven't been good while I was away, Kadaj. You're still picking on Loz," he admonished. He had hated this job; babysitting these three. He really hated it but seeing them again after so long – seeing them okay – caused his heart to burst with relief and joy.

The eldest boy sniffled and held up the ice cream stick he now had, showing the dark 'winner' sign scored into the wood. "He was going to steal my prize."

Riku sighed. He now remembered why he hated being the oldest brother. "Loz, you're six years older than Kadaj and twice as big. You shouldn't let him p-"

The youngest boy – Kadaj – suddenly bowled himself into Riku's legs, wrapping his arms around them to prevent the oldest boy from going anywhere. "I hate you! You shouldn't leave us!" He bit into Riku's left leg, digging his teeth as deeply as he could.

"Ouch! You little…!" Riku growled, tearing Kadaj off by the hair.

"That's what you get for leaving us," Kadaj said, sticking his tongue out at Riku.

Loz approached slowly and wrapped his arms around Riku's waist gingerly. "We thought you were never coming back and you left us here alone."

Riku sighed, letting Kadaj's attack slide for now and putting a hand on Loz's head. "You weren't alone."

"We might as well have been," said the third boy. Riku stared at him in shock. It always amazed him that that one could move around without anybody noticing, even when he was in plain sight. He stood right in front of them, looking up expressionlessly. "We really hate you."

"Yeah and I've always hated you guys too," Riku replied, letting go of Kadaj's hair and gesturing for the third boy to come and join the hug. He accepted the offer and took Riku's other side, throwing his arms over Riku's hips. "I'm back, Yazoo. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings."

"You didn't hurt my feelings," Yazoo retorted. "Can't say the same for Loz, though."

Loz tried to hold himself back but he was still bawling into Riku's shirt and jacket.

"Sorry guys," he muttered.

"Riku," a sharp voice cut across the lawn, startling all three boys, even though it wasn't that loud. They turned their heads to the house where a new figure was lurking in the shadow of the doorway. "Welcome home."

Riku wrapped his arms more tightly around his brothers, feeling a protective instinct to pick them up and run. However, Kadaj smiled and poked his head around his oldest brother's legs to say:

"Hi dad! We're home too."