Disclaimer: I don't own anything...
Nightfall
Chapter Four
How?
The next few weeks were hard. Sora was still working with his Dad to complete his kendo training and was going to school every morning sore. He was wearing the hoodie his Dad gave him. Many of his fellow students wondered if he was really a black belt and asked about his father dojo. Sora gave them the number they needed to call if they ever wanted to take up martial arts. He also hinted that he could be their teacher and he was sure that peaked their interest.
Sora stepped out of warm car and into the cold air outside. Luckily, he wore some layers under his hoodie, which wasn't exactly thick. Over the last few weeks, his Dad's dojo got some new members, mainly, Sora's classmates. If he could get a few more people to join his Dad's dojo, he could get a nice, thick, water proof jacket.
He took his school bag out of the back of his car and set it on the trunk. Sora glanced over at the other side of the parking lot. Riku was leaning against his own car, watching him. He was one of the people that didn't believe Sora was black belt. Sighing, he plugged in his head phones and turned on his favorite song at full blast. He checked to make sure he had all of his books and class materials. Biology, check. Trig homework, check. Japanese, check. English essay, check.
Sora didn't remember this part of the song and he listened to it over a hundred times. He was certain there wasn't any screeching in it. He lowered the volume just to be sure. It definitely wasn't the song. Sora turned around just in time to see Hayner's van turn a corner. He recognized it from the time when he and his other friends went out to eat.
Hayner wasn't in control of the van. It skidded on the ice and Sora could tell it was coming right at him. Everything was slow to him. The van was so close, he could tell where it would hit him. One would figure that he would move, but he was frozen. He couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. Just as everything went slow, it went fast again. Sora expected to have his whole body crushed.
But when heard the crash, he felt no pain. His mind slowly registered the pale hand on the dent of the car and the cold, protective arm wrapped around him. Sora looked at the person holding him. Riku was looking right back at him. But he was on the other side of the parking lot. How did he get here? How did he stop the van? With his hand? Was that even possible? Before Sora could ask his questions, Riku left by jumping over Sora's car.
"Sora!" It was Hayner who called his name followed by many other students who started to gather at the site. He had rolled his window down and Sora could see blood running down his face. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop!"
Sora could barely hear Hayner over the commotion. Many people were asking him if he was alright and Pence had told him he was calling an ambulance. But Sora wasn't paying any attention to them, he was looking for Riku. He wasn't standing with his family. Where did he go?
/…/
Zack threw the door open and rushed to his son's side. "Are you alright Sora?"
Sora, who was sitting on a hospital bed, nodded. "I'm fine. Hayner's in much worse shape than me."
Zack let out a sigh of relief and patted his son's back. "If you were allowed to carry swords to school, you would have cut that van in half."
Sora smiled, "Thanks Dad."
The door opened again and a man wearing a lab coat entered. He was pale, just like Riku and his siblings. His blond hair was spiked in all directions much like Sora's and his blue eyes glowed brightly he scanned the contents of the clip board he was holding.
"I heard your karate kid was in," the doctor said in light friendly voice.
Zack nodded at him in acknowledgement. "Dr. Strife."
It's exactly what Sora figured. He was Riku's adoptive Dad.
"Hello Sora," he greeted him with a warm smile. "I'm Doctor Cloud Strife and I can't help but love your hair."
Sora smiled, "Thanks."
"Well, it's mandatory that we ask this," Cloud said, giving him an apologetic smile. "How do you feel?"
"Good."
"Wonderful." Cloud reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. He held up one finger as he turned it on. "Look here," he instructed, shining the light into Sora's eyes, observing their reaction. "You may experience some post-traumatic stress of disorientation..." Sora and Zack both gave an identical blank look. Cloud laughed and switched the flashlight off. "But you're vitals look good. I think you'll be fine."
Sora understood that and nodded. "It would have been pretty bad if Riku wasn't there," he said, watching Cloud for some kind of reaction.
"Isn't that your kid?" Zack asked Cloud, who nodded.
Sora went on with the story. "He got to me so fast and he was all the way on the other side of the parking lot."
Cloud gave Sora a friendly smile. Not the reaction he was expecting. "Sounds like you were very lucky." He then excused himself and left the room.
"We should get going too," Zack told Sora. The brunette agreed and followed his Dad out the room. "I have to complete some paperwork… and you should call your Mom."
Sora didn't miss the change in his Dad's tone. "What did she say?" He could guess what she told him. His Mom was against Sora moving because she didn't trust his Dad. Basically, she thinks Zack is an unfit father and couldn't look after Sora. "I'll talk to her." Sora loved his Mom, but she has no right to say such things about his Dad. He was perfectly fit to look after him.
"No, no," Zack said with a shake of his head. "Just tell her that you're okay and leave it at that. I gotta go sign some paper work. Promise me you won't say anything."
"Uh-huh," Sora said as he took out his cell phone from his pocket. Zack knew he wouldn't listen anyway and went off to sign some papers. Sora opened his phone. No reception. He walked closer to the windows to get one and that's when he heard his voice.
"I wasn't going to let him die."
"This isn't just about you," said an unfamiliar voice. "It's about all of us…"
Sora approached the corner and peeked down the hallway. There stood Riku, Roxas and Cloud. Roxas was still scolding Riku with a furious tone. He only stopped when Cloud looked up and saw Sora in the corner. Riku and Roxas followed his gaze.
"Umm…" Sora felt like deer caught in headlights. "Can I talk to you for a second?" His question was obviously directed to Riku. Cloud practically dragged Roxas away with him as Riku made his way over to Sora.
"What is it?" Riku hissed.
"How did you get to me so fast?" Sora asked, ignoring Riku's tone. "You were on the other side of the parking lot..."
"I was standing right next to you."
Was Riku really trying to use that old trick on him? "No you weren't. You were next to your car, on the other side of the lot."
Riku shook his head with a laugh. "No, I wasn't. You must have hit your head, Sora."
"My head is fine," Sora said in a flat tone. He didn't appreciate Riku insulting his intelligence. He may not have been the brightest crayon in the box, but he knew where Riku was. "You were no where near me. I know what I saw."
"And what was that?" Riku was still playing dumb or playing that Sora was dumb.
Sora was ready to list everything. "You stopped the van with your hand. You put a dent in it. And you were on the opposite side of the lot. You must have moved at supersonic speed or something."
Riku must have realized he couldn't fool him and stopped smiling. "No one will believe you."
Now Sora understood. He still didn't like being treated like he was slow. "I wasn't going to tell anyone. I just needed to know how you did all of that."
"Can't you just thank me and forget it?" Riku was back to hissing at him.
"Thank you." Sora probably should have done that first instead of throwing questions at him. "But I'm not going to forget it."
"Well, I hope you enjoy your disappointment," Riku said before he walked off.
Sora was going to follow him when his cell phone vibrated in his hand. It was his Mom. That's right; he had to talk to her.
/…/
That night Sora was tossing and turning in his sleep. He wasn't usually a restless sleeper, but then again, he never had dreams like this. He woke up with a start and sat up. He could see the object of his dreams in his room. He quickly turned the lamp on to be sure, but he was gone. Sora could have sworn he saw Riku standing in his room.
He checked the time and saw that it was three in the morning. Joy— just three more hours to go before he had to get ready for school. Thankfully, Sora fell back asleep for those three hours. He woke up to his annoying alarm clock and his phone. After he turned off his alarm he opened his phone to see the words 'field trip' shine at him. He had forgotten about the bio field trip to a greenhouse.
Maybe Sora could corner Riku and ask more questions there? Hopefully the pale boy of his dreams would show up at school today.
/.../
End of chapter four. I was really excited about this chapter mostly because of the car scene. I don't like it too much though... I was happy when I got to it, but it was difficult to write. I think I didn't do a good job... but I did my best.
So, does anyone hate Tifa? Cause my beta does! She's so mean to Zack. Poor guy. -hugs Zack-
Thank you to thewriterwannabe and HollowKiki for their reviews. I really appreciate it and I hope to hear from you two again!