~ Chapter 7: Curiosity ~
Riku:
Riku returned to the group with no questions, and little fuss – aside from the redhead's sarcastic "well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Riku didn't contest it; he deserved as much for being an ass.
Currently, Riku was the meat shield to protect Axel from an onslaught of cafeteria bread.
"Stop using Riku to protect you! I know where you sleep!" Roxas yelled, bread in hand and arm wound back, ready to strike.
Axel peeked over Riku's shoulder, only his eyes visible, crouched behind him. "What, are you planning to visit?" His tone clearly suggested more than "visiting" the room, which only served to rile Roxas up more.
"No, you pervert! What is wrong with you?!"
Axel pretended to be on the verge of tears, "So many things, Roxy, please cure me!" His overdramatic pose, arm over forehead, leaning back as if struck, exposed the redhead enough for Roxas to fire.
Roxas growled and threw the bread. Riku practically used dark magic to dodge, his movement like a teleportation out of the way. Even still, the edible weapon failed to meet its intended mark. Upon this realization, Roxas miraculously procured even more small balls of bread, throwing them at the pace of a machine gun. The smaller ammunitions hit Axel harmlessly in the chest, the redhead laughing all the while walking calmly to his seat surrendering in the battle.
Clearly, Roxas's anger amused Axel to no end, which was fine with Riku, but he'd rather the redhead keep him out of it.
Having been stoic the entire time, feigning disinterest, he only amended his stance when Sora showed with his lunch, sitting to the right of him.
"At it again, huh?" he asked cheerfully.
"It never ends."
"Your dodge was impressive though."
"Desperate times."
Sora giggled, turning his attention to the food in front of him. Today it was a little microwavable pizza, an apple, a small loaf of bread, and a carton of milk. With Sora being the only bread-owner, suddenly Roxas's source of ammunition was made clear. Mystery solved.
"Roxas, you took my bread," Riku stated.
Roxas, mid-angry-sentence with Axel, stopped immediately and turned to Riku with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Riku, I got carried away again… BUT YOU DESERVED IT." The last "you" was referring to Axel, to whom Roxas turned toward again. Axel had both hands up but a cocky smile.
Riku had to make an effort not to laugh.
Sora on the other hand didn't hold back, chortling at their ridiculous exchange. The silveret couldn't help but wish that he was funny, to make Sora laugh more like that. His full smile, pink cheeks, and bouncy hair was the epitome of adorable, even with his black eye and the thin bandage across his nose-bridge.
Not that he should be thinking about that. Riku couldn't help but feel disappointed. Only a week left, huh… He could return to dealing with Larxene and her whims, then, when Sora's laughter wasn't there to lift up the world from Riku's shoulders.
"Are you okay, Riku?" Sora touched his arm, near the elbow, in concern. Not paying attention and therefore unprepared for the contact, the silveret felt a shiver running up his spine. This was going to be difficult.
Riku turned and gave him a hopefully convincing smile. "Yeah, I was gone but now I'm back."
"Where'd you go?"
"Space."
"Stooooop drifting in outer space over there, Riku! Just come over here and watch 'Pride and Prejudice' with me," his mom said, patting the side of the couch over-enthusiastically and clumsily.
Riku sighed. "Mom, you're drunk. We've watched it, like, ten million times."
The silverette pouted. "Bu-but Riiiiiii… It's my favorite. And I'm depressed. Please?"
He lifted himself out of his chair at the kitchen table, listlessly staring at nothing and sipping his coke. "You want something to drink?" he asked, not waiting for a reply before heading to the refrigerator.
"Mm… make me a jack and cok–"
"Water it is," he asserted, putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave for himself. She'd fall asleep forty minutes into the movie anyway. It was just like clockwork.
When he settled onto the couch next to her, she leaned on his shoulder. "He was such a jerk, Riku. Why are all the guys I like jerks?"
"I don't know," Riku replied tiredly, navigating the TV to the BluRay player that still had the 'Pride and Prejudice' disk within it. He pressed play and put the popcorn on the coffee table in front of them.
After forty minutes, a couple tears, and mumblings of Kierra Knightley's lines later, she was asleep. With another sigh he gently leaned her onto the other side of the couch and wiped her cheeks of the streams of tears that were slow to dry. She weakly protested, but was too inebriated for much other than a wrinkle of her nose. He picked her up bridal-style to carry her to bed, thinking about how long he'd have to drift in space again before he could fall asleep.
Sora booped him on the nose. "Nothing out there but debris. Stay here." Riku blinked several times, completely displaced from his mind and touched.
"KYAAAAAAAH!"
They turned in unison to Namine, who suddenly screeched. The fire in her eyes was unmistakable. Well, at least someone could express Riku's feelings. Roxas turned to her, terrified.
"Wh-what was that?" Roxas asked, Axel peering over his shoulder in mild curiosity.
Wordlessly she whipped out her drawing pad (where on god's green earth was she keeping it?) and started sketching furiously, glancing throwing knives at the Sora and Riku in rapid fire.
Riku glanced at Sora. He shrugged, unfazed by her outburst. Axel leaned back to peek at Nami's work. Slowly a grin took over his face, much like the one he flashed at Roxas when toying with him.
"Hell yeah, I ship it!"
Namine blushed, but didn't stop drawing. Roxas groaned and put his head in his hands. It was clear he didn't need to see the art to know what it was about. "Why must you pair up all my friends? Why? What did I ever do to you?"
"I could list a few things." Her casual tone betrayed her frantic scribbling.
Roxas glared glumly in reply. She continued gleefully, "That's not why though!"
"Did we do something to inspire you, Namine?" Sora asked innocently, talking in between bites of fruit as his eyes sparkled in their simple contentedness. How fitting.
Obviously, the lightbulb hadn't come on in Sora's head, but Riku had suspicions, having glimpsed at a couple of her drawings before from his many, many games playing referee. He got up and walked around to the other side to spy on the work. Curiosity caught the cat…
"Oh, god, Riku don't come over here. You don't want to see it. Please for the love of all that is pure and good and holy…" Roxas pleaded, but it wasn't dissuasive enough.
His sharp eyes fell on the rough sketch. Instantly, Axel was falling out of his chair laughing, while Riku could only stand there face cherry red.
…And satisfaction brought it back.
Sora:
Sora just couldn't leave Riku alone.
"How's the hair looking?" Sora asked, scooting closer to him. Before Riku could answer, he removed the black beanie the silveret had chosen to wear today. It was too hot for the garment anyway.
"Oh by all means, don't take my word for it," Riku replied, turquoise eyes twinkling in amusement. He pushed back the stray hairs that escaped his ponytail, riled from the beanie removal. Meanwhile, Sora acted like a monkey, closely inspecting his hair looking for spots of discoloration. He tried to ignore the warmth in his chest that Riku didn't pull away.
"Well, the scalp looks fine since the purple and blue are cool colors…" Sora muttered.
"It's really just the ends that bother me. They still look kind of pink," Riku joined, pulling his long ponytail towards his face to see.
"I'd cut that part for you, but I think a salon could do a better job of fixing the color," Sora replied, frowning.
The silveret snorted in amusement, "Like I have money to go a salon."
Sora felt a pang of guilt. "Oh, right. My mom is a hairdresser so I never have to pay."
"Lucky. Seems kind of wasted on you," Riku teased.
"What! No." Sora tried to push his brunet spikes down to prove the point, but his unruly mane stubbornly bounced back as soon as his hand lifted. He couldn't help but pout at his failure.
Riku smirked. "Don't worry about it. If I get sick of it I'll ask you to cut off the pink part. It's only a few inches anyway."
The two sat side-by-side jointly refereeing another soccer game. Xemnas insisted that Sora take it easy, even though the bandage on his nose was really just for show at this point and his eye finally just had a yellow splotchy tint around it. But sitting out was fine by Sora; the brunet acutely felt the hourglass draining on his time with everyone.
"So… what does your mom do?" Sora tried to ask casually, reaching over to take the notepad from the silveret's lap. Even without looking, Riku pulled it to the opposite side of the unsuccessful thief. Sora pouted, desperately wanting to know what Namine had drawn the other day, but Riku protected the blonde's work with a smirk.
Then, Riku glanced over, unsurprised by the question. It wasn't the first personal question Sora had asked. "Nothing fun like your mom. She just kind of does whatever that pays the bills."
No dice. Sora lost this time – on both initiatives. If Riku were keeping score on this, he'd be winning.
Sora decided to move on for now; maybe it was something he'd like to keep secret. Everyone had them. "That's fair enough." He swiped at the drawing booklet from behind Riku, but his long arm darted up; without standing, Sora couldn't reach. The brunet tsk-d. "By the way, how many more days do we have?" Sora tried to forget that he'd be alone once this was over.
Riku looked wistful. "3 days?" He leaned far away to avoid standing to thwart Sora's next, standing, attack. His expression warped back to his sly, amused grin.
"That's so soon!" Sora pouted, "Just when things were getting fun, too." He sat down with a frustrated huff, crossing his arms. Riku snickered.
"Yeah," he said, recovering, "Though home would be nice, too." The silveret didn't sound like he was referring to himself, but Sora shrugged.
"Uh, well, don't tell my best friend but I don't have anything really waiting for me at home."
Riku glanced sympathetically. Sora continued, "At least here I made friends, and I can be… myself, I guess." The brunet rubbed the back of his head timorously; as usual, his mouth spoke more than he had intended.
"What about your best friend?" The silveret seemed genuinely surprised, but Sora was equally surprised, appreciatively, that he cared to ask. But it was a complicated question.
They all watched him with wary eyes. A million lights in a small, black, infinite hall. They had all heard about him, whose mom went to prison on drug possession charges – not her first offense. Sora was ashamed, that he knew what it even meant, while everyone around him could only wonder with that innocent fascination. But they'd alienate him. They'd hate him. He was a freak. He was dangerous, and he could never sit still, and he just couldn't stop shaking–
"Sora?" a familiar voice called. He turned, relieved as the dark slowly alleviated to a seeable shade. Kairi ran up to him from the other side of the hall. Sora focused on breathing. The eyes were in his mind. It was just other students.
The short-haired redhead, a fellow sixth grader, rested her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "Are you ready?" she asked, her blue eyes, so deep they were purple in some lights, sparkling in excitement.
Sora laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "For what?"
"Sixth grade, of course! We're not kids anymore, Sora!" She pumped her fists and her smiled infected Sora's own lips. He couldn't disappoint her, or tell her how scared he was.
"Sure, Kai, but that just means we'll have more homework."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Ah, whatever, it'll be fun, party-pooper. Hey– I think that's Selphie. C'mon, Sora, let's find our lockers!"
Sora cleared his throat, trying to find the words to articulate. "Sh-she's… different. And all I got, so…"
"Me, too," Riku replied. His smile was genuine but his eyes were sad.
Sora wanted to ask what he meant, whether if he had a best friend he wanted to be strong for, or if he just didn't have many friends. Somehow, he knew the silveret wouldn't answer. So instead, he allowed the similarity between Riku and him cause Sora to break out into giggles. "I guess I'm still emo after all," he said, explaining himself, "we're two peas in a pod."
"No emo would ever say that."
"This one did!" He winked playfully. Riku shook his head and looked away, though there was a faint smile on his face.
Sora:
Three days came and went quickly. They stayed up the night before, sneaking Namine and Riku into Sora, Roxas, and Axel's cabin, playing chess and a rather pathetic iteration of Truth or Dare. Nevertheless, none of them got sleep – though Sora passed out at about midnight, having never stayed up before. He had to wash his face when he awoke; someone – likely Axel – drew a heart and little flame on his face.
"Aww, why did you wash it off? It was perfect," Axel complained, the flame of mischief dimmer in his eyes today. Sora smiled, elbowing the redhead, "Look, I'm not cool enough for face tattoos."
"You flatter me," Axel waved the comment away, but his smile was genuine and grateful.
They all sat outside at a table that gave them sight of the entrance of the camp, awaiting their fates, though Sora knew his. He was there for support. Sounds of clinking metal pans emanated from the cafeteria behind them; the kitchen staff were already cleaning. Across them were more park-like tables, many of them full of other campers with their tabletops piled high with suitcases and paraphernalia. The scene really drove home the end. The brunet didn't realize he'd be so disheartened to say goodbye.
Running on little sleep did not help to lighten the mood. Even Namine had her drawing pad on the table, pencil in hand, but hadn't drawn a single line. She looked glumly out towards where the sun rose earlier.
"I'm kind of sad to go," she said, slumping and leaning on her brother, Roxas.
He put a hand on her head affectionately. In a rare show of levelheadedness, he replied, "Me, too."
Axel flicked open his lighter for the fifth million time and lit it, looking blue as well. Riku was back to brooding in silence for the morning, playing a game on his phone. It was such a complete reversal from the night before, when they all sat around Sora with wide grins.
"C'mon, c'mon, let's take it off! Proof it'll take more than that to knock you down!" Namine encouraged the brunet, bouncing in her spot next to him on his bed.
Axel nodded enthusiastically, his smile showing teeth. "See if you got any cool scars."
Sora realized none of them had seen his nose without the bandage after he went to the nurse, and Dr. Vexen was the only one who exchanged the bandages. He snickered, "Okay, it was fractured, it wasn't cut."
Riku joined, "Crooked, then."
"You know that's highly unlikely," Sora retorted, blushing. Riku remembered his comment – he paid attention more than the brunet thought.
"C'mon, Sora, do it, already," Roxas added, his voice aggressive but kind. Sora shook his head in embarrassment, but said, "Alright, alright!"
It was rather ridiculous, that they were making an event out of taking off his nose bandage, but Sora's chest was warm at the gesture nonetheless. The bandage wasn't super sticky and so he was able to rip it off easily and painlessly – as the saying goes, like a bandaid. He held it up like a trophy and smiled.
"Hey, looks good!" Roxas encouraged, high-five-ing Sora immediately. The brunet obliged, smiling back shyly. Namine and Axel started clapping, and Sora couldn't help but giggle.
The redhead snickered, "Though you did tan a little."
Namine slapped his shoulder, "It's barely noticeable, Axel." He shrugged and kept snickering, adding, "Whatever, it's cool!" The brunet failed to see what would be cool having a pale rectangle across his nose bridge, but whatever.
Sora then looked to Riku naturally, wanting his opinion, though he couldn't explain why. The silveret was smiling too, giving him a thumbs-up with warm eyes. "Same nose," he said. Sora lightly tapped either side of it; no pain, and it felt straight. He guessed he worried for nothing. "Thanks…" Sora hoped they wouldn't see his eyes watering, "Everybody, thanks."
But now they were all lost in their inevitable return to their homes. Sora didn't want it to end on this note; what could he do to lift everyone's spirits? Why did this have to be a final goodbye? Suddenly, he got an idea – it could be temporary. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.
"Why don't we exchange numbers?" Sora asked, whipping out his cell phone.
"Oh you want our numbers now? Not just going to snapchat our tears?" Axel teased. He made a dramatically sad face, and Namine giggled.
"Aw, I'm not that mean," Sora protested, blushing.
"You have to promise not to drown us in memes," Roxas warned, arms crossed, but he was grinning. Sora nodded, wondering what exact number was "drowning" with a pout. The blond laughed, and Axel reached over to ruffle his hair. If Sora were Roxas, he'd have protested vehemently at the contact, but he appreciated the gesture.
The redhead dropped his phone into Sora's hands. "Gimme your digits."
It plopped down, light and almost exclusively grey plastic. "Oh, my god, Axel, this phone is ancient! Is this a Nokia?" Sora could barely hide his excitement.
Axel scoffed, "I'm sure if they sold those I would have it. No, this is the dumbest smartphone on the market."
"I can barely find the contacts," Sora commented, amazed. Riku leaned over and pointed at an archaic "messages" symbol. Sora muttered thanks, and added his number before handing it back, feeling better.
Namine outstretched her hands, wiggling her fingers, "Me too, me too!" Laughing gratefully, Sora gave her his unlocked phone.
While he waited for Namine to finish he watched expectantly as Axel attempted to hand his electronic brick to Roxas. The blond hesitated, cheeks flaming into pink immediately and he crossed his arms. Sora waited for their banter to begin, but Axel had no witty ignition this time. The redhead hesitated. Roxas glanced everywhere but to the redhead, clearly unsure what to do now that they were off their normal script.
Sora wasn't sure what to say, but after a beat of awkward silence, Namine saved the day. She handed Sora's phone back to him and scooted to the redhead. Sora had to make an effort not to laugh when the redhead's face turned to her, an exaggerated pout twisting his features like a cartoon.
"Gimme that, Axel!" she said, swiping the phone from him. She winked at his ridiculous expression, and Axel sobbed, "Nami, you're a saint."
"I know."
The exchange came just in time. Just as she handed his electric brick back to him, his name carried down the gravel path in a foreign voice. "AXEL!"
Almost instantaneously, Axel's entire demeanor changed. It was as if he folded into himself with just his aura. His shoulders squared defensively and stood stiffly, glaring over his shoulder.
A bulky man with hair slicked back in a familiar crimson shade, deep blue jeans and a black polo approached. His eyes were a yellow-ish hazel, lacking the brilliance Axel's jade eyes possessed. Despite the fact that they clearly shared blood, it was hard to imagine Axel ever achieving the muscle mass of this man; he was a twig in comparison.
"Let's go," he said, his voice indifferent but commanding. Sora fell silent sitting next to Axel, glancing nervously between them.
"Already? Aww, so you missed me?" The brunet swallowed; Axel voice was completely ice.
"Don't be stupid, boy."
The redhead didn't look surprised by the rebuttal, and slung his bag over his shoulder, standing. Sora's eyes widened like saucers, flinching in shock. He glanced to the others, hoping he wasn't the only one bewildered by such a curt, cold response. Roxas looked horrified. Namine wouldn't lift her eyes to the man, and Riku silently glared over his phone, lips pursed.
"Sheesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Axel muttered, sheepishly ruffling the hair at the back of his neck. Then he turned back to Namine, Roxas, Riku, and Sora. "I guess this is where I make my leave. You all have my numbers so… Well, see ya."
He cleared his throat and turned, waving his hand in an offhand brunet just now noticed: for a month or so stay, his bag was remarkably slack. They all muttered goodbye. The man, perhaps Axel's father but Sora dared not to believe it, walked away in front of Axel without so much as a glance at the rest of them. Roxas angrily glared at the ground, fists clenched.
Sora made a note to himself to text Axel a better goodbye, or rather a promise of many more hellos. He didn't understand what just happened, but the redhead certainly didn't deserve it.
Axel's departure left the remaining four quiet, defaulting to watching YouTube videos on Roxas's phone as they waited, but the blond failed to laugh.
Sora was surprised when it was the twins' parents that arrived next some forty minutes later, and in complete tangent to Axel's. They approached the two jovially, waving with happiness radiating from their forms. It was obvious where Roxas and Namine got their genes; their mother, a blonde haired, blue eyed, tall and slender woman, looked like an older version of Namine. She even wore a white blouse with her light blue jeans, her mouth in the same soft smile.
Their father, wearing a laid back and mischievous grin, called out as he sauntered up to their table, "Hey kiddos! Ready?" His hair was orange and held a grassy plain in his happy eyes.
Roxas immediately replied, still sullen, "Yeah, whatever."
Namine practically jumped up and off the table and skipped to her parents, hugging them warmly. "Don't mind him, he's grumpy because he was a brat this morning."
If Sora had been drinking something, he would have spit. Who abducted Namine and left this imposter in her place? And yet their mother laughed. "Aww, now, Namine, don't be mean to your brother!" The father reached over and ruffled Roxas's hair. Begrudgingly, the blonde allowed it. Sora almost coughed in disbelief.
"Don't worry about it, you'll be back in two weeks anyway," their father said, trying to draw a reaction from his son by poking him in the ribs. It wasn't working, but Sora was blindsided by what the man said.
The brunet, unable to restrain himself, blurted out, "What? They're coming back?"
Nami replied for the group, "We would have stayed before the next session starts but I have an painting competition to do, and Roxas is trying out for a Struggle team."
"Wow, Namine, is there anything you can't do?" Sora asked in amazement. She waved her hand over her face, blushing.
"She's good, right? But after all that, they'll be back," their mother finished. Sora could barely hide his shock and glee. Now this was a miracle!
Not skipping a beat, their dad chimed in before Sora could say anything, "So, Rox, did you practice at all? Wipe the floor with them?"
Roxas scoffed, his brooding ebbed as the attention turned to him. "Hardly. We played soccer most the time."
"You better be prepared then. We'll play when we get home," his father replied, smile wide and fire in his eyes. Truly, Sora wondered who was the kid and who was the parent.
Roxas finally stood, gathering his things, "You're on." He turned to Sora and Riku. "I guess this is goodbye?"
Sora handed him his phone, not taking no for an answer. Roxas hesitated, but put his information in, blushing. "Y-you can pass my number on to Axel."
"Already done!~" Namine sang.
He practically whipped around. "Oh what?! Why, you—"
Sora laughed, but cut him off. "It's not goodbye anyway. I'm staying too."
Roxas groaned, beaten, "You guys totally got me. Ugh." Still, he looked relieved. Sora laughed again, feeling lighter than before.
"Time to go," their mother reminded them, gently, "looks like you have something to look forward to coming back!"
Roxas just rolled his eyes, but smiled his agreement. "See you later then, dorks."
"Bye for now!" Namine called.
"See you," Sora replied, already excited to see them again. Riku waved with a small smile.
When the family was out of sight, Sora returned to his spot next to Riku. Most kids were gone now and Xemnas, Demyx, Zexion, and some other staff were waiting closer to the front to greet parents. Sora sighed and gazed up listlessly; he didn't look forward to the two weeks of solitude.
The sun was aspiring for more height in the sky, but the temperature hadn't reached its peak yet. It was cool where they were; the table was thankfully shadowed by a nearby tree. Riku sat blissfully at the table, phone put away and head resting on his hand. He seemed surprisingly content; was he happy to go home? He'd even neglected to put his hair up in a ponytail today. Through glints of light filtering through the trees, parts of his pastel hair shimmered. Despite himself, Sora couldn't help but smile at the rainbow glints leftover from Axel's prank. The brunet was momentarily swept away by longing; he wished Riku were coming back, too.
Sora turned to Riku, curious. "Hey, why didn't you give your phone number to Roxas?"
"They didn't ask." Riku smiled in amusement, like he already knew where the conversation was heading. A cat that caught the canary.
"Well, we were all kind of exchanging." The brunet tried to cover up his disappointment with a critiquing voice, but it didn't work very well, even to his own ears.
"That's true," Riku conceded, performing a casual leap from the table with a sly grin. He brushed off dirt from his pants, though Sora was doubtful any was there. He continued, "but now there's no need."
"What? Wait, where are you going? We should wait for your parents."
"I'm staying too," he said frankly, though there was definitely a lightness to his voice. He started walking towards the gate, pausing to wait for Sora. "We should go ask Xemnas what he wants us to do."
Sora sat there, dumbfounded for at least a second and a half. Riku, and me, staying…? We'll be together all summer? The information sank in like the first bite of his favorite ice cream. A huge grin took over Sora's face, and he practically launched himself over the table like a spear with new energy.
"Yeah!" He couldn't wait to tell Kairi.
A/N: laughs in the hidden This concludes "part one" of YAMM; chapters 1 - 7 is part one, chapters 8 - 12 is part 2, and then chapters 13 - 20(?) is part three. I'm very excited!
Did you like this first part? Where could I improve? (Personally, I think the characterization of Namine is kinda weak, but she doesn't have a lot of 'screen time' per say, so... here we are)
Thanks for reading! :D Tumblr: kaiserin-astraia