An Exchange Student

Chapter 9


"Are you serious?" Sora asked, just to be sure.

"Oh will you shut up, Sora," Roxas groaned.

"No. No I won't! Because I thought I just heard you say I'm gonna be spending the whole evening with him!" Sora shrieked and pointed at Riku accusingly. Sora was surprised when Riku didn't say anything, he just lowered his gaze.

"Sora, you're being so childish. We're just hanging out on the mall, it's not like you're going to marry him," Roxas sighed. Then a wide grin spread on his face.

"It's almost as if you had a crush on Riku."

Riku's gaze snapped up to look at Sora's face. Sora could feel the blush forming on his cheeks.

"W-what, me having a crush on him!" Sora cried out, hoping he sounded convincing enough. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Just come on…"

It was only a 10 minute walk to the mall. The walk was very quiet, apart from Sora grumbling something incomprehensible under his breath every now and then and Roxas occasionally telling him to shut up.

"So, how about some ice cream?" Roxas asked and laughed when he saw Sora's pouting face turn into an excited expression.

"I guess that's a yes then," Roxas giggled. "How about you, Riku?"

"Oh, I'll take coffee," Riku said.

The group of three made their way to the nearest café. Sora was bouncing happily while choosing his ice cream. Roxas was just about to pay when he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Hello there," said a tall man with dark silver hair.

"Xemnas!" Sora shrieked. Said man smiled. The man was their next door neighbour, and he was the reason behind Leon's and Cloud's fight.
"W-what are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"Oh, I was just doing some shopping when I saw you guys. And I just thought I'd come say hi", Xemnas explained.

"Well, you've said hi. Anything else?" Roxas grumbled. Xemnas laughed.

"Oh, who's this? A friend?" he asked, switching his gaze to Riku.

"Why do you care?" Roxas spat.

"I've seen him around your house a lot. Could it be he's your boyfriend, Sora?" Xemnas asked with a sickeningly sweet smile. Sora blushed.

"W-what, no, what's up with everyone assuming that?" he stuttered.

"Oh I see. I was just wondering."

Roxas glanced at Riku just in time to see the boy's eyes narrow. Roxas was sure Riku was thinking the same as him. The way Xemnas looked at Sora was weird and all Roxas wanted was to get Sora as far from Xemnas as possible.

"We should go. Good bye, sir", Riku said coldly to Xemnas and pulled the twins with him as he started walking towards an empty table.

"See you later", Xemnas said, smiled at Sora and left.

Roxas chose the seat opposite of Riku and left Sora no other option than to sit beside Riku. For this Sora glared at Roxas.

"What's up with him?" Roxas asked, eyeing at Xemnas' retreating back. Riku shrugged.

"Weird…" Roxas muttered.

It was 8 pm when Sora, Roxas and Riku returned to the house.

"I hope they're done already, I don't wanna catch them in the middle of it. I had nightmares for 2 months the last time I came home at a wrong time!" Roxas exclaimed. He dug the keys out of his pocket, opened the door and the trio stepped in.

"Welcome home, darlings!" Cloud chirped, back to his old cheerful self. He did a few dance steps and whirled around to give them all a big hug.

"Oh for the love of… Cloud! Go put some clothes on!" Roxas whined, seeing that Cloud only had Leon's shirt on. It was a bit too big for Cloud and hung down to his mid thigh.

Cloud giggled and ran towards the stairs, like a little child who had just gotten his candy. Riku laughed. He was falling in love with this family.

oOo

"No one's home, right, Sora?" Demyx asked Sora as he stepped inside the house. Sora blushed.

"No… No one's home, it's just me and you", he answered.

It was the next day and Demyx had called Sora and asked if he could come over. Cloud and Leon had went out for dinner and Roxas had gone to the mall. According to him, there was a hot waiter that he had spotted the other day, and Roxas wanted to check him out. Sora had no idea where Riku was though, and kept reminding himself that he didn't care either.

"Umm, my rooms upstairs", Sora said. Demyx nodded and Sora led him up to his room. He motioned for Demyx to sit on his small red couch that sat opposite of his small television. Sora haltingly joined him on the sofa.

"So…" he started.

"Yeah…" Demyx said. After that neither of them spoke a word for awhile and they were swallowed in an awkward silence.

A moment passed. Demyx moved his hand a bit, so that it brushed against Sora's own. Sora contemplated on taking Demyx's hand, but it just didn't feel right. Apparently, Demyx thought Sora hadn't gotten the hint and slid his hand further, brushing Sora's thigh with his fingers. Sora wasn't feeling comfortable at all.

"So!" Sora said loudly all of a sudden. Demyx jumped and quickly took his hand back.

"Want me to watch a movie? I'll go get some that you can choose from, they are downstairs. I'll be right back, ok?" Sora said and quickly ran out of the room, leaving a baffled Demyx behind.

When Sora exited the living room with a few movies in his hands. Just as he turned to head upstairs, Demyx ran past him, mumbling something like "run, run away!"

"Uh, D-Demyx?" Sora asked. Demyx was pulling on his shoes, in a hurry to leave.

"Yeah, umm, Sora, you're an awesome guy, but this isn't going to work, seeing as you have that scary as hell bodyguard up there. So… See you Sora, nice meeting you, goodbye!" And then he was gone. Sora stared blankly at the spot where Demyx just stood.

Sora had just been dumped. He knew he should've felt bad, he should be crying now, but he didn't feel the least bit affected by the fact that Demyx had just dumped him. Scary as hell bodyguard Oh you've gotta be kidding me! Sora thought.

Sora was just about to run upstairs to pound on a certain silver-haired boy's door, when he almost ran into him. Riku had been standing there, watching Demyx leave with a satisfied grin.

"Oh, you monster! What did you say to him?" Sora accused.

"Well, nothing special, really. Big boy's stuff", Riku snickered, ruffled Sora's hair and walked back upstairs with a contented smile on his face.

oOo

"I can't believe he scared my date away!" Sora cried out to his brother. Roxas let out an exasperated huff.

"You didn't even like Demyx!" he sighed. Sora thought for a while.

"I could've liked him!" he offered. Roxas smacked his brother's head.

"You idiot, you're so weird", he laughed.

"But it's not fair! He doesn't have the right to scare away my dates. He's such a jerk, I have no idea why I'm so damn attracted to him!" Sora shouted with a distressed voice. Suddenly Sora realized what he had said and clamped his hand on his mouth. Roxas stared at him.

"Sora… I so knew it!" he screamed suddenly. "Oh, Riku's gonna love this!"

"No!" Sora yelled. "Don't you dare tell him Roxas!"

"I'm so going to tell him."

"Please, Roxas", Sora pleaded. "Pretty please with sugar on top? And strawberries?"

Roxas was quiet for a while. He stared at Sora with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Fine. But if you're not telling him, I will, ok?" Roxas said and Sora nodded reluctantly. "Ok, then it's settled. I'm going to shower now."

Roxas left the room and sauntered towards his own. He was passing Riku's room when he saw that the door was open and Riku sat on his bed, with his head in his hands. The boy looked like he had lost all hope.

Roxas knocked gently on the door.

"Riku? Are you allright?" he inquired. Riku's head snapped up.

"Roxas… Yeah, I'm fine."

"Is it about Sora?" Roxas asked. Riku didn't answer – he didn't need to. The look on his face was enough to tell Roxas he was right. Roxas walked slowly over to Riku to sit beside him on the bed.

"Tell me."

Riku sighed. It was hard for him to talk to Roxas. He looked so much like Sora. If his eyes were as blue as Sora's, if he had chocolate brown hair, and if he had the same lovely personality as him and the cute grin, he would be the exact copy of the small brunette. But Riku decided to give it a try.

"It's just… I don't know what I did wrong. Why does he hate me so? I know the stunt with the spiky haired wimp, the guy that was over here earlier today, was a bit too much, but I just hated to see Sora blush like that, when it wasn't me that made him blush, you know what I mean? And I just… I don't know. I guess I've always wanted the things I can't have", Riku explained and gave a halfhearted chuckle.

"What makes you think you can't have him?" Roxas asked and was awarded with a "are-you-kidding-me" –look. Roxas giggled. Then his smile faded when he saw the depressed look on Riku's face.

"You really love my brother, don't you?" he asked quietly. Riku nodded.

"So much it hurts."

Roxas wrapped his comforting arms around the miserable boy. He grinned slightly as a thought popped in his head. Maybe it was time for some brotherly intervention.


A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they really warmed my heart. *dries her tears*

I was supposed to get a bit further with Riku's and Sora's relationship in this chappie, but somehow I couldn't find a right place for it, know what I mean? :P

Riku: You like to see me suffer, don't you?

Hehe... Don't be silly, Riku... Anyways, reviews keep me alive, please keep them coming ^.^ Love you all!

-Lumeton-