Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts, nor am I making any money off this fanfiction.


Frog Prince

Chapter Two

Mixed Feelings


We could hear the music blaring from down the block as we pulled up into the neighborhood in Riku's yellow Mustang. It made me wonder how much trouble they were going to get into with the noise violations. In our residential area on top of the mountains, any type of noise like this wasn't tolerated. If your dog barked for more than five minutes, you got fined. Then again, Tidus's father, Jecht, was a retired star athlete, and he got away with a lot of things most people wouldn't.

The bass thumped against my ears. I knew that if I wasn't attending this party and I lived nearby Tidus, I'd be freaking pissed. How the hell would anyone be able to sleep through this?

Riku parked his car on the curb, and we climbed out. People I didn't recognize milled over the yard in groups, and I couldn't spot anyone without a cup of alcohol or a bottle of beer in their hand. Most of them were older, likely friends of Tidus's father. I smiled politely at them when they glanced my way, and Riku ushered us inside.

"You've got to be careful who you look at, Sora," Riku muttered in my ear. "These people are overly friendly when they're drunk."

I didn't see how that was really a big deal, but I hadn't ever been around anyone intoxicated outside of Riku … and that normally wasn't so great, so yeah, I'd accept his advice.

"It's different when you're drunk, too," Riku told me confidently. "Then they're easier to handle. Everyone is."

That I wasn't so sure about.

Riku put his hand on my shoulder, steering me through the foyer and out through the house. I didn't get much of a view of anything as an end result. A brief glance of a staircase leading up to my right, an immensely sized kitchen to my left with gleaming steel counters, a big screen TV that took up a good portion of the wall it was on cattycorner to the kitchen, and then… we were outside.

I breathed in the crisp air as the music threatened to make my ears go deaf. There were tons more people out here, a good portion of them in the pool. Two girls I didn't know squealed hello to Riku. He gave them a vague head nod and a wave and pushed on my shoulder. I gave the pool a better look. It was a volleyball pool, shallow on both ends with a dip in the center where a net would go. There was one set up. Steam rose off the water.

Riku's fingers pushed into my hair and pulled me against him. I stumbled into him as my feet tangled. Why had he mussed my hair after he'd gone through the trouble of gelling it up? Sometimes I'd never understand Riku, I thought grumpily. At least he hadn't gone over to the girls. My mood would have soured more if I had to deal with him flirting with cute girls all night long.

The smell of barbeque wafted under my nose, and my stomach grumbled. There was a grill set up in the corner by the house and against the far wooden fence. A very tanned, very fit man was laughing raucously and flipping burgers. He had on a pair of black swim trunks with orange flames licking up the hems of them. Tidus's dad. Anyone would recognize him if they saw him. A lot of people were disappointed when he retired.

Tidus suddenly popped into my line of vision, and Riku halted us. Tidus grinned—my stomach did a little flutter—and he passed a beer each to our hands. I stared down at it, uneasy. Beside me, Riku popped his open with ease. I wanted to whap him. He wasn't old enough for this… But I knew if I said anything, I'd get laughed at, and I wasn't in the mood for it tonight. Question my morality if you'd like, but sometimes even goodie-two-shoes need a break from being ridiculed.

"So where's Mikki?" Tidus asked as Riku took a long swig of his beer.

"I didn't ask her to come," Riku replied.

Mikki? Oh, right. The girl from the club.

Tidus tilted his head to the side, eyebrows raised in curiosity. He got his bright blue eyes and his soft blond hair from his mother. The rest—the slender, trim cut of his body, the bronze skin of a god—came from his father. I could ogle Tidus all evening and never get tired. "Why not?"

"Why would I?" Riku shrugged and brought the bottle back to his lips, his eyes on Tidus. I recognized the first signs of irritation there. It was all in the slight cut to his eyes. But Tidus wouldn't. No one usually did. I knew Riku best. It was both a blessing and a curse. Tidus could be oblivious to the fact that he'd ever irritated Riku in the first place. I could see it immediately, and I had to live with it afterward.

Riku handled me differently than he handled everyone else, anyway, but that didn't make it any easier. Like I knew him best, he knew me best. He knew the fastest ways to piss me off… and on the other edge of that blade, he knew how to worm his way back into my heart to make me forgive him. I hated and loved it both.

"Because she's your girlfriend?" Tidus laughed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He looked awkward. I didn't blame him. Riku was being difficult, vague.

Sighing and shaking his head, Riku lowered his bottle. "Mikki's not my girlfriend, Tidus. She's got… way too much emotional baggage."

I watched as Tidus's curiosity deepened on his face. He was about as easy to read as I was. He wouldn't ever be able to hide how he was feeling. "How so, man?"

"She just got drunk… started babbling about some guy named Nikki and how he broke up with her, like, two days before she went to the club with me." Riku's thumb circled the lip of his bottle. It was another sign he didn't want to talk about it. I knew all of Riku's tells. He hated it when people probed into his business. If I wanted you to know, I would have told you, I'd often heard him say.

"Whoa, what? I thought you met her like a few weeks ago!" Astonished laughter trickled from Tidus and crossed his face.

"I know, right?" Riku fingers dug in a little against his beer. His voice, on the other hand, carried the appropriate tones of shared disbelief for the conversation. "And I was like, 'Whoa, I'm not dealing with this.' And that was it."

I frowned. Why hadn't Riku told me the particulars of his relationship? I'd thought that he'd just met Mikki… apparently he hadn't. They'd been seeing each other for a few weeks instead of a few days? Geeze, didn't he tell me anything anymore? Not that I would have wanted to know about a new girlfriend, but… that wasn't the point. I was his best friend. He was supposed to keep me updated on these types of things.

"Dude, I'm sorry…" Tidus was saying.

"Whatever, man, I'm over it. Anyway, what's up with Yuna, how are you guys doing?"

Was it my fault, like Riku had said? Because I didn't hang out with them as much anymore? So therefore how could he tell me anything? Maybe… the thought didn't sit well with me, yet I didn't want to dismiss it entirely. It was partly Riku's fault, too… he was the one who kept getting into things I wasn't interested in…

"Oh, we're good, we're good. It's our six month anniversary in a few days."

"Six month anniversary? Wow, so you're one of those couples." Riku smirked.

"Huh, what couples? There's nothing wrong with celebrating, Riku."

"Yeah, but six months? One year is a bit more to 'celebrate,' don't you think? Then again, I guess you haven't ever been able to make a relationship last beyond two weeks…"

"Hey! Keep it down, will ya? Yuna's around here somewhere, I don't want her to hear something like that."

"Oh, but I'm sure she already knows…"

I tried not to feel left out of the conversation or awkward about it. I didn't know who Yuna was, or even that Tidus had a girlfriend apparently, so it was hard not to. But Riku had asked me to put on a brave front. I was going to do my best. Even if it probably wasn't going to go over very well.


A half hour later, and there wasn't much of an improvement to my situation. I'd left Riku's side and started to explore, as I hadn't been able to keep track of his conversation with Tidus. This sucked. In all that time, I hadn't found anyone I really knew, or anyone to talk to. I was sorely tempted to grab my phone from Riku's pocket while he was distracted.

I strayed near the pool's edge, in an area where there weren't as many people so I wasn't likely to get splashed. Taking a dip would be fun, except I hadn't brought anything to swim in. I didn't want to get my clothes soaked. It wasn't like I could borrow new ones from Tidus. He was way bigger than me. Oh, well. Swimming would have been preferable to doing nothing. I should have thought about that before we'd left my house.

The water rippled and sloshed against the sides of the pool. Something about the motion of it made my head tilt. A strange feeling of déjà vu hit me. For a moment, I saw the dream I'd had that morning, the one about the well and the princely Riku. The images were flickers behind my eyes, brief spurts of color, sound, mostly mute and shades of gray.

Why did it feel so familiar…?

It was just a dream…

The water… the way it had distorted Riku's reflection…

"—just what I need, a damned—"

"Sora."

I jumped almost clear out of my skin when Riku's voice sounded behind me. My foot slipped on the slick edge of the pool, and I was going down—Riku caught my elbow, yanked me back onto solid land. My heart pounded as I stared at the choppy water. What a close call!

"What are you doing, zoning out over here? I thought you were supposed to be hanging out with me," Riku said wryly, his eyes flicking over me in unconcealed amusement.

I huffed and pulled away from him to straighten my clothes. "Well, excuuuse me for not being able to be interested—" I sullenly started, only Riku chose that moment to interrupt. Of course he did. I couldn't ever lob a protest against him and expect him to actually pay attention to a word that was coming out of my mouth. If it didn't suit Riku's purposes, he'd ignore it. That was just how he was.

"You haven't had any of your beer," he said., and his eyes settled on me with accusation.

I gave him a nervous smile. "Nope?"

"Not even a sip?" He sighed. "C'mon, Sora, that's what we're here for—to drink a little, have fun, let loose."

"I just don't see how not drinking means I can't have fun—"

"Let's see what's inside. We'll do some shots. Get you warmed up." Riku put his hand at the small of my back and pushed until my feet relented and I had to catch myself from tripping. I wanted to slap his touch away and be insistent on my values, but I didn't want to start a scene, either. I had to go along with it for now.

But I couldn't help but try one last time. "Why do we have to drink, Riku? Why do you like it so much?"

He grinned at me. "You'll see."

That wasn't as comforting as I was sure he intended it.


As we headed back into the house, I caught sight of a girl. She was watching us—well, Riku—pretty intently. Did she go to our school? I'd never seen her before, yet… she kind of looked familiar and around our age. Short brown hair that flipped out where it met her chin and green eyes bright enough to rival Riku's. Petite as hell, too. She was a few inches shorter than me, and I barely came up to Riku's shoulder. For the record, I was five foot five.

She tilted her head and smiled when she saw me looking at her. Great. Did she think I'd help her get in with Riku? If so, she had the wrong idea by a long shot. I never helped Riku acquire new girlfriends. I didn't have the stomach for it. After doing that the first few times… yeah, no, it wasn't worth it anymore.

"Riku, you know her?" I tugged at his arm to get his attention.

"Hm?" He glanced over, and his eyebrows rose. "Know who?"

With a slight frown forming on my lips, I looked back to where I'd spotted the brunette. She was… gone? O-kay, if she was trying for the creepy factor, she was most definitely succeeding. I couldn't spot her anywhere, not even after twisting my head in several different directions. She'd left, and she'd done it fast.

"Never mind," I muttered.

Riku laughed and put his hand over the back of my head. "And you're not even drinking yet. Priceless."

"Shut up, Riku," I protested.

"And why should I," he replied, "when it's so true?"

"It's not true." So I was pouting like a three-year-old. So what. Some habits were hard to break. Though I'd deny I was pouting to my dying breath.

We wove through a few groups of people. They were clustered around the TV in the living room, and I barely had time to give it another appreciative glance. My dad had wanted one that big for a while now. Mom was talking about getting him one for his birthday. We'd see how that went. If Dad protested too much about bills, he'd wrangle Mom into not spending that much money on him.

Riku stopped. His eyes roved over the far corner where we were, behind the leather furniture set and toward where the bar was. No one was behind it now. Some glasses were missing from above, and the spots for the wine were mostly empty. It looked like Jecht wasn't a big wine drinker. Back in his day, he'd done some advertising for beer. Not that that meant anything, but… well, anyway.

"Tequila," Riku said approvingly.

I made a face. I'd heard that stuff tasted God-awful. "Riku, can't I try something else?" Crap. Had those words really come out of my mouth? Already, I was conceding defeat.

The glitter in my best friend's eyes said he knew it. "It's Patrón, Sora. It's the good stuff." He climbed up behind the bar and grabbed four shot glasses. I wondered who all he was intending them for besides ourselves. Odd.

"Riku, what…"

"These are for you." Riku dug around in his pants pocket until he withdrew a simple black hair band. He held it between his teeth, grabbed the tequila, set it down on the bar's top, and then quickly threw his hair up into a ponytail. His bangs hung in his eyes. They needed to be cut, or at least that was what his mom would say. Girls dug the dangerous look.

"Me?" I pointed to my chest. "Nuh-uh, no way…"

"Come on, don't be such a damned baby." Strangely, his voice didn't carry its usual ire like it did when he got fed up with me.

He poured the liquor carefully into each shot glass, probably only because he didn't want to make a mess on Jecht's bar. Riku wasn't the cleanly type, as I pointed out before. It was a small blessing he had respect for other people's belongings. I wondered what his dorm room in college was going to look like once he moved out of his parents' house next year. Then again, with the whole consideration thing, unless his roommate was just as messy…

Distract yourself all you want, Sora, you're still looking at four shots of liquor.

"Sora, here, look at me." Reluctantly, I did so. His eyes met mine. "I promise you I will be here for you one hundred percent once you do these. Okay?"

I wasn't so sure…

He must have read it on my face. "Why can't you trust me anymore?"

"It's not that—"

"Then why won't you relax around me?"

"Riku, it's got nothing to do with—"

"It's just a few shots, and I'll be here the whole time. You're my best friend. I'm gonna look out for you."

God, why the heck did I let him strong arm me into these sorts of situations? I should have had the good sense to say no. Kairi was right (not that I'd ever disagreed with her): I was hopeless when it came to Riku, and that hadn't changed in the last twenty-four hours. I wished it could have. Then maybe I wouldn't have been able to down four shots.

Bracing myself, I grabbed one and knocked it back like I'd seen Riku do it. It burned all the way down and was the most awful thing I'd ever tasted. I shuddered all over.

"That's it, Sora, now the next one!" Riku encouraged.

Blargh.

"You're not gonna chicken out now, are you?"

Bastard. Knew all the lines.

I did the second one with a bit more hesitance. My eyes were watering by the time I got it down. I set the empty glass on the bar and shakily reached for the next. This one and the last both went down harder than the first two, but finally, finally I was done. All I could do afterward was stand there and grimace horribly.

I was an idiot.

Riku hastily cleared the glasses away and then came around the bar to squeeze his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you all right? You did good, Sora."

My head felt light. My chest was burning.

"Come on, let's go sit down somewhere, let it sink in. I'll do some, too. Okay?"

I managed to nod. Tequila was disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. And Riku had called me a chicken. I'd had to do it. He'd never let me live it down otherwise. Neither would my pride.

God was I an idiot.


Oh, yeah.

Definitely an idiot.

The problem with drinking is that it loosens your thoughts, or rather, your tongue. You're more prone to saying things you'd normally like to keep to yourself. Like, say, "Riku, I really love your hair."

He laughed, like it was the funniest thing I'd ever said. "Everyone says that."

Oh, good. Saved.

We were lying on the floor in a guest bedroom. The door was cracked, the TV in the room was on to the sports channel, and I felt almost feverish from the alcohol in my bloodstream. I couldn't see why anyone would want to be like this. I wasn't really sure I could stand right then if I had to. I'd probably just lie on the ground and giggle like the drunken idiot I was.

Riku rolled over onto his stomach and looked down at me. "I'm glad you did this, Sora," he said. "I'm glad you did this with me. I miss you."

My heart gave a startled pang at those words. "Um," I said.

"I need you by my side. You're my best friend. Life's not as fun without you," he continued, as if he hadn't made for an awkward moment.

"You've got tons of friends," I replied. "Tooons of friends. You don't need me. Don't need me." I shook my head against the plush carpet. Whoa. The room was spinning. "Riku, is this normal? I feel really… really… drunk…"

"You're drunk, but not really drunk. It's 'cause you're a lightweight. You never drink, so it doesn't take much. Plus, it was tequila. Strong stuff."

"Ngh," I said.

"Aren't you having fun, though?" Riku prompted.

Fun?

Maybe…

It was just Riku and me, no one else up here with us. Yeah, it was kinda nice. Maybe I didn't like the intoxicated part so much, but that same part didn't mind at the moment. Later I'd care. Not now. Not when I had Riku with me, not when I didn't feel as… tense?... around him as I normally did. It was a nice feeling. Liberating, almost.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm having fun."

Riku's lashes fluttered. He made a soft noise, and his head drooped. I blinked at him uncertainly. Was he drunker than he was acting? That… wasn't necessarily good. I was supposed to be the heavily intoxicated one, not the other way around! If he was worse off than me, we were in biiig trouble.

"Riku?" My arm felt like it weighed a ton as I lifted it to prod him in the chest. I giggled as I thought about how I might have hurt him. "Riiikuuu… What are you doooiiing?" I made the words sing song.

He raised his head. Something in his eyes made me swallow, quiet, and drop my arm. I stared up at him, nerves tingling through me. Looking at him made me feel funny—funnier than usual. It wasn't, precisely, desire, it was… something else. That déjà vu feeling was back. Like I had done this before.

Which was pure crazy talk. I'd never drunk a drop of alcohol in my life.

"Sora," he said softly. His eyes widened a moment later, and he reached out to me, putting his palm against my cheek. Wonder filled his face.

I choked on another giggle. "How drunk are you?"

"Sora…" His thumb stroked slowly over my cheekbone. It made my throat lock up, and I knew at that moment that I wouldn't be saying another word. Every part of my body was honed in to where he was touching me. Riku had never done that before. Why was he now? Because he was drunk?

This was weird. Nice, but very un-Riku-like, and therefore weird.

"I don't have much time," he breathed. His other hand came up to join the first so that he was cradling my face gently in his palms. "Please don't be scared."

Scared about what?

"You have to know that I will always love you, no matter what." The words were nothing more than a whisper, as if he was afraid he was going to spook me should he speak much louder. I kept staring up into his eyes, captivated. I knew, on a very basic level, that Riku loved me. I was his best friend. But this—the way he was saying it now—

No, Sora, stop, that's wishful thinking.

"Always…" he repeated. "Always…"

And then he kissed me.

I was frozen beneath him, my thoughts completely scattered to the winds, as the saying went. His eyes fluttered closed, a long sweep of his lashes. I could do nothing more than stare at the bridge of his nose and wonder what the heck had just happened. Riku was… kissingkissing… me… me, Sora… me…

His tongue glided over the seam of my mouth. My breath caught, and my lips parted more in surprise than anything else. He pushed in without further ado, his fingertips stroking up into my hair. The first brush of his tongue against mine was electric, and I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. They finally slid shut.

It was amazing. Everything I thought it'd be. Even with the taste of alcohol on his breath. I knew it was on mine, too.

After several moments, my body started to tremble. Probably from all the screaming emotions ricocheting through it. I reached up and grasped onto his shirt, clenched my fingers into a fist, held on tight as the kiss turned from gentle into something harder, more desperate.

I could hear my breathing, and his mingled with it. He pulled from my mouth an inch, but before I could wonder why he'd stopped, he was kissing me again. My lips started to feel bruised and sensitive, a sensation I never thought I'd get to experience with Riku. I kept up the best I could—he was much more experienced than me—and it felt so good—

My skin was growing hotter. Just when I couldn't take it anymore, when I thought I was going to have to do something, he drew away, and this time I could tell it was for good.

Swallowing, I slowly opened my eyes, wanting to savor every moment of that kiss, wanting to commit it to memory to treasure later when I was alone.

Something was wrong—his face, his expression, it…

Confused?

Almost… horrified…?

"Riku?" My voice was paper thin.

The anger came all at once. "What the fuck, Sora!" he exclaimed, and his eyes narrowed at me. I'd been halfway expecting it, but it still jarred me, made me prop myself up on my elbows and open my mouth to explain, except—

What was there to explain? He'd started this—I didn't really have anything to say—I should have been the one exclaiming what the fuck, not him—

He got to his feet and pushed his hands through his hair. His mouth opened, closed. I braced myself for yelling, maybe even something about how he wasn't gay, I didn't know. Instead, I got nothing. He simply pivoted and left. He didn't even really storm out, he was just… there one moment, out the door the next at an only slightly hurried pace.

I stared after where he'd departed, stunned.

What had happened?

What had…?

No matter how many times I played through it in my mind, it didn't make any sense. Riku, his normal self. Riku, suddenly telling me he'd always love me and then kissing me… Riku… snapping out of his senses…? And then leaving. I didn't get it. I didn't understand. It had nothing to do with him being drunk. I knew it didn't. But then what else could it be?

I wasn't sure how long I sat there. No one came upstairs to bother me. Riku didn't come back, either, for that matter. Not that I had really expected him to. Well, maybe. It would have been the right thing to do… not that Riku ever necessarily did the right thing if it would inconvenience him in any way…

I was thinking in circles again.

At first, I was okay. More okay than I thought I'd be. But then I started thinking things like, Are we still friends? Is he ever going to talk to me again? and my confident feeling faltered. Confusion started to shift into worry. Sure, I didn't get along with the guy well enough for my liking (or Kairi's) lately, but… that didn't mean I was ready to throw sixteen years' worth of friendship down the drain…

Was this it…?

What should I have done? Said? Did I need to go after him? He wouldn't have gone after me…

This wasn't fair. Why did I have to suffer the consequences if this didn't go over well?

Why had he kissed me?

Why had he looked so sure about it, then so freaked out after he'd done it?

…it just didn't make any sense…

Some time later, I heard the door open. My legs were curled up to my chest, my forehead was hiding against my knees. I had my arms wrapped over my ankles. I didn't bother to look up. Maybe it was Riku…? I doubted it. He really never would come after me.

"Sora, are you okay?" It was Kairi.

I lifted my head, staring blearily at her.

"I got your text." She rushed to kneel in front of me.

What text?

"I had to put the address in Dad's GPS, but—well, anyway…" She tilted her head. "Are you okay? You—…" Her brows crinkled together. "Sora, you smell like liquor."

Riku must have texted her from my phone under the guise of me. How thoughtful of him. When the hell was I going to get my phone back? What did it matter? I definitely wasn't going down there to confront him about it. If he was even still there, judging by how he'd gotten Kairi, his arch nemesis, to come and get me.

"It was Riku, wasn't it?" She frowned. "Peer pressure or something?"

I shook my head, intending to tell her nothing. I didn't want to talk about it. "Riku kissed me. He kissed me…" Okay, apparently my mouth was operating on its own. I was pretty sure that had everything to do with the tequila again.

"Wait, whaaat?" Kairi gasped. "No way! Are you serious? He did?"

I nodded mutely.

"Wow, Sora, that's…" I could see on her face that she was fighting to be excited for me and mostly failing because of her great dislike for him. "That's… great…?"

I shook my head again.

"No…?" She put her hands on my shoulders, her face coming closer to mine and full of concern. "Sora… Sora, what happened?"

"I don't know," I whispered.

As always, Kairi was receptive to my feelings, and right then I was broadcasting pain. Eyes full of sympathy, she grasped my wrists and pulled on them. "Come on, you can tell me about it outside. I'll take you to my place. You can text your mom that you're with me. I'm sure you don't want to let her see you dru—"

"I don't have my phone. Riku does." And I didn't really feel all that drunk anymore. Nothing like rejection from something you didn't even start to sober you right back up. I was still feeling a little buzzed, but it was nothing compared to before, that was for sure.

"But you—" she began, only to stop as understanding lit her eyes. "Okay, well, I'll text her. It won't really matter, will it? Your mom's not particular about that kind of thing."

I looked up at her, starting with her wrists. Rainbow bracelets. A graphic-T with a lace tanktop beneath it. Simple jean skirt. Flats. Her hair was pulled back into a neat French braid. There was actually make-up on her face. Where had she gone? She'd texted me earlier… Maybe she'd hung out with some other friends, been with them before she got Riku's—my—text.

"You're really pretty, Kairi," I said.

"Thanks, Sora…" She blushed, looking awkward about it. "Now c'mon, you're too heavy for me to move you."

With some effort, I was able to get to my feet. I was a little unsteady afterward. Kairi put an arm around my waist, and after a moment, the world righted itself and I was fine. I managed a more or less straight line all the way downstairs and to the driveway. Riku's Mustang was gone. Great. Looked like even if I had wanted to try getting my phone back, it wouldn't have happened.

This was just great, I thought as I climbed into her car.

My life really sucked sometimes.


"You need to let me talk to him," Kairi said as I fluffed up pillows to sleep on the downstairs couch. Kairi's parents trusted me implicitly. I supposed I projected the image of a good-boy aura. Not that they were all that wrong about me… most of the time, tonight exempted.

"No, Kairi," I said wearily. I just wanted to go to bed and forget it had ever happened. It felt like a smear on my psyche that wasn't going to go away anytime soon. I hated worrying, fretting over things I couldn't do anything about at the moment, yet I still would, anyway. How did anyone get away from something like that? Being apathetic? But that was the one thing I wasn't.

"Why not?" she huffed. She put her hands on her hips and watched me flip out the blanket to settle it on my sleeping spot.

"Because it's not a big deal. Riku's just being Riku." I didn't know a polite way to tell her to mind her own business. If you couldn't say something nice, it was best to say nothing at all. Right?

"Riku's not just being Riku this time," she countered. "He's gone above and beyond his usual asshole self tonight! He really hurt your feelings!"

Well, thanks for reminding me… It wasn't her fault. I knew it wasn't. She was just trying to be my friend. But God, I really wanted to go to sleep and not have to deal with this.

"I mean, where does he even get off on doing something like that, huh? You shouldn't put up with it, Sora! You've wanted Riku for a long time, and—"

"Look, Kairi, can we just—I don't know—drop it?" I interrupted before she could start on a tangent.

Her lips tightened, and her shoulders tensed. Great. I'd offended her. What a way to cap off a perfect night.

"Sure, Sora," she said, unmistakably miffed, and she stomped back up the stairs, albeit quietly so she wouldn't wake her parents. The way she said it let me know that this wasn't over.

I sighed and climbed under the covers, wishing I could feel more guilty about it. But I had a lot more on my mind than having to deal with Kairi being upset over Riku messing with my feelings yet again. As soon as I thought that, the guilt did hit, and I shifted uncomfortably.

Damn it.


"Come on, Sora, up, up, up!"

I groaned. What time was it?

"I've got to take you home before we go to church. Let's go. Mom made breakfast if you want some."

Forty-five minutes later, my stomach full, I got out of Kairi's car and shut the door. I barely got to wave at her before she peeled out of the driveway and zoomed off into the distance. She was going to be mad at me for a while, probably until she realized I wasn't going to relent and let her tell off Riku. If he knew I'd told anyone about what had happened… Heck, if I hadn't been intoxicated, I wouldn't have dreamed of opening my mouth.

It probably didn't help her ire that I wasn't hung-over. As much as I loved Kairi, she was like any girl, and could be petty sometimes. I'd apologize later when I was sure I wouldn't get yelled at. You know, play it safe.


The bus. My favorite form of transport, especially when it meant waking up an hour earlier than I normally did. But with Kairi and Riku both mad at me, I had no choice. And I couldn't just stay home from school. Mom wouldn't believe me if I told her I was sick. She'd cottoned on to those tactics long ago.

The day went mostly okay. The professors droned, and I managed to keep up conversation with most of my classmates if I had to. I diligently copied notes and wrote down homework. In fact, I probably paid more attention in school that day than I ever had before. Anything to escape the wreck that my personal life was fast becoming.

Nothing eventful happened—that is, until the last period before the day ended.

I was coming out of the bathroom when I saw them: Kairi, despite what I had asked, was confronting Riku.

At first, I thought my eyes were mistaken. Kairi had never gone against my feelings on something. She knew how much it would upset me if she did. Unlike Riku, she respected that. Only… now, there she was… one hand on her hip, the other pointed at Riku's chest…

People were around—staring—

I inched closer, a safe enough distance away that they wouldn't see me immediately. Well, I wasn't really worried as much about Kairi. It was Riku who would make all hell rain down if his eyes landed on me. If they were talking about what I thought they were…

"What you did was wrong, Riku!"

They were. It was as bad as I'd feared.

A cold, sinking sensation crept through my stomach, and I swallowed so hard I couldn't breathe. The urge to flee rose. I stamped it down. I had to stay here, for Kairi if nothing else. It wasn't like Riku would ever hurt her, no, but Kairi honestly didn't know what she was doing. Kairi was going to humiliate him in front of the whole school. That wasn't something Riku would take without returning the gesture in full force.

…Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Kairi didn't have any dirt on her. She was the mayor's daughter. She couldn't. Besides, she had every adult in this town wrapped around her finger, she was so sweet. I know that they say that the quiet, good ones are the people you have to look out for, but that was so not the case with Kairi. Riku wouldn't have any dirt on her.

Right?

In any case, as for me personally? I was screwed. Riku knew I had told Kairi. That was the one thing I'd most wanted to avoid out of this, and now… shit, shit, shit.

"You can't just make out with Sora and then leave him there like it's his fault!"

It had never been so tempting to disappear into the floor.

Riku didn't say anything, though his eyes gave a dangerous glitter, almost feral. He was like a predator, a great cat, waiting in the tall grass, his tail swishing, at any moment going to pounce, right when Kairi's most opportune moment of weakness was displayed. She would never see it coming.

My mouth opened. No sound came out. I needed to grab her and take her away. The only problem was my fear of Riku and what he would say to me. I'd done my best not to think about it yesterday or Saturday night, but… he'd hurt me. He'd taken my heart in his hand and crushed it. I might have still been recovering from that—some of the numbness might still have needed to wear off—but it didn't matter. Once he saw me, he was going to kill me for telling. And not just telling anyone—telling Kairi.

"It was petty, Riku, and you know it. So you had a moment of bicuriosity—so what—why does Sora have to suffer for it? He's your best friend—"

Twin spots of red appeared high on Riku's cheeks, the only real sign of his anger. A second later, his shoulders tensed. He was preparing for the pounce.

Kairi, stop! I silently screamed at her. Maybe Riku didn't have any dirt on her. That didn't mean that he wouldn't possibly come up with something really nasty to say just to cut her heart into pieces in front of everyone. His pride could only handle so much, and she'd just aired our dirty laundry to the whole school.

She was a fiercely loyal friend, and I appreciated that, I did, I just—this was the stupidest thing she could have possibly done. Then again, maybe I was mostly saying that out of fear of retaliation from Riku, and so my opinion was biased. Either way, she needed to get out of the line of fire.

"—and while we're on that subject, the way you treat him is really terrible, you know—"

I had only a brief moment to spare for the amount of embarrassment she just caused me with that remark alone before Riku leaned into her space. I had to inch closer, as close as I dared, to hear his next words. I wasn't the only one. There was a loose circle of students forming around Riku and Kairi. The rest of them had already left for class. The bell was due to ring any minute now.

"Do you really want to play this game, Kairi?" he asked, his voice so soft it chilled my blood.

Kairi, brave and incredibly unaware of what was about to happen soldier that she was, straightened her spine and planted both hands on her hips. "This isn't a game, Riku. You just don't get it, do you? You think you can do whatever you want, without any repercussions—"

A very small, very deadly smirk crossed Riku's lips. "Your father is the mayor of his town, Kairi."

A palpable tension filled the air at these words. So he did have something on her. But what could it possibly be? Good enough that he'd been savoring it for a moment like this? My worry for Kairi increased as whispers spread between the lingering students, their voices hushed and excited.

Heedless of the danger zone she had placed herself in, Kairi shook her hair back. "Yeah, so?"

"Well, you see…" Riku released the smallest of sighs, as if it was going to pain him to reveal this tidbit of information. "I imagine, for your father, Kairi… that it'd be very upsetting for him to find out his only daughter—his daughter who's held in such high status among the town council and helps him, on occasion, keep his votes when the end of the year rolls around…"

I watched Kairi's face pale.

"…well, what would he say, do you think, if he found out she was making out with Olette Girard behind the football stadium after cheerleading practice last Tuesday?"

Startled gasps and surprised giggles from their audience.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Kairi had done what…?

Obviously I wasn't repulsed by this bit of information, or else that would have been rather hypocritical of me, but—why hadn't she told me something like that? Why hadn't she told me she—

Okay, Sora, think on this later!

Judging by the triumphant smirk that lit up his face, Riku had succeeded in getting the reaction he'd wanted. The girls in the crowd edged away from Kairi, and I didn't like the expressions they carried, smugness and disgust mingling together in an odd mix. Girls were like vultures, waiting to prey on the weak. I hated it.

Knowing as I did so that Riku would see me, I strode forward until I'd reached Kairi. I ignored Riku and put my arm around her shoulders. Surprised tears were in her eyes, her face slack with confusion. Clearly she hadn't known anyone was around when…

Olette, Olette, Olette. I knew that name. I didn't have any classes with her, though.

Eyes were suddenly boring into the side of my head. Gritting my teeth, I looked up. Riku's face was scary enough that my pulse skittered. He loomed above me, always taller than me, but when he was mad at me, it was like all the angry energy circulating around him turned him into a giant. I did my best to appear brave in the face of it.

But then, in the next second, Riku's face smoothed itself out into something almost pleasant. Calmly, much more calmly than I had expected from someone who was containing so much rage, he walked away from me. The rest of the students took their cue to disperse, and I glanced around a moment later to see the hallways empty.

Had the bell rung in the midst of all that and I'd been too focused on what was going on to hear it?

"Kairi, are you going to be okay?" I whispered.

She brushed off my arm and pushed away from me. It stung a little bit, but I tried not to take it personally. Kairi was a really strong person, and she was probably pissed off that she'd cried in front of Riku. Or maybe she was still mad at me. Could be both.

"I'll be fine," she choked out, and she left me standing there, not knowing what to do.

I was never tardy to class, so when I showed up five minutes late, my teacher only gave me a warning look, and I took my seat. It was the longest class of my life, and I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I wished it was over so I could rush home and get the hell away from here. On the other… Riku's chances of confronting me after school were pretty high, and the longer the class was, the more I could put it off.

My eyes took to staring at the clock while everyone else was scribbling notes or passing them. A few glances were sent my way throughout the hour, none of them subtle. I supposed they'd heard Riku had made out with me at Tidus's party Saturday evening. Oh, yeah—if I'd had any doubt before that Riku was going to kill me, it was now gone. I was just a nobody at this school. No one would really rag on me, just look on. Riku? It was going to be bad.

Tick… tock… tick… tock… tick…

The bell rang. I blinked and looked up. Everyone was gathering their stuff, some of them shooting me furtive looks as they departed from the room. I sighed and began to gather my things as slowly as I possibly could. Finally, though, when the class was completely empty and the teacher was eyeing me over his glasses, I had to accept that it was time to go.

My legs felt like jelly. I forced them to stand. I could do this.

I hung around in the threshold of the door for a bit. My teacher was watching me like a hawk, tiny eyes blazing holes on my back. I didn't want to go out there until I was sure everyone was gone. Maybe I could just hide out in the bathroom… Yeah, sounded good.

I claimed a stall, sat, put my books on my knees in a neat little pile, and waited. The buses were loading, so this was going to be a bit of a wait. Maybe even as much as half an hour for everyone to clear out. In the meantime, I had to listen to flushing toilets, the spray of water in the sink, pants being zipped up. Every bit of noise grated against my ears like a death sentence. If I could just hold out a little longer… Riku would give up waiting for me… he'd go home…

Finally, there was blissful silence. I poked my head out of the bathroom. A vacuum sounded in the distance, and the wheels of a janitor cart. Breathing in relief, I made my way to my locker to exchange books and grab my bag. I made sure not to keep my back entirely open. I wanted to see Riku if he really was headed my way.

The sunlight outside was bright, and I squinted. I dug in my pocket for my phone to call my mom and tell her that I was going to be late coming home since I'd missed the bus and I'd have to walk… except… no phone. Riku still had it.

Damn!

"…yeah, Mrs. Shiozu, he's right here… he had to stay late after class… yeah, I'm going to take him home… but I'd planned to take him and get some dinner first… catch up, you know? We haven't hung out really lately, and…"

Dread clenched my stomach in hard knots. I kept my eyes straight ahead.

A moment later, a heavy handed settled on my shoulder. I swallowed.

Great.

So he'd found me, after all.

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Shiozu… yeah, you're welcome. Okay, bye." The sound of my phone being flipped shut.

Couldn't I get a break?

"Hey, Sora," Riku said, his voice cheerful enough that I knew I was in some seriously deep shit. "Need a ride home?"