Hoodie tied around my waist, glass of water in hand, I sat on the desk in the library, aching just slightly from the bruises I'd received while fighting with Riku.
"Aren't you hot?" I asked him, wondering if it would be overkill to dump my water on my head to cool down.
He smirked. "Why, yes, I am."
The heartless sat next to me, DiZ sat in the chair with a journal and pen, and Riku was leaning on the wall next to the desk, arms crossed. It hadn't been too bad that morning, but as the afternoon dragged on, it'd gotten miserably hot. Even when the sun set, it was dreadfully warm.
I rolled my eyes at Riku. "Arrogant, much? I was referring to the coat. You have to be baking in it."
"Nah, I'm alright."
A machine about the size of a generator sat next to DiZ, whirring and flashing blue and green every so often. A wire stretched out from the side of this machine and was taped onto the inside of my right wrist. Though how the tape stuck was foreign to me; I was sweaty enough that most tape would slide right off. DiZ had his eyes glued onto the journal in his lap, writing and mumbling softly to himself while I stared incredulously at the overheating kid next to me.
"Seriously, dude. I can see sweat dripping down your face. Go change if you have to. Just take off the damn coat before you explode."
He sighed and took it off, laying it behind me on the desk. Thankfully, he was wearing pants. What he wasn't wearing was a shirt. I wasn't sure whether to feel thankful or embarrassed.
"Happy now?"
I was about to feel really awkward, when I noticed the bruises on his shoulders, arms and torso. "Ha!" I grinned. "That's why you wouldn't take your jacket off!"
"I bruise easily – don't get excited about it."
"Ha!" I cried again. If I was going to get excited, it wouldn't be over the bruises… "—Ooh, I really got you with the knee to the side, huh…?" I said quietly, staring at the giant bruise in awe at my own strength.
"Perhaps you shouldn't… be so hard on one another," DiZ said absentmindedly. "You'll need your strength… for… the Organization." He kept glancing between the machine and the journal, pausing in his sentence to write with more focus.
"That which does not kill me, makes me stronger," I quoted.
"Yes – after you've been weaker for several days."
"Good point…" I cast a glance at the heartless that'd wrapped its arms around mine. "Aren't you ever going to get tired of me?" I grumbled.
"I did offer to get rid of it for you…" Riku said.
"I know you did." I siged. "But it's sort of… nice, being wanted like this. Nice and unrealistic. I keep expecting it to turn on me."
There was a long pause before I finally looked at Riku, who hung his head, his expression hidden by his hair.
"Are you okay—?"
"Riku. I'm afraid I'll require your absence."
"Right," he nodded, grabbing his coat from the desk and heading towards the foyer.
I stared at DiZ blankly. That was abrupt… "What's that all about?" I asked.
"What's what all about?"
"Riku went quiet when I started talking about the heartless."
"I haven't a clue what goes through his head." He sat back and looked at me with what I thought to be a sort of analyzing stare. "I'd like a clue as to what goes through yours."
I glanced at the machine I was connected to before replying. "Test time, huh?"
"What were you thinking when you followed Riku into the dark corridor?"
I paused. "Well… I was thinking that, a coward runs from his problems, his fears – the honest man confronts them."
"You're not a man," DiZ said.
"Thank you for noticing."
"How was Riku your problem?"
I cleared my throat, throwing a look at the heartless next to me. "My job was to eliminate heartless. I noticed a surge of darkness, and there he was." I shrugged. That's not the whole story, but that sums it up.
"That's not all that happened," DiZ said.
"Technically, no. Riku tripped backwards and when I went to see if he was okay, he stood up and disappeared into the dark corridor. I followed him."
"Why?"
"It was my job to eliminate heartless." There was a pause. He didn't believe that. "And… I'd dreamt about him before."
"How many times?"
"Five."
"Were you really too weak to walk when you entered the dark corridor?"
I snorted. "Contrary to popular belief, yes, I was."
"Were you too weak to walk when your world was overcome by darkness?"
I swallowed hard. "I don't know if it was because of the darkness, or because I was frozen stiff while watching my father get eaten alive."
"What of your mother?"
"Died in my place," I said coldly. "She kept the heartless busy while I went to my father."
"You're content to have the very kind of monster that killed your family, on your arm?"
"Keep your friends close, enemies closer," I said.
"Aren't we full of old sayings tonight?"
"Yes, we are."
"Are you angry with me?"
"Yes, a little."
"I did say this test wasn't for the weak of heart."
"Yes, you did." I looked down at the heartless on my arm. As angry as I was that its kind took my parents away, I couldn't bring myself to hate the dark being. How sad is it that I crave relationship so much that I befriended a heartless? I felt rather stupid and pathetic.
"Do you enjoy your days at the mansion?" he asked.
I looked back up at him. "Yeah," I said, smiling a little. "I really do."
"Even though you've been beaten and analyzed?"
I smirked. "I'm tougher than you think."
"You put on a brave face," he consented. "What were you thinking as Riku carried you across the dark corridor?"
"Something along the lines of 'I'm an idiot, he's probably a psycho'."
DiZ looked amused. "And were you correct?"
I laughed a little. "More than I realized."
The amusement drifted from his expression. "How do you expect this affair to end?"
I swallowed. "My world will be restored and I can go home."
"You realize this means you'll be separated from me, and Riku, and that heartless?"
I hadn't thought of that, really… "I want to go home," I said quietly.
"You can take the sensor off now," he nodded to my wrist and stood up. "We're done for today. Thank you, Miyuki – you make a very interesting study."
"What did you find out?" I asked, standing up – the heartless scrambled up onto my shoulder, hooking its arms around my neck and dangling behind me, piggy-back style. I sat my glass on the desk and plucked the wire off of my wrist.
"I'll let you know once I process the data," he said, grabbing the handle and toting it towards the stairs.
"Okay. Well, I'd better go back to the inn. Later!"
"Sleep tight."
He disappeared into the shade of the staircase and I went to the foyer, the heartless dropping to its own feet and scrambling over to hold my hand.
"You're so weird," I said to it. It nodded. "And I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, right?" It nodded. "I like you," I smiled at it.
"I'm surprised you haven't come up with a name for it yet," Riku said, coming out of the kitchen, back in the Organization's coat.
"Oh, I'm working on it. You gonna walk me back to the inn again?"
"Why, are you afraid of the dark?"
"You aren't going to let an innocent young girl go running back to town without any protection?" I said with mock horror.
"Good point. You're not trustworthy at all." We walked out, Riku on my left, the heartless on my right. There was a brief pause as I took in the scenery – shrubs, statues, a stone walkway laid before iron gates, all lit up by the moonlight.
"So did DiZ find anything out about the heartless?" Riku asked quietly.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll fill you in, if you ask." I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes.
"I don't mean to pry. I don't want to know if you don't want to tell me."
I smiled. "I appreciate that." I paused a minute, wondering if DiZ minded me telling Riku what'd happened. He'd have told me if he wanted to keep it confidential, right? "He asked why I followed you," I said, fixing my eyes on the path ahead.
Riku's head snapped towards me as I spoke, as if he didn't expect me to say anything about it. "Yeah?"
"Mhm."
"And you told him…?"
"I said it was my job to get rid of heartless…" I bit my lower lip. Ah… This could make things awkward. "Plus, I had those dreams about you. Curiosity got the best of me." My face was red now, and I tugged the heartless up into my arms. Having something to clutch might make this awkward moment easier for me.
"Yeah… I wondered if that was you."
I fixed my eyes on him now. "What?"
"This sounds weird, but… I'm pretty sure I've met you in a dream, too." He rubbed the back of his neck, hanging his head.
I stared at the heartless in my hands. "We're always standing in the middle of darkness… And you always tell me I don't belong there."
He snorted. "Yeah, and you always insist I'm wrong."
I looked at him sideways. "So… does that reflect anything you're thinking in real life?"
He hesitates. "Not really."
"Does that mean 'no it doesn't' or 'push me; I'm afraid to answer'?"
He smiled faintly for a moment before answering quietly, "I still wonder why you're not just living a normal life until your world's restored."
"That's because my life won't be normal until my world's restored."
"Fine then – a peaceful life."
"A boring, stressful, sit-and-wait-for-things-to-happen life."
"But you definitely wouldn't get hurt."
"You don't know that," I said, shooting him a look.
"I know you're taking unnecessary risks just being around us."
"'Us' meaning 'you'?" I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn't answer. "Mhm… Well Riku, if I thought you were a risk, would I be walking alone with you at night?"
He reached over and pulled the sleeve of my hoodie until it unwrapped from my waist. He shook it out and put it over my shoulders. "You can't even tell when you need a jacket," he said. "Your judgement is obviously impaired."
"Oh?" I scoffed. "Impaired by what, exactly?"
"You haven't been in your right mind since I took my jacket off, and you know it," he smirked.
I shook my head. "I walked right into that one."
"Further proof your judgement's impaired."
I balanced the heartless in one hand and hit him in the shoulder – my hoodie slid off my shoulders and fell behind us on the brickwork. I put down the heartless and started to get it, when he teasingly said, "See what you've done now?"
He walked back and grabbed it before I could, helping me into it.
"I could've grabbed that, you know," I said as we started walking again, staring at him out of the corner of my eye.
"I'm aware," he replied.
"So why'd you get it for me?" I challenged.
"Would you like me to throw it on the ground again, and you can pick it up for yourself?"
"I was just wondering if maybe, you know, your judgement was impaired," I shrugged.
"I can't see your abs, remember?"
I laughed. "Did you mean that to sound as awkward as it did?"
He smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I'm not the only one who's not trustworthy." There was a brief pause. "So do you wear that blindfold all the time, or just when you're out and about?"
"I try to wear it all the time – but sometimes it just gets uncomfortable."
"And I'd imagine not being able to see is a bitch," I said.
"I make up for it with other senses."
"Yeah…"
Another pause.
"If you don't mind, what else did DiZ ask you about?"
I don't know why you want to know… "My world. My parents. Whether or not I felt weak to darkness when it ate them." I looked down, the memories weeding their way to the front of my mind.
"Anyone would," Riku said.
"He didn't say it like that, so I knew he was referring to my… condition. The one I haven't suffered from in two days." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Are you sure your heart's stained in darkness? Because I don't see how I can be around a heart like that and not feel like I'm twice my weight."
He snorted. "Trust me."
There was a long pause.
I stare at the darkness, trying to find her. Where is she? Is she alright?
I shake my head and look down at the heartless hanging onto my pant leg, following after me dedicatedly. "So what're we going to do with this?" I pointed at it.
"I'll just send it back to darkness."
Really? But I was sort of hoping he'd stay with me… "Oh," I said quietly.
He smiled. "You're attached, aren't you?"
"Well…" He stopped walking. I turned to him. "What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Isn't this your inn?"
"Oh, ha, yeah. I'm observant," I remarked sarcastically.
"Your judgement must still be a little impaired."
"Yeah, that's it," I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.
"If I don't send it back to darkness, it'll just follow you."
I smiled. "I don't mind."
"Alright then. Goodnight, Miyuki."
I assessed the possibility of some form of contact – a handshake, a hug, something. The thought was pleasant enough, but I figured the actual action would be rather awkward. "Goodnight," I said, my voice much more shy than I'd anticipated. I felt my face go red. Why am I blushing…?
Then I realized, even under the blue glow of the full moon, his face was just tinted with a shade of scarlet.
