Chapter II: Unexpected Visit
Hikaru waited with Hayner for the others to get back. Though something was turning in the pit of his stomach. It didn't feel correct.
There's only a little time left until summer vacation's over!
Hikaru gripped his stomach at the sickening sensation.
"What's wrong, Hikaru?" Hayner asked, worried that he had already failed his job. Or that Hikaru had been hurt during transportation.
"Well, doesn't it bother you at all that summer is coming to a close?" Hikaru asked, thinking about all that he could have done during the summer.
"Yes. I just try not to think about it. So stop bringing it up already!" Hayner yelled to his friend. Hayner was always that way. He would get upset over the simplest things. But he would never harm you. He may seem tough, but on the inside he was just as mushy as all of us.
Hikaru smiled to himself how Hayner was so predictable. He didn't want change. He liked the way his life was. It was perfect.
"So, remember that project we had last year?" Asked Hayner, making small talk.
"Oh, you mean about the seven wonders? Yeah, I remember. What about it?" Hikaru didn't remember Hayner really talking about the past.
"Nothing really. I'm just glad we don't have another project this year." Said Hayner, kicking back in his seat. "Though my mom wants me to start doing small jobs around here."
"My mom..." Hikaru thought. What was it about his mom that didn't fit together.
"I'm sorry, man. Didn't mean to bring it up." Said Hayner with sad eyes.
"What?" Asked the brunette. He couldn't seem to remember.
"She-you don't remember?"
Hikaru shook his head.
"Well...you did hit your head pretty hard when you fell off that skateboard... Anyways, she's dead..."
"Oh...Then why can't I seem to remember her?"
"No clue. But umm..." Hayner searched for an alibi, he would have to do a lot of explaining after this... "You live with me now, remember?" Jackpot.
"Oh...oh yeah." Hikaru snapped his fingers. This made sense.
Before Hayner could say anything else, Olette and Pence came back with a bag full of ice cream. "We have some for everybody!" Said the girl.
"Oh, thanks, Olette." Hikaru smiled.
"What took ya' so long?" Hayner teased.
"There was a funny looking dog. I wanted to take a picture of it. But he ran away." Said Pence sadly.
"Then Pence chased after it like a maniac!" Olette scolded indirectly.
"Sounds like you, Pence!" Hikaru said with a laugh.
Everybody joined in as the ice cream was passed around.
"Friends forever." Said Hikaru, holding up his ice cream.
Kairi was awfully quiet on the train and Riku couldn't seem to cheer her up.
"Listen, he'll be just fine." Said Riku, looking desperately at the auburn.
"You think I don't know that?"
"Well, I was just trying to-"
"-don't. Not right now. Please, Riku." Kairi scooted closer to Riku and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Alright then." Said Riku.
But then they felt the train give a jolt. Kairi flew out of Riku's grasp and hit a wall.
"Kairi!" Riku called out as the lights began to flicker.
"W-what's going on?" Kairi asked in a panicked voice.
"Well-" The silver haired boy stumbled as the train began shaking. "we don't exactly have a driver!"
The lights went out.
"Riku? Where are you?" Kairi stood up, looking frantically for her friend.
"I'm over here!" Riku announced. Feeling around for Kairi. He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her close. They stood where they were and looked out the window as the train slowed down.
They weren't at the tower.
The lights flickered back on.
"Thought you could outsmart us, huh?" Said a taunting voice. "When will you kids learn?"
"Show yourself!" Riku demanded.
"Straight to the point, are we?" A portal opened on the train and a hooded figure stepped out. "I like that about you."
Riku dragged Kairi behind him, so this man couldn't touch her.
"Who are you?" He asked.
The hooded figure chuckled as he let down his hood.
"Xigbar..." Riku mouthed.
"No. Braig."
"No!" Hikaru shouted randomly as they were looking at friendship bracelets.
"Aww...I kind of liked that one, though..." Said Olette, looking at the one she had picked out.
"No, I meant-uh..." The brunette stumbled. Why did he say no? That was ridiculous. Must have been turrets or something... Hikaru scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
Hayner's mouth twitched. He got bad vibes. If Hikaru was shouting no...
"Alright, who votes on this one?" Olette asked, turning to face them.
It was a chain that had a heart on it.
"I like it," Said Pence, giving his opinion. "but we don't really have the munny to buy four of them..."
"I know. I was just thinking perhaps someday we could get them." Olette said, day dreaming.
"Then we'll get it someday." Hikaru said, smiling.
"Promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky.
"I pro-"
"HEY YOU!" Cried out an old man, running in the direction of the friends.
"What now?" Groaned Hayner, growing quite annoyed.
The man panted. "Have you seen my dog?" He held out a picture of some strange looking dog. The dog had very shiny fur to say the least.
"Oh!" Shouted Pence. "You mean the-mmmph mmmm!"
"Never seen it." Said Hayner, holding Pence's mouth shut.
"Are you sure? I really love that dog..." Said the old man.
"Well, I may not have seen your dog before. But maybe I could help look?" Asked Hikaru.
"What? Hikaru, are you out of your mind?" Hayner spat. He should have guessed Hikaru would be this way.
"You guys can stay behind if you want. I'll help uhm-" He looked at the old man.
"Call me Ugine." He said happily. He'd never met a boy so eager to help him. He felt as though this boy was somebody anybody could trust. He knew they would be good friends.
"Yeah. I'll help Ugine find his dog!" Hikaru said, smiling wide to all his friends.
"Has he always been this way?" Olette whispered to Pence.
Pence just shrugged. "Guess so."
Hikaru turned to leave but was interrupted by his friend.
"Hey wait! Hikaru! I guess...I guess I'll go with you." Hayner said, avoiding eye contact.
Hikaru looked back to face him. Then he smiled widely and nodded. Then he turned back around and ran down the ally.
He had no idea which way the dog went, so Hikaru and Hayner asked some people in town if they had seen a dog pass by.
When it seemed like all was lost. The two friends sat down and took a break.
"Where could a dog go?" Hikaru asked, befuddled that a dog could just up and disappear.
"Well. We can still try the hill top. It's right above the mystery train." Said Hayner. "One of the seven wonders of this town."
Hikaru stood up. Of course! Why hadn't he thought about it sooner?
He took off into the distance, leaving a trail of dirt behind him.
"Hikaru! Wait!" Hayner called after him. He stood up as quickly as possible and ran after his friend.
This hill was the steepest in all of Twilight Town. Making it hard to climb up. Although it was a great place for tourists. We think it's because of the fantastic view you get when you reach the top. The way everything seems to sparkle like it's new.
Hikaru made it up the hill within a half hour. Disappointment welled up in his chest as he was greeted by only garbage bags. He took another look. More garbage bags.
"He's not here..." Hikaru sighed as Hayner finally made it up the hill.
"What!?" Hayner was angry. "All of that running and the stupid dog is not up here!?"
Hayner was so angry he didn't know what to do with himself. So he kicked one of the garbage bags. And received a whining noise.
"Did you hear that?" Asked Hikaru.
"I bet the garbage is pretty upset that I kicked it."
"No. The whining noise."
Hayner listened closely. Then the garbage bag began to move.
"MONSTERS!" He screamed as he began charging back down the hill, tripping over his feet. Hikaru stood there.
"Abandon ship, much?" He questioned, watching as his friend became smaller and smaller down the hill.
Hikaru looked around for some kind of weapon to fend for himself. He wasn't going to let some kind of garbage monster ruin his day.
But he found nothing. Hikaru only could keep walking away from it.
The garbage bag came closer to him, pinning him by the fence. Then it stopped. It just kind of...sat down.
Hikaru reached out a hand to touch the bag. The moment he touched it, the bag leaped up and pounced on him, making barking noises. It sounded kind of like a dog.
"Hey!" Hikaru cried as the bag jumped around. The brunette got back up and tackled the bag down. What on Twilight Town was in there?
Hikaru sat on the bag as he undid the knot that held the bag together. Two feet instantly kicked him in the stomach as a dog leaped out.
"There you are!" Hikaru gasped, retrieving the breath that had been kicked out of him.
The dog turned around to face him. Its tail began waging at a fast rate and he lunged at Hikaru once more, licking his face up and down. Not missing one single place.
"Okay, okay." Hikaru laughed, pushing the dog off. "I need to get you home. It's getting late."
Hikaru looked up at the sky that was changing from an orange to a dark purple with stars. It was twilight.
"Hikaru!" called out a girl with brown curly hair. "Hayner!"
"Hello!" Shouted Pence.
They both sighed and looked down at their feet.
"No good..." Said Olette.
"We have to find them-"
"-MONSTERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" cried a familiar voice charging their way.
"Hayner!" Olette called to her friend, worry in her voice. She stepped in the stampeding boy's way. He instantly stopped, skidding before his friend.
"What happened?" Asked a worried Pence.
"We-we were looking for the dog! The dog! Garbage bag! Monster!" Hayner gasped for breath, spitting out words only he understood.
"Monster?" Olette scoffed. She didn't believe in any kind of monsters, well, other then the nobodies.
"Monster!?" Pence gulped.
"Yes! Monster!" Hayner grabbed Pence by the shoulders and shook him violently, causing his friend's head to bob back and forth.
"Calm down, already!"The girl snapped. "Where's Hikaru?" She demanded.
"The monster ate him alive, man!"
"What!? Not Hikaru! No!" Pence cried.
Olette snorted, trying to hold back her laughs as she saw Hikaru walking calmly down the hill. Then she couldn't hold it anymore, and began to laugh very hard. She collapsed in giggles.
Hayner and Pence stared at her as though she had just gone mad.
"What's wrong with-"
"-Hey guys!" Hikaru said as the dog barked happily around him. "Turns out there was no monster. Just a dog." He smiled.
"A-a dog?" Pence stuttered. Then he turned to look at Hayner.
Hayner stood, dumbfounded. You could see the heat rising in his cheeks. "I-I didn't know! It could have been a monster!"
Everybody laughed, except for Hayner, who decided to try to keep his dignity. But in the end, he even let out a chuckle.
"We should get going, wouldn't want mom to get worried about us." Said Olette, grabbing her bag and getting ready to leave.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Pence, a little sad that he had to go inside.
Hayner looked to Hikaru. "You ready?"
Hikaru shook his head and pointed to the happy puppy. "I need to return him."
Hayner sighed. "Alright, let's find the old guy."
Before they left, Olette decided to give everybody a hug. Hayner pretended not to enjoy them, but deep down they actually made him want to smile.
After Olette and Pence left, Hikaru decided to go in search of Ugine, followed by Hayner.
"I know where he lives, leave it to me." The brown eyed boy said, taking the lead.
They walked down the dim alleyways that grew darker and darker. But were relighted in a short time.
Hayner then stopped in front of a small two-story home. "This is the place." He said before landing three knocks on the front door. They waited. Then they heard muffled footsteps climbing down the steps.
"I'm coming." Called a muffled voice from behind the door.
Then the door opened, revealing the old man they had seen before. He looked exhausted and upset.
His eyes trailed from Hayner, to Hikaru, then finally...
"Fido!" Ugine cried out happily to his companion. The dog barked back and ran around Ugine's legs in circles.
The boys smiled at Ugine and Fido, admiring their accomplishment. Hayner lightened up a bit with the whole situation, you could tell because he was smiling.
"How can I ever repay you?" The old man asked with a bright smile.
Hikaru crossed his arms behind his head. "You don't have to give us anything. Just don't lose Fido again." He said with a cheesy grin.
Hayner was baffled. Who could reject a reward?
"We should get going." Said Hikaru, looking back to Hayner. "Wouldn't want mom getting angry at us."
"Oh, sorry to keep you boys out so late. Tell your mom that it's my fault for keeping you out."
Hayner nodded. "Yeah, thanks." He said, then he turned to leave.
"See ya', Ugine." The brunette said, waving. He then left with his friend and headed home.
"Hayner! There you are!" A worried voice called from up the stairs. It was a middle aged woman who had wavy dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a bun. Her eyes were a milky brown and she was wearing a white button up shirt with blue jeans. It would be a good guess to say it was his mom.
She came running down the steps. "Where were you?"
"Hey mom, can I talk to you in private?" asked Hayner, stepping in front of Hikaru to shield her eyes from seeing him.
She stopped at the bottom of the steps. "Uhh, sure, Hayner." She said, looking befuddled.
Hayner ushered her quickly from the entryway to the kitchen.
"What's wrong-"
"Shh." Hayner hushed his mom, placing a finger to his lips. The woman was starting to get frustrated with her son. "I have a problem. There's a boy in our entryway right now, he has absolutely no memory of who he is, and he thinks his real mom is dead, and that you took him in."
"Wait, w-"
"Somebody is after him. We just need to pretend we're his family for now. Just act as though you've known him for years. His name is Hikaru. I know this is crazy, and I know you're angry. But please just bear with me. It's just as confusing to me as it is to you."
She stood with her eyes wide. She didn't know how to feel about all of this. Family? Take him in? Pretend? Somebody after him? This was balderdash!
Hayner's mom grasped him firmly on the shoulders and took a deep breath.
"I want you to keep him in your room. I want you to take care of him. I want you to keep him in your sight ALWAYS. Hear me, Hayner? He must obey all of our house rules. Just know that whoever dumped him on you is in big trouble with me." She said. Then she turned away from him. "I'm going to make dinner now."
Hayner stood there. She actually took this very well. He was kind of surprised. The dirty blond turned back and walked to the door way.
"Just leave your shoes here, you don't want to drag in dirt. Mom hates that."
Hikaru nodded and pulled off his shoes. "What did you need to talk to her about?"
"Oh, I needed to talk about my doctor appointment. You know how that goes."
The brunette gave an understanding smile. "Oh, I see."
And just like that, Hikaru was given a new home.
Chapter 2 end
