Tada! Here we go for yet another exciting chapter of The Rain That Melts The Shadows. On an interesting note, authors out there with stories in progress, have you ever been reading your own story, gotten to the part you stopped at, and panicked, saying, "Oh my god, this can't be all, can it? What happens next?" …and then realize that you're the one who's writing it and gets to decide? I do that all the time, and it makes me feel like I've epically failed . Also, something fun about last chapter: Xira says what I always say when I knock and someone calls out "who is it?" I always say the candyman. And they always let me in. :D I love it.

Chapter Four: When I Open My Eyes, You've Gone

I was in darkness. Again. It was beginning to get old, this dreamland I only remembered when I slept. And this darkness…it was beginning to make me feel weary. Empty. Lazy. Defeated. I didn't feel like fighting anymore. I wanted this darkness to just take me already, and leave me to feel nothing.

'Sora…'

Who could possibly be here? It was too dark to see a thing.

'Sora…it's okay…I'm here…'

Who's here? Who are you? I couldn't make my mouth move to form the words.

'Sora, trust me…it's okay. I'm here, and I won't let the darkness take you…'

Oh good. This was a start. And definitely different, nice compared to the other dreams.

'I won't let it take you like it took me.'

My eyes fluttered open for the second time that day. I was in a room, that wasn't my own, and it was dimly lit. Thunder rolled outside, resonating deep inside my chest. The dream I had just had hadn't been scary, but full of an empty feeling. I remembered it, which didn't really surprise me. It hadn't been a night terror, but it was reminiscent of what my night terrors usually consisted of. There had been that familiar presence again.

I sighed, and resolved to stop thinking about the weird dream for the moment. I turned my attention instead to my surroundings. I was laying on a large bed that took up most of the front room in the dorms, it's comforter soft and warm. I sat up, startling slightly when the mattress sloshed beneath me at the movement. Water bed. Not mine. The light in the kitchen was on, and I heard the quiet clinking of glass against countertops. The dorm was done in silver and black from what I could see, sparsely decorated with checked curtains, a small television and game console across from the bed, and a large wooden dresser next to that, the top littered with action figures, books, games, and movies.

I heard soft footsteps, and looked toward the kitchen. Xirakumi rounded the corner, holding two glasses of water. I was relieved that he had "rescued" me, instead of some creep who would bully me more for the prize. That sort of thing happened all the time to the students here. He was sort of to be expected though, because he was the last person I saw before I passed out.

Xirakumi sat down carefully onto the bed beside me, trying not to slosh it around too much, and smiled warmly. He handed me one of the glasses, and I drank it down eagerly. I had been more thirsty than I thought.

"You feeling okay, Sora?" He asked softly, taking a sip of his own water. His aqua eyes held concern, his black bangs barely hiding the heated flush high in his cheeks. I finished the water before I answered, the cold liquid feeling good on my throat.

"Y-yeah…thanks," I said, my mouth feeling like I hadn't talked in a while. "Uhm…I don't know what happened back there…that's never happened before."

Xirakumi took my glass and set in on the floor next to the bed.

"It's no problem. You had me really worried there, man. You said something really weird, too, before you passed out," he replied, twirling his hair around his finger absently. I gazed at him, waiting for him to elaborate. That wasn't new either, as Kairi had told me before that I talked in my sleep.

"You called me…a weird name…" He said, not looking at me. "You called me Riku."

I paused, that name striking a chord within me, a note of nostalgia. But…I didn't know anybody by that name. So why did it sound familiar?

"Oh. Well, I say all sorts of crazy things when I sleep," I said, not sounding too convincing. Trying to distract Xirakumi as well as myself, I stretched.

"What did you do with my potion? I need it, cuz then I don't have any night terrors."

Xirakumi reached into his pocket and pulled out the little purple vial, handing it to me.

"This stuff really shouldn't be legal, if it isn't illegal. Just a bit too much, and all of sudden, you're sleeping forever," he warned, and I stuck my tongue out at him, putting it safely in my own pocket.

"Psht, why do you sound so nice? That isn't like you, Xi-ra-ku-mi!" I replied, biting his name into syllables. "Careful being too nice around here, people beat you up for that."

Xirakumi just sneered and socked me in the shoulder, flipping his hair out of his eyes dramatically.

"Please. I can take care of myself, unlike you, ya shrimp. Besides, I'm not a total asshole. I dragged your passed out butt all the way here, didn't I?" He retorted. "Two flights of stairs is a lot when you're carrying dead weight."

I ignored the shrimp comment pointedly. Two flights of stairs? He'd carried me all the way up to the third floor. I leaned back on his bed, locking my arms to hold me up, and gazed at him steadily. I wondered why he did that. Usually, if something like that happened, I'd have been just left there. This entire system worked on individual preservation. You tried not to make friends, because there was always the off chance that you dueled them in the final test, and if you showed mercy, you were disqualified. Kairi and I were fairly sure that wouldn't ever happen, though, but nevertheless had agreed that if it did, we'd fight each other like we were mortal enemies.

"What? My good looks stun you again, Sora?" Xirakumi purred, puffing up like a peacock. I grimaced and looked away.

"No! I told you, I am not gay. I like Kairi." It left my mouth before I could stop it, the filter between my mind and vocal cords obviously not working. I cursed at myself in my head. Xirakumi nodded knowingly, grinning like a cat.

"Oh really? Cuz she don't like you," he said, with absolutely no decency at all. I turned to him, gaping.

"How the hell would you know? You don't even know her at all!" I yelled, less angry at the moment and more surprised at how easily he'd said that. He just shrugged nonchalantly and flopped down on the bed, jostling me.

"I don't have to. She acts like she would around a good friend. Girls who like a guy don't act like that," he explained, waving his hand. I smacked it out of the air, the anger starting to set in now.

"Just shut up."

I sat there, not really knowing why I didn't just get up and walk out if I was so annoyed with him.

"You're cute when you're pouting," he said softly, with just a hint of teasing. Just enough to get me all riled up again.

"I'm not pouting, and I'm not cute while I do so, and I am leaving right now!" I replied hotly, standing up. Xirakumi rolled over onto his stomach, grabbing my shirt with his fingers frantically. I froze, confused. Still angry, but confused. "Let me go, Xirakumi. I want to leave."

"Ah! Uhm...just...don't, don't go?" He stuttered, sounding unsure of his words. I gave him a Look.

"Why? So you can sit here and tell me things that aren't true? I don't want to hear that, so just let me go-" I tried to pull away, but he held the fabric tightly.

"Sora, c'mon, just stay, please..." He protested, still looking unsure, like he wasn't the one speaking these words and couldn't stop them. I frowned and yanked my shirt away from him.

"God, Riku, you're such an ass!"

We both paused at that, the tension in the room mounting. Thunder rolled outside, shaking the windows and filling the air with static.

"Wait...what?" Xirakumi stared up at me in shock, but I couldn't respond. "What did you call me?"

"I...I don't...remember..." I replied, really trying to remember. But I couldn't. It was like someone had just taken the last few minutes and erased them. I still felt angry, but now I didn't know why. Had we argued?

"You called...uhm. What did you call me?" He sat up, a look of concern on his face. I blinked, and looked down, trying to think, to remember.

"This is weird," I said finally, still not looking at Xirakumi. Why couldn't I remember what I'd said? Or why I was angry? And apparently Xirakumi didn't either.

What was going on?