A slow, melodious ringing sound bounced against the walls, causing Sora to flinch in his crouched position. His stomach growled mercilessly, sending him to his knees. He stared at the floor with a dazed expression and a frown.
It had been so long since he had eaten real food, not rotten fruit or poor excuses of salad with a seaweed substitute. Now his body demanded protein, the sweet juicy aroma swirling in the air directly from the kitchen. He swallowed and stayed on the floor, closing his eyes. He wouldn't let himself eat, not after . . . not when his own mother . . .
"I'm home!" A hearty voice shouted followed by a door slam. "How's everybody?"
If Sora hadn't been sitting on the floor already he would've tripped and landed on the ground in a faceplant. The shout had been so unexpected, so loud, so shocking. He sucked in a breath and bit down hard on his bottom lip to keep himself from shouting. Who in the world would have such a loud voice?
"It's about time you got here." There was an undercurrent of sourness in his mother's tone that couldn't be dismissed. "Your son has been getting antsy."
"My son? Heh, what did he do this time?" Sora could now hear the faint thump of something heavy being dropped on the floor. His father's suitcase perhaps?
"You know him, always acting. I tell you I'm going to be relieved once that play is over with. I've never seen him this stressed."
"Anna, he's been acting since he was five. I'm sure he'll be fine. Say, where is the little squirt anyhow?"
Sora raised an eyebrow from his hidden position in the hallway. Little squirt? I'm probably taller than him now I bet. Pfft . . . He turned his head, frowning, only to squeal as he met his father's mischievous amber eyes. "Ah, found him!"
In a move that should've been illegal his father got him up in a rough hug before shifting Sora onto his shoulders. Sora couldn't even scream as his father pat him on the back, knocking the wind out of him. Until this point, Sora had never thoroughly understood what it meant to be 'heavy-handed.' In his father's tough embrace he finally knew.
In a strange circular motion, he dropped his bewildered son into a seat and pushed him towards the table with a laugh. "I never get tired of that!" He snickered.
Sora could vaguely see his mother rolling her eyes. "You remind me every time at the dinner table how awful your son's table manners will be when he's your age. Really, Paul, what are you? Fifteen?"
Said man puffed out his chest before sitting next to Sora and hitting him squarely between the shoulders, eliciting a few coughs. "No, I'm young at heart, as I always say." He then clapped once before deftly maneuvering his napkin over his lap. "Alright, let's bring on the beef!"
Sora resisted the urge to plug his own ears. This loud buffoon was his father? It came as a surprise to him that out of all the things he could have forgotten, it was his dad's overwhelming presence. He peaked at him from the corner of his eyes, slightly wary.
Paul's features were extremely similar to Sora. His hair was a bit tamer, but not by much, a little lighter too. He had on flared jeans and a plain white T-Shirt. Sora could clearly see his father's six pack underneath the shirt and he got a good view of his father's muscles as the man took off his black leather jacket, flinging it behind himself carelessly. It was embarrassing to admit, but his father sort of reminded Sora of all the older actors in those cheesy teenage movies who were obviously in their twenties, but young enough for the director's to be compelled to give them the part. Sora quickly turned away before he could get caught staring.
However, he hadn't been quick enough. "Hey, seriously, what's wrong with ya?" Sora gasped lightly as he felt his entire head turn by the roots just above his forehead. He blinked and swallowed once as Paul stared into his eyes, face a few inches away. "Ah, I think he's sick, Ann."
Sora immediately pulled his head back, fixing his hair as Anna poked a head out from the kitchen. "No, he's in character. Remember the time he dusted himself with cherry powder and pretended to be sick for a week?"
Sora shivered lightly as his father slammed a hand on the table, smirking. "Damn, woman! Will you ever let me get over that? Look, his temperature was up and everything? What did you expect me to do?"
"To be a man and take him to the doctor, not baby him."
"What he needed was some father and son bonding time. Ain't nothing wrong with that." His father gave a hearty laugh before ruffling Sora's locks.
Everything was starting to blurr together. The food mixed in with the table and he could barely control his shaking fingers as he lifted his fork. The plates melted in with his lap and fresh tears ran down his cheeks as his parents continued their friendly banter. With shaking fingers he tried to bring some food to his mouth, but he couldn't even lift it a few inches without dropping it as his father's laugh brought a chill to his spine.
Maybe, if his father had been a little less . . . excited, he would have been able to focus on the main issue at hand, like the fact that his father didn't react to him being gone either (though after sitting in the hallway for over an hour he had come to expect this). Now all he could do was hold back his shame and try to suppress the icy water cutting down his cheeks.
After a while a noticable silence filled the dinner table. Strange, awkward, Sora easily got the sense that most of his family dinners didn't end up like that. He kept his eyes on his plate, breathing softly. This is the first time I've never eaten all my food in less than ten minutes, Sora realized as he stared at his plate while the uncharacteristic frown returned.
Finally, his mother broke the silence. "Sora . . . are you alright?" He could tell by her voice that she was genuinely worried. But her remarks earlier had hurt him more than he cared to admit. Instead of whining about his frustrations (which he had already clearly made out to her) he fought for something else to say, finding nothing but silence instead.
"Sora, answer her," his dad said, sounding serious for the first time that night.
Sora raised his tear-stained face and took in a deep breath.
You're both acting like nothing has happened. It's like nothing has changed, but everything has changed.
I missed you both so much but now I don't even know how to show that.
Please, I was never here until today! Why can't you under- "I'm sick," Sora muttered thickly, voice almost flat.
Anna looked like she had swallowed a lemon, eyes watering. "You're sick?" She said in disbelieving tone.
"See, what did I tell you?" Paul huffed once. "So, how long have you been feeling this way, son?"
Sora stared at his uneaten food, blinking once. "I don't know, a few days maybe? I really don't know . . . " How did this happen, why am I the only one who sees the real problem here? Why aren't you guys talking about this?
"Do you know what this is, Sora?"
He looked into his father's hardened amber eyes. "No, I just said I didn't."
He resisted the urge to flinch as his father grabbed his shoulder. But instead of a rough hold, his dad just pat him softly, speaking calmly, "This is just the rippling effect of stage fright. Everyone gets like this before a big performance, trust me. You're not the only one."
"Really?"
"No." His dad chuckled once. "Look, we understand how much this means to you. You've been talking about this play for months now. You worked hard to get the lead and you know your Mom and I will support you all the way. Got it?"
Sora sniffed once and nodded. "Yeah, I think I . . . yes, I do." He forced a smile.
Paul's face lit up. "Alright, how about this. Tomorrow is Thursday. After school meet me at the station. I have a surprise for you that I think will cheer you up."
Sora stood up from the table and pushed his chair in slowly. He needed to go, he couldn't bear to look at either of their faces without throwing something. "Yeah, sure."
"Wait, are you sure you're not hungry?" His mother's tone was almost exasperated. "I don't want you to go to bed hungry."
"No, Mom, it's fine. Really." Sora was just about to sprint when he heard someone knocking on the door. Sora paused in his steps, glancing behind towards the front door. Maybe it's Riku. His eyes widened. Riku . . . Riku! I need to tell him about this! Maybe . . . He rushed to the door, opening it quickly.
He jumped back immediately, gasping. Red eyes pierced into him, shadowed by snow-white hair and surrounded by pale skin. The sky cracked outside as thunder echoed across just as rain came in in raging torrents before the ghost-like figure shut the door. Sora was shaking, staring at the sodden, wet man with wide, fear-filled eyes.
The red-eyed man tilted his head, giving Sora a quizzical look. "Something wrong?"
"You-you . . . I . . . " Sora inwardly cursed himself for not being able to talk just as his own father came in.
"Ah, Yukito! Didn't expect to see you out and about, by god and in this weather?" Sora felt like slapping his father when he heard his deep laughter fill the room. He didn't laugh that much, did he? Surely his friends never thought he was as bad as his own father, right?
Sora wrinkled his nose, glaring through the window at the pummeling rain. Perhaps I should be more worried about the fact that I hadn't even noticed the storm until now. Was I really that distracted not to hear that? He shivered lightly as he heard lightning strike again. Sheesh . . .
Yukito shook his head, silver strands flinging droplets of liquid in symmetrical waves. "Paul, nice to see you . . . still standing I guess." He shrugged, as if he really had nothing else to say though from the way his hands were clenched Sora could tell that the reason for his visit must have been serious.
Paul seemed to realize this as well, considering the way his face morphed from cheerful to nonchalant in a second. "Trouble at the Sunset Terrace Dam again?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to know if . . . if you've seen my son." It was easy for everyone to see that Yukito had trouble saying those words.
"Ah, Riku? Strange, I haven't seen him. Anna?"
"No . . . I'm afraid not." Her face was now a stark pale against the warm backdrop of the living room. "Goodness, Yuki, please tell me he's not still out there! In this storm?"
Sora felt something in his stomach drop. He fell to the ground, staring out of the window with haunted eyes. It just keeps getting worse and worse, was the only coherent thought ramming through his mind as he watched the rain relentlessly ram into the glass, striking with the sound of miniature flying bullets. "No . . . " he muttered.
Yukito looked even more stressed, fingers flexing. "He isn't here?" he asked, though it sounded like a statement. Without a word he turned around towards the front door, hand reaching for the knob.
"Wait a minute, Yuki, did you walk here? All by yourself?" Anna grabbed his arm, eyes brimming with tears. "We need to think this through, come up with a plan before you march off into God knows where."
Paul's had a determined look on his face and his voice was an octave lower when he spoke. "Look, I'll drive you around if you want. Just . . . let's think for a second."
Yukito stiffened before glaring at them both. "No. I won't see him from inside a car. I've been out in storms like this, I have until midnight before the worst of it. No one else needs to get involved." He paused, tilted his head, then stared back at them with a hardened expression. "He's my son."
The silence that followed was almost scary. It was just the ashen looks of three parents, one worried teen, and the killing rain from outside their warm haven. Sora looked like he was trying to hold in a scream. Finally, he jumped up, eyes blazing with anger and panic. "I'm coming too."
His father sighed while his mother practically let out a shriek. "No, you're not!"
"Yes, I am! It's Riku!"
Anna was currently staring at her son as if he had five heads. "Neither of you should be going out! This is way too dangerous!"
Sora glared at his mother then quickly walked over to Riku's father and gripped his hand so tightly that he felt the man wince. "You can't stop me." He glanced at his dad briefly. "I won't let him go."
His mother looked about ready to blow a gasket. "Paul, do something! You're not seriously letting him go off into this storm, are you?"
"Anna . . . he'll only escape out the back if we say no. I'd rather have him with Yuki . . . even if his judgement is questionable at the moment." Paul nodded once towards the enigmatic man, face betraying no fear. "Bring them both back safely."
From Yukito's expression it was obvious to see that he wasn't fond of having an accomplice on his current task. But as he looked into Sora's sad, anguish-filled eyes he saw the same emotions as Riku had shown earlier. Here were the signs showing up early. Perhaps Sora would be able to reveal why Riku left in the first place.
With this thought in mind, he allowed Sora to walk beside him, taking Paul's jacket and placing it over the teen before entering a world of pelting rain drops and shutting Sora's front door once Sora stepped outside to stand beside him.
No . . . no . . . everything is going to be ruined now! Ugh, their meeting is happening too quickly!
I flip open my pager and dial a set of numbers I now know by heart. Come on, pick up already!
"Hello?"
"It's happening, they're about to meet up again. It's too soon."
"I know, we're in a whole boatload of crap now. Damn . . . I'll take care of this."
"How? You know . . . you know we can't last long in weather like this. You know . . . our weakness . . . "
"Yeah, thanks for the reminder. But they won't last either, and they're the priority. Now, listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. We're probably going to have to test our skills out on the field. Think you can handle this?"
I smile slowly. "I've been training for this all my life. My . . . existence. Yes, I'm ready."
"Alright, I wish you the best of luck . . . Sora."
"No problem, Riku. Same to you too."
I quickly write his instructions down. It's definitely going to be the toughest challenge I've ever faced, but if I can't complete this simple task . . . then these few years of training would have been for nothing.
Don't worry, Sora. We'll take care of this. Because until you've fully accepted how things are now, I'm not going to leave you unprepared.
Please, wait a little longer.
Sincerely, Your Substitute.
There you are. I hope everyone enjoyed reading. Until next time!
Justice
