I couldn't sleep. I couldn't erase that image from my head. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was him, sitting on the cold ground, bloodied, weak and struggling just to speak. I don't know why itwas bothering me so much. It definitely was not the blood, I've seen much worse in my time with all the horror movies I've watched and video games I've played, those things don't scare me.

But if wasn't that, then that would mean it was him right? Seeing him like that, practically lifeless. Why did that scare me so much? Why would I care? He's a stalker right? You're not supposed to care about your stalker, you're supposed to call the police on them and get restraining orders… Right?

God… I don't know anymore.

Riku sat atop the roof of Sora's house, keeping a look out as he also watched over the restless boy worriedly. He watched as Sora flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling wearily in his restlessness. Though of course, sleep was continuing to evade him at the moment. A sad fact for the young adult.

Riku, of course, felt guilty though as he thought it was partly his fault. In a sense, he felt selfish, regardless of the fact that it wasn't really his fault. He couldn't avoid getting injured, just as he couldn't avoid getting attacked in the first place. But he'd gone and sat in such an obvious spot. He could have hidden away on the roof or something till his wound healed. But no, he'd gone to sit where Sora could find him. And that made him feel selfish. He involved him, simply to see him. To talk to him, because it was something he'd always wished to do.

He wished he could help him, but he had no clue how.

Sora was beyond tired. He hadn't slept at all that morning because all he could think about was Riku, nor had he eaten yet today, because he'd some how managed to lose his apatite just thinking about Riku, so his energy levels were way down as he sat, exhausted at work. He seriously needed to find a way to wake himself up, but sadly that wouldn't be possible until midnight.

"Hey sweet pea." A familiarly smooth, sultry voice said behind Sora. He quickly spun around, surprise clear on his face as he saw Riku, seated on the counter where the dressing rooms computer and phone sat. He had his legs crossed and his palms flat against the smooth counter top as he smirked down at Sora. He was dressed simply in a faded blue sweater with dark baggy gray jeans, the ends tucked into his black combat boots. His long silver locks were pulled back into a loose ponytail, but his fringe still hung down in his eyes, concealing most of the aqua green color.

"What are you doing?!" Sora asked, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Helping you out." He said as though it should have been obvious. Sora's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about? And get off of there, you're going to get me in trouble!"

Riku looked slightly surprised, but he easily hopped off the counter, taking a couple steps so he'd be right in front of Sora.

"You're exhausted right now, I know you are. So, I brought you something." He said, reaching into his pockets, he pulled out an energy drink and a six pack of peanut butter crackers. Sora's eyes lit up at the sight.

"It's not much, and probably not that good for you, but at least it's something right?" He said with a soft smile. Sora looked up at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Y-you didn't have to." Sora said awkwardly, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he slowly took the offered items, his hands brushing against Riku's warm ones.

"Yes I did."

Sora's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Riku paused for a moment, seemingly thinking it over as he shrugged slightly.

"It's my job to protect you. Even if I have to protect you from yourself sometimes." Riku explained with a smirk as he lightly knocked his knuckles against the brunet's forehead. Sora pouted as he pulled back in an attempt to stop the friendly assault.

"As usual, you still make little to no sense. You keep telling me I'll understand soon enough, well why don't you just explain everything to me already so I can understand? So you can save me the time and aggravation of trying to figure it out myself?" Sora questioned challengingly. Though Riku's smirk simply widened to show his cheekiness.

"Because that's not nearly as much fun." Sora could have face palmed at the utter amusement Riku found in his confusion.

"Besides, haven't you figured out most of it already?"

Sora blinked in surprise, looking up at him curiously. Was he confirming his suspicions?

"Are you saying...?" Sora questioned in awe. Riku shrugged though, looking nonchalant.

"I'm not saying anything. Just to be patient." Riku said with a smile, patting Sora on the head, then turned on his heel to leave.

"Are you leaving already?" Sora asked curiously. Riku turned back and nodded.

"You'll get in trouble if I'm here distracting you all night. But don't worry, I'm always near."

Sora paused for a moment, looking around at the floor.

"Just... Don't get hurt again, okay?"

Riku blinked in surprise, his eyes widening at Sora's concern. After a moment, he nodded, his expression becoming determined.

"I won't. I promise."

Riku left after that, allowing Sora to continue his work.

Kairi messaged me that weekend. I didn't know what to say to her though, so I went for a walk… Heh, some walk it was... Terrifying, and yet… enthralling. I had never experienced anything like it. And on top of that, I finally found out what Riku is. Or at least, confirmed what I already thought he was.

Kairi: My shitty friends ask for my shitty relationship advice, then ignore it. -.-

That was the message he'd received during work. A few days had passed since he'd last seen Riku, when the male had given him the energy drink and crackers, but he hadn't been able to get him out of his head since. It was odd to think who he believed was a stalker at first had become this mind consuming mystery that he couldn't seem to get enough of. But, back to Kairi.

He'd received the message at work, but had taken to ignoring it, decidedly not wanting to deal with the girl. He found himself rather irritated by her recently. It's not that he didn't still care for her, he definitely did, but he some how felt used. She had no problem admitting that she cared so little for him or that she was lonely and that's why she was talking to him. Sora couldn't stand this abuse, but he had no clue how to tell her just that. So he figured he'd just ignore her till he figured things out.

Thankfully, today was his day off, so he had time to just sit and think. Or, walk and think. It was nice and chilly out and the sky was cloudy, a mirror of his thoughts. It was nice to just take a walk though and be by himself for a while without having to worry about getting all of his work done.

Sora sighed, running a hand through his messy spikes, his music pounding through his head phones and into his ears. His ears were definitely going to be ringing later, but for now, he was happily listening to Simon Curtis sing about letting the beat drop. Slowly, he brought his gaze up from the pavement as he was nearing his house. That's when he saw him.

His eyes widened as he let out a gasp.

"Riku?" He called out.

The silveret looked up curiously from the phone in his hands. He gave him a small wave before continuing what he was doing on his phone. Sora sighed in exasperation, rushing over to where Riku stood, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at the taller male.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"Watching over you." Riku answered simply as his fingers flew across the screen of his phone, tapping in letters quickly as he wrote up his message to god only knows who.

"Why?"

"It's my job."

"How did you even find my house? Did you follow me home?"

Riku chuckled, shaking his head.

"Please Sora, you should know better than that by now. I've always known where you live. I know everything about you." Riku said, putting away his phone.

"That sounds really creepy, I hope you know that." Sora said.

Riku smirked, ruffling his hair.

"It's the truth. I've known you your entire life Sora."

Before Sora could question him once more, the door to his house opened, and out came his mother, immediately calling to him.

"Sora! Who are you talking to?!" She called from the front door. Sora sighed once more, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He's my friend mom! Just go back in the house!" Sora said, waving her off.

"But who is he?! I've never seen him before!" She hollered. Sora sighed, shoulders drooping. The reason for the third degree was due to the fact that Sora's whole family now knew he had a stalker because after telling Leon, his brother had told his mother who then announced it to everyone. Needless to say, everyone was on red alert as their over protectiveness was at an all time high.

"His name is Riku! Just go inside and we'll talk later!" Sora called back, frantically gesturing for her to go inside.

"Fine! But you're not getting off the hook!" She said before going back inside, shutting the door, but watching him from one of the front windows.

"Sorry about that, she's a bit..." Sora started, trailing off awkwardly.

"Over protective? I know, I've seen."

Sora glanced back to his house, his mother, Vanitas and sister Aerith peering out of the window now.

"Come on, let's get away from here before my entire family is gawking at us through the window." Sora said, leading Riku down the sidewalk.

"What are you doing at my house anyways?"

"My job. I'm keeping an eye on you, making sure nothing happens to you." At this point, Riku was reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone and reading over the message he'd received before rolling his eyes and stuffing the device back in his pocket.

"I still don't understand you." Sora said as he looked off at the houses lining the street.

"You will. Very soon." Riku said with a smirk.

"How soon?" Sora asked, a smirk of his own breaking his features.

"Very."

Sora huffed at the response. He hated how vague he was about everything.

As the pair reached the street corner, Riku stopped, making Sora pause and look back at him curiously.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a large gust of wind blew through, pushing Sora harshly as if it wanted to make him fly away and ruffling his hair. Through squinted eyes, he looked up at Riku. He was just standing there as if nothing was happening, but his expression was pensive as he stared off down the road, his hair being blown about in all directions from the wind. The wind calmed slowly, but only just enough for Sora to open his eyes and properly see Riku.

"Come here." He said, keeping his gaze on the street ahead of him. Sora looked down the street to see what he was looking at, though he couldn't see anything suspicious.

"What?" Sora questioned, looking back to Riku curiously.

Rather than answering the brunet, he quickly grabbed him and pulled him flush against his chest. Then, before Sora could even process what was happening, feathery snow white wings burst out of Riku's back and he quickly flew into the sky, shooting them straight up. Sora's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened considerably. He didn't know how to react to this. He looked up at Riku, said man simply looking upwards as he continued to soar higher into the sky. Slowly, he allowed his eyes to travel downward, though he immediately regretted it.

It wasn't vertigo that got him, Sora was hardly afraid of heights.

What caused this regret was a giant black monster with what appeared to be long orange hair and cuffs around the things large wrists. Suddenly, the monster looked up at them, glowing yellow eyes and mouth dripping with whatever yellow stuff was seeping out.

It let out a loud, shrill, shriek, startling Sora and making him jump in Riku's arms.

"Shit, don't do that." Riku said as his grip slipped slightly.

"What the fuck is that?!" Sora practically screamed, alarmed by the beast still and gripping Riku's shirt.

"Don't look at it. Just calm down and look at me." Riku commanded, though his voice was soothing through the sternness. Looking up with wide panicked eyes, Riku's eyes met with Sora's, a gentle kindness held within that instantly caused Sora to melt in his grip and completely drawing his attention to him rather than the monster below.

Suddenly, they flew into the thick layer of clouds covering the sky, the two now surrounded by the gray and white fluff. Sora gasped, looking around with wide, curious eyes. Riku smirked in amusement at his amazement and looked upwards once more to watch where he was going. After a moment, they finally broke through the clouds. Above them was the clear blue sky as the sun sat on the horizon.

"Woah..." Sora breathed out his awe of the beautiful scene as he unknowingly gripped tighter to Riku.

"Nice huh?" Riku muttered with a smirk, Sora nodding quickly in agreement.

Sora then heard another loud screech from the monster, quickly followed by them being thrown backwards as the beast burst through the clouds. Riku managed to skid to a halt on his feet, though Sora and Riku were now a good ten feet apart as the brunet laid face down in the fluffy white clouds. This of course surprised him as he had expected to fall through the clouds, though he didn't have long to think about it as the beast let out another deafening shriek and started after Sora. He tried to quickly get to his feet, but some how, it became a struggle for him as his arms shook from his weight.

"Shit." Sora breathed out as he looked up at the beast that was quickly approaching him on all fours. Just as he came within the monsters reach, it made to swing it's arm at him, but it suddenly screeched as it's arm was severed and fell to the clouds. Riku now floating in front of Sora, held what looked like a sword in the shape of a bat wing with an angel's wing on the top over his head as his other hand stretched out before him in a beckoning manner.

"Sora, do me a favor, and don't move." Riku said sternly. Sora stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded his understanding.

Riku flew towards the beast, said monster swinging his other arm right at Riku. The silveret used the air as though it were a solid surface, swiftly launching himself over the monster. As he landed the beasts other arm fell off. It screeched once more and spun around, barreling towards Riku. He stood there, completely still as he kept his eye trained on the beast. When it was a couple feet away from him, he launch himself at the beast's chest, tearing straight through it and coming out the other side like a bullet. He landed before Sora, kneeling as the monster screamed once more before falling to the ground, pieces of the monster tearing away from it's body as they floated into the air, then in a bright flash of light, the monster vanished and Sora watched as a heart floated upwards from where the monster had been.

Sora's eyes were wide and his jaw dropped as he watched this occur.

"Sora!" Riku called out from where he knelt, but he quickly started after him. Sora was quickly dragged from his stupor at this. The clouds suddenly gave way as they no longer held him up, and he quickly started to fall. He couldn't talk, scream anything as all reasoning left his brain, he had no clue what to do.

As Sora broke through the thick layer of clouds, he slowly looked over his shoulder to see he was hurtling towards the ground. Riku broke through the clouds moments after, speeding towards him.

"Sora!" He called out once more, reaching his hand out towards him. All he could do though was watch Riku as he continued to reach for him. Finally though, Riku managed to get close enough to Sora, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him upwards quickly so he could hold him against his chest again. Sora let out a small gasp as he made contact with Riku's, and he instinctively gripped his shirt. Slowly, Riku brought them to the ground, landing in the alley behind Sora's house so no one could see. He placed Sora on his feet, though he kept his arms around him, telling himself he was just making sure he kept his balance.

"That was..." Sora started quietly, trailing off.

"Scary?" Riku asked, looking at him with a mixture of worry and grief in his eyes. Sora nodded slightly and Riku sighed, brushing Sora's fringe from his eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was stupid of me, to bring you up there." Riku said quietly, voice full of shame.

"It's okay." Sora said, voice suddenly much stronger as he smiled up at Riku. He looked at him curiously as Sora continued.

"I know you were just trying to protect me, so it's okay. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt me." Sora smiled reassuringly, surprising Riku.

"You've only known me a couple weeks, how do you know I wouldn't hurt you?" Riku asked curiously, disregarding that he already knew Sora was right. The brunet's smile widened.

"If you wanted to hurt me you would have done so already." Sora said smugly as he stepped away from Riku and started to make his way down the alley. He paused though, turning back to Riku with a wide grin.

"Besides, why would my Guardian Angel try to hurt me?"