Riku was fighting with his locker at lunch the next day, which as per usual was refusing to open. He was actually hungry and the food was right behind this damn metal door, which even on his fourth try he couldn't open. He wondered briefly if Edge could sense that he was having trouble with his locker, the ninja kid was probably mocking him right now. Riku could hear his voice, 'He's probably trying to open that locker of his. He's got the easiest combo ever but can never open the damn thing. It's pretty funny.' The thought of it made Riku smash his head into the locker and keep his forehead pressed against the cool metal. He grumbled curses to himself as he tried to mentally prepare himself for another failed attempt at opening the devil locker.
"Having trouble?" someone asked. Riku always expected it to be Edge to say stuff like this and he was honestly very shocked at the voice he heard. His eyes shot open and he looked to the side without taking his forehead off the locker and he saw the short brunette grinning up at him, the mocking tone that had laced his voice was also very noticeable in his eyes and it really pissed off Riku.
"What's it to you?" Riku spat, taking his forehead off his locker and crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Sora.
"Well nothing really, but how about you let me take a turn," Sora offered. "I'm good with locks."
"No, thanks," Riku said and he tried opening his locker again, hoping life wouldn't be that much of a bitch to him and make him fail once again in front of this little brat. It opened and he almost sighed in relief, but he did manage to hold that back. "There, see. I don't need help from some annoying little brat, now go away," Riku commanded, glaring back at Sora.
"Whatever. I just wanted to tell you that Axel's coming to pick me and Kairi up after school and he'd love to meet you," Sora said with a very smug look still on his face. He must've expected to shock Riku, and in all honesty he did shock him slightly, but he didn't dare let it show on his face. He actually really wanted to meet this 'Axel' guy, but again that was something he didn't want Sora to know.
"Yeah, well sucks for him because I've got detention after school, so unless you want to wait for an hour after school for me, you might as well just leave," Riku said, getting his lunch out of the bottom of his locker and shoving it in his bag and slinging it back over his shoulder. He closed the locker and looked at Sora again.
"Oh, well it would have been fun for you to have met Axel," Sora said with a shrug. "That's all I really wanted to say. So I guess I'll see you around. Bye," the brunette said with a large smile before walking off leaving a very confused Riku staring at his back. A lot of things ran through Riku's mind at that moment, why the hell was this little brat who just yesterday he had shoved mercilessly into a locker suddenly figuring it's all right to talk to him and in such a mocking, almost threatening matter it almost made. Riku wasn't to skip detention just to beat the crap out of this Axel guy, but he couldn't do it, maybe part of him was scared for the embarrassment that would ensue if this guy was actually going to show up and was actually as tough as this brat said. Riku was acting like Sora had, he was saying in his head that there is no way a stupid guy like this could exist, the same thing Sora had done with Cloud. Riku sighed loudly and shook it off as he walked into the cafeteria and sat down at his usual table next to Edge who was sitting next to Squall who was working busily in a notebook.
Lunch other then that was pretty silent, every once and a while Riku and Sora would glare at each other from where they sat and Edge brought up the question of who shoved Sora into the locker, he immediately expected it to be Riku who admitted it, not ashamed of it, but he hoped the gossip flocking girls in his Math class wouldn't come to the same conclusion. Riku actually ate this lunch period, though he did it very subconsciously, someone could've put something else in his hands and he would have mechanically put it in his mouth, but no one did. No one even seemed to notice how robotic he looked, it was pretty normal for a high school student though. Lunch ended quickly though and Riku shoved his empty lunch bag into his back pack and headed off to Art class.
Art class was actually boring today. The teacher wanted them to do the same thing they had done yesterday, just to compare to the one they had done yesterday. Riku's today had less red a bit more blue which was hidden under even more swirls of green which stood again for his curiosity and confusion, this time all about this Axel guy and why Sora does what he does. He also drew a deep sea blue and smudged black into it to show those abysmal eyes of the brunette that kept popping into his head and aggravating him, then he slashed over it with red and green as though to scream 'I DON'T GET IT! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LIKE THIS!?' and it looked as though he had captured that well. There was also a lot of black in between the other colours to show the empty parts of his mind, the places where the puzzles pieces of his life and of his mind had still not been put together. Today the teacher chose his and one other persons to show to the class and she tried to decipher them again. She got the girl's, she had taken spot on and it made the girl blush because there was a lot about a secret crush wrapped into her work. Riku's though, she seemed to actually have trouble with today, especially with the blue circle that represented Sora's eye. But in the end she got pretty close and gave up and again she decided to ask him if anything was wrong despite the lack of red, maybe today it was about how confused his artwork made him seem. Thankfully again the bell rang before he could utter a word to her. He wished she wasn't so nosy, other then that she was a good teacher.
Math class was lax today which was both a good and a bad thing. It didn't keep his mind occupied while the teacher explained the short lesson then assigned them their work which was little to none and Riku finished within the first fifteen minutes it was assigned. Riku decided to read after that, though he ended up having to help Tidus with his math work because, like a lot of the other students the class, he was completely stumped. The teacher came up while Riku was trying to explain something and asked if they were all right with the work. Riku told the teacher he was done, and the man looked rather skeptical but took Riku's place with lecturing Tidus on what he was doing wrong and how he could fix it. Riku simply went back to reading. One of the girls who usually spread all the rumours wasn't there and the other one was very quiet without her so Riku couldn't eavesdrop on what may be going on around the school, even if it was just pointless stuff that he didn't care about. Luckily the book he was reading was good, though he was almost done it, it kept him preoccupied for the most part and kept his mind off of what had been taking over his mind since lunch today. Finally class was over and he could go and read in detention for an hour then sleep and sleep. The weekend started once he got home, so he had no worries for the next while. The thought made him sigh as he put all his stuff away and slung his bag over his shoulders and headed through the school to the detention room and sat down just to open his bag and take out his book again.
Edge sat in his chair with his feet up on the desk and started telling off the high preps in the corner who were trying to hit on all four of them. They looked offended enough that it got a chuckle out of Squall. Riku kept on reading and Seifer had fallen asleep again. Edge had taken Seifer's hat again and Riku had somehow ended up wearing it, again. Riku seriously wondered whether or not Seifer was getting enough sleep at home, or maybe he was just a lazy ass. Mr. Highwind was ignoring them all as per usual and was reading the same novel he had been the other day. The hour still ended up going by slowly like always and when it was over Edge woke up Seifer, Seifer didn't notice his hat was missing until he saw Riku wearing it and he snatched it away from him and shoved it back on his head and they all left, going their separate ways once they stepped out the door of the classroom. Riku stopped by his locker and managed to get it open on the third try and he got all his stuff and pulled on his coat before he went to leave the school and start his freezing cold walk home.
He stepped outside and started walking like usual and didn't even notice anyone else was out there until a familiar voice was calling his name and he turned to glare at the familiar freshmen who now seemed to be stalking his everywhere he went. Sora walked up to him and Riku glared at him for a while before looking past him. He saw Kairi talking to a tall guy with spike blood red hair who had his hands jammed into his black jacket and a smile on his face. Riku looked at him for a while then turned back to Sora. "What the hell do you want this time, brat?" he asked.
"Axel really wanted to meet you, so we waited," Sora answered with a shrug. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for the tall guy to come over and he walked rather quickly over to the two teens. "This is Axel." Riku looked Axel over once before looking back at Sora, he wouldn't dare let his surprise show on his face, but he couldn't believe that he hadn't been lying about this Axel guy coming here. Axel had to be at least six foot five and he practically dwarfed the other two boys. Riku had noticed he had two teardrop shaped tattoos under his eyes and they really seemed to make his green eyes almost glow.
"So, what does it have to do with me?" Riku said with a shrug.
"Well…he didn't believe that you were as tough as you seemed to act."
"Oh? So you talk about me to your friends?" It was the first thing Riku had thought of when the brunette said that, and Sora seemed slightly discomfited at the statement and it seemed to get a chuckle out of Axel.
"I think he got you there, buddy," Axel said, roughly patting Sora on the shoulder who glared up at Axel, then straightened up and tried to look un-phased. It didn't work.
"Well at least I don't make up my friends," Sora stated as a comeback, though now, more then anything, it just bugged Riku.
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Cloud isn't fake," Riku said with the roll of his eyes and he folded his arms over his chest and glared down at Sora.
"Yeah, then why haven't you proved it yet?" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, one of those little luxuries Riku wasn't allowed to have. "Why don't you give him a call and tell him to come down here then?" Riku glared at Sora then snatched the phone. He reached into his coat pocket and barely masked a sigh of relief when the slip Cloud had given him was in there. Riku dialed the number and just hoped he wasn't interrupting anything this time. It started to ring and he shoved the slip back in his pocket.
"Hello?" Cloud's voice sounded after the third ring.
"Hey, Cloud. It's Riku."
"Oh! Hey Riku, what's up?" Cloud sounded slightly shocked and even slightly concerned as he spoke.
"I was wondering if you could come down to the school, this brat who refuses to believe you exist wants me to finally prove you're real. And I'm not sure but I think he wants to try and pick a fight, again," Riku explained. Cloud was silent for a little and Riku could hear a bit of movement.
"All right, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. I'll talk to you then all right?" He responded.
"Yeah, all right, sounds good, see you then. Bye."
"Bye." Cloud hung up. Riku flipped the cell phone shut and handed it back to Sora who was looking at him with an eyebrow cocked.
"He's coming soon, just give him fifteen minutes," Riku responded. Sora's curiosity could not be hidden and, even Axel looked vaguely interested, but he looked away from Riku quickly and looked at Kairi who was standing rather far away looking uncomfortable, like she wanted to go home. Riku couldn't blame her. Axel started motioning for her to come over and join them she shook her head vigorously every time he even tried to motion. Finally he stared her down long enough that she sighed and walked over to them, standing a couple feet behind Axel, but it seemed to be fine with Axel.
The next while was filled with awkward silence, Riku and Sora would glare at one another every once and a while. Kairi and Axel looked confused and would exchange looks and shrugs every once and a while. The wind would buffet their hair but Riku noticed Axel's didn't move much at all like it was cemented in place. Sora was spiked crazy as well but at least it moved slightly when the wind blew through it. Finally after about eighteen minutes Riku saw Cloud walking into the parking lot and towards them, he looked like he was trying to hide in his leather jacket. Overall Cloud's appearance made Riku sigh and he felt Sora tense through the thick air that surrounded them.
"Hey, Cloud," Riku called waving his hand. Cloud looked up and waved back, the first thing you noticed when he looked up from the ground were his piercing almost glowing blue eyes that you would probably be able to see even in the darkest night.
"Hi, Riku," the blond called back. Riku heard Sora draw in a breath and Axel chuckled again. Riku notice the cigarette in between Cloud's fingers and sighed. Of course, he did wish Cloud would stop smoking. Cloud stopped to stand next to Riku and examined the three people before him, silently judging them. He took a long drag before throwing the butt on the ground and stepping on it and breathing out the billow of smoke, the last of it coming out his nose. "So I'm guessing the short one is the one that doesn't believe in me?" Cloud asked looking down at Riku with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow. Riku nodded. Cloud nodded and held out his leather gloved hand to Sora. Sora took it and Cloud shook. "I'm Cloud, it's nice to meet you," Cloud said smiling genuinely, but Riku could sense the mockery in his tone and he was sure Sora had picked up on it too because he looked a bit offended.
"Uh…I'm Sora." He paused as he seemed to forget his manners but it soon bounced back and he pointed at Kairi. "That's my friend Kairi and this," he motioned to the tall man standing beside him, "is Axel." Cloud took a step forward and past Sora and Axel and he took Kairi's hand and kissed the back of her hand.
"It's nice to meet you, milady," Cloud said with a smirk at her. she turned bright red and pulled her hand away and turned her head to stare at the side of the school. Girls had always acted like that around Cloud, at least as long as Riku had known him. He always played the part of the gentleman when it was necessary, and he wasn't bad at it and he always had a good impression when it came to girls. Maybe it was because it made them fall even harder when they got rejected but Riku had no way of knowing. Cloud backed up a little and held out his hand to Axel who took it and they shared a good shake, "Nice to meet you as well Axel," he said as though he thought the name funny.
"Likewise, Cloud," Axel said with the same tone, which made an amused smile play across Cloud's face. Axel was nearly half a foot taller then Cloud who was about six feet tall and Riku could honestly say he had never seen someone who actually made Cloud look short.
"So how old are you, Axel?" Cloud asked the red head, folding his arms across his chest as he stepped back to stand next to Riku again. Riku looked at Axel curiously, honestly wondering how old this man was.
"Twenty one as of a couple months ago." Axel said with a shrug. "And how about you?"
"Nineteen as of August," Cloud replied with a smirk. Riku was pleased with how this was going. Sora looked extremely flustered and just that fact made Riku hold himself more proudly.
Kairi, who was now looking at the group instead of the wall and seemed to have gotten her red face under control, pulled on Axel's sleeve to get the older man's attention. He looked down at her with a questioning face. "When's Reno coming to pick us up, it's really cold out here," she whined in a quiet voice. She really seemed to not like being here though Riku was kind of curious as to who Reno was, he didn't bother asking, and with a look up at Cloud he knew that the blond wasn't going to ask either.
"Soon. I'll call him when we're done here," Axel said. "If you're cold why don't you try and stay inside." Kairi didn't move and had soon huddled herself up as best she could while still standing.
"So, Sora, I'm guessing you know I'm real now, right?" Sora turned red at the question as Cloud asked it.
"Yeah, I figured that much by now," Sora said in a muffled voice, he seemed rather pissed off and he wouldn't let anyone meet his eyes, maybe it was because he was thinking and his large eyes could be easy to decipher.
"Well that's good," Cloud said with a nod. "Is there anything else you would like to say? I really want to get home, and it's obvious Kairi over there is cold," the blond said, jerking his chin towards Kairi who was staring at the ground. Riku nodded in agreement. Sora finally looked up at Riku, then he glanced once t everyone else then back at Riku.
"Well. I thought you might like to know, Riku, that I'm currently going out with Axel," Sora said smugly. Everyone just looked at him shocked. Well…Kairi, Riku and Axel did at least; Cloud seemed to find it slightly amusing. Axel was the first to get over the shock as he figured out what Sora said and seemed to clue into much more, but Riku hadn't even noticed Axel's shock to begin with, he just couldn't stop gawking at Sora. He hadn't even thought of the thought that Sora could be gay and now the brunette stood before him with an older man's arm around his waist. Though Riku couldn't help but find it odd that Kairi seemed completely dumbstruck as well. But he couldn't let him mind linger on that, even if he wanted to, which he did.
"Isn't that pedophilism?" Cloud asked with a chuckle. He couldn't seem to get the smirk off his perfect, pale face.
"So what, I'm not going to let that get in the way of how I feel," Sora stated.
Cloud seemed to just examine Sora's face, then Axel's, then Kairi's then he looked down at Riku and the two of them shared a moment where all the information in Riku's mind seemed to flow out of his eyes and into Cloud's head. Cloud closed his eyes after a while and smiled softly, laughing slightly. He laced one hand into Riku's hair and ran his fingers through the near silver hair. Riku was not fazed at all. Cloud opened his eyes but didn't break the look he had with Riku as he said. "Then I'm sure you didn't know that I'm currently with Riku here then, right?" Cloud asked, Riku's immediately understood as much as he needed to as he looked into Cloud's constantly piercing blue eyes, this was one of the things Cloud was good at he would let the man continue, he knew he was just trying to get to Sora, and it was working, Sora had very obviously tensed up.
"You only said that because I said I was dating Axel," Sora stated. With a quick glance to the side Riku could see Sora's face was turning red, Kairi was once again looking at the side of the school and rubbing her eyes trying to keep warm but her face had gone slightly red again. Axel was staring at the two intently with a bit of a frown on his seemingly young features.
"I don't know Sora…that looks pretty real," Axel said in a loud mumble, which earned the tall man an elbow in the side.
"I still think it's fake." Sora stated bluntly obviously not buying their little charade one bit. And he was starting to look pissed off; Riku was shocked…had this kid always been such a brat? It was annoying.
"Really? So you want proof?" Cloud asked looking at them for a while with a cocked eyebrow and a toothy smirk. He had moved his hand from Riku's hair to the small of his neck.
"If you have it sure," Sora said with a shrug and a rather indifferent look on his face.
"All right then, whatever you say," Cloud said with a shrug. He looked back down at Riku and too the shorter man's chin in his hand. His eyes said 'just go along with it' and that made Riku's heart start to pound. Cloud slowly closed the gap between them and soon locked the platinum haired boy in his first kiss. Riku did as he was told and followed Cloud's lead. He had pretty much no idea what he was doing but he did what he knew as Cloud continued. Riku had closed his eyes, more because he couldn't believe this was happening then anything else. He could taste the smoke that lingered in Cloud's mouth as it moved to an open mouth kiss and he instinctively wrapped one arm around Cloud's waist. Then finally after what seemed like an eternity Cloud pulled away and Riku looked at the ground, he could tell his face was bright red, but he had his reason, he had just had his first kiss stolen by his best friend! And this best friend was a man! Riku wasn't gay. This was both the most irritating and exhilarating moment in his life, it was weird. His face was burning up, he didn't even want to chance a look up, but alas he found it necessary when no one was talking. Sora was bright red, Kairi still wasn't looking but he could tell she was even brighter red then she had been mere moments again and Axel looked slightly uncomfortable but it seemed as though he had seen that coming. Cloud was just smirking and Riku found himself staring at the blonde's lips and he couldn't help but wonder how many other people they had kissed. Riku shook his head to rid himself of the thought.
Axel patted Sora on the shoulder. "Come on, I think we've got it," his voice actually sounded amused, which confused Riku. "I'll call Reno and we'll go home, all right?" he said. Kairi sighed in relief and Sora didn't move. Axel frowned for a moment before pulling his phone of his pocket and started to dial the number as he took a few paces away to talk in relative private.
"Okay, I get it. That was pretty convincing. I'm really sorry for not believing you right off the bat," Sora started and Riku looked at him as he spoke. "I mean…about everything, not just Cloud's existence and everything. I'm really sorry for bothering you like that Riku," he said. He sounded like a little child, maybe he was trying to get sympathy points, but it wasn't working.
"Whatever. I'm leaving; I'm already going to be in enough trouble for not coming home right after school." Riku's voice sounded oddly high when he spoke and it made him clear his throat a couple times, he couldn't believe he was letting his affect him so much. He turned started to walk, brushing pat Sora with his hands in his pockets. There were footsteps right behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Cloud just a couple paces behind him.
When they got to the sidewalk beyond the parking lot they talked as they walked side by side.
"I'm really sorry about that." Cloud said ruffling his blond spikes. "It was…just the looks the two of you were giving me were really giving me mixed signals so I wanted to get rid of that. You just…both looked so confused," he said with a sigh and Riku really had no idea what he was talking about. Mixed signals about what? "Was that your first kiss, Riku?" Cloud asked looking down at his friend.
Riku was silent and he could feel his face getting hot again. "Yes," he stated in almost a whisper but it made Cloud laugh none the less.
"That's actually slightly shocking, you're a pretty good kisser, you're a natural, buddy," he said in a very amused tone which made Riku feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Do you actually believe Sora's going out with that Axel guy?" Riku asked Cloud.
"I don't know. I didn't know what to think about that one, though the fact that Axel looked so shocked when he said that. It was either he had no idea what he was saying and the little brat had made it up on the spot or he hadn't expected him to say it, but it was true. I have no idea what to think about that one, they could very well be together. It would make sense for Axel to be shocked it Sora said that aloud to anyone because a person that old is not allowed to go out with someone as young as Sora. It's against the law." Cloud said with a shrug and a sigh. "As long as you don't let it bother you."
"I won't, there was no way I would let something like that bother me."
"But what about that kiss?"
"I won't let that bother me either, I know you were just trying to prove a point and shut that brat up, I can't blame you, I'm sure I would've do the same in your situation."
"You should get a lot of rest this weekend, alright?"
"Yeah, that sounds really good."
They were silent for a little while until they got to Cloud's apartment building and they said farewells and Riku continue on. He was tired and he just wanted to sleep for the next forty eight hours.
Well, hope you liked it, I'm sorry to say that I don't know how quickly the next chapters will come out and I might have to take a break to catch up on it, because I only have the next chapter done for sure, don't worry though this story is to good for me to give up on I swear. ^_^'
~Fire
