Oh my gosh. I have been writing this story for a year. A year, and I only have nine chapters. A year, and you guys have stuck with me through that year. I love you guys. I really really love you guys. And, and we reached 100 reviews! I'm definately writing a one-shot in celebration. What pairing should it be? It can be anything now, since I've beaten all three parts to Kingdom Hearts. Throw some at meh!

SO -- here's the plan. Finish this story. Finish my Furuba story (that one will be finished before this) and then Naruto. Whilst working on Naruto, my Sora x Leon fic is going up. Why? Because I've put it off for far too long. -sigh- I went to look at my stats for this story and -sniff- I almost cried. 42 (?) people have this on their favorite, and 82 (?) have it on alert. -cries- I love you guys!

Thanks for sticking with, everyone. I know my update pattern is, well, you know... I don't actually have one. -laugh- Love you guys!

Disclaimer: No song this time, just a statement. I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts, nor am I making money from the is fic.

NOTE: Um, considering they didn't go to school today, let's make it Saturday. ;; I'm horrible with keeping dates wrapped into the story.

Chapter Ten

"Are you...trying to kill me?"

Riku froze in the act of turning on a lamp. His body was draped over a chair, his hand extended and grasping the bronze knob that would activate the light. But he didn't turn it. He remained in that position, frozen. Unbelieving. Slowly he twisted his head to stare at Sora, his silver hair cascading over his shoulder. Was Sora serious?

The brunette seemed serious. He was sitting on his chair, obviously uncomfortable, his fingers yanking down at the hem of his shirt. His blue eyes were wide, filled with fear. Riku's heart jolted. Oh yes, he was deadly serious. Riku turned back around and twisted the knob. Sudden light filled the room, casting an eerie glow onto everything.

While Sora sat -- most likely fearing for his life now more than ever -- motionless, Riku was trying to fight his inner demons. On the one hand, he wanted to tell Sora. He wanted to help him, this unfortunate father-less boy. On the other hand... Well, Conan had explained what had happened to Sora's father. Riku was in no hurry to have the same fate set upon himself.

"R-Riku?"

'Help him, you idiot!' His head was throbbing. 'You were all for it before! Or, are you all talk?'

"Riku, are you okay?"

Out of nowhere, Sora's arms were around his shoulders, pulling him away from the lamp. Riku felt immediately the way his body relaxed into the embrace. It felt...nice. To say the very least. Next thing he knew he was sitting on his bed, Sora sitting next to him. His arm was still around Riku's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Sora spoke quietly. "That-that was a stupid question. Forget I asked it."

Riku, it seemed, had forgotten how to breathe. He wanted to help -- really, he did -- but how do you tell someone that they have a target on their back?

"I'll just be going..."

Sora was leaving? Shit! 'Wake up, Riku!'

"Wait!" Before he knew what he was doing Riku had leapt forward and caught Sora's arm, dragging the boy back to the bed. The brunette squeaked, but it was quickly smothered as Riku pushed his hand against Sora's mouth. Sora's eyes were tearing up.

"Sora, I don't know how you figured out but... You're right."

Sora's body shook, and he pressed roughly against Riku's arm, freeing his mouth. He took a deep, gasping breath and stood up. Slowly, Riku heightened himself to the same position.

Soft footsteps echoed through the room as Sora began backing away from the silver-haired boy. He hadn't expected a confession. He hadn't expected any of this to be real -- he had just wanted Riku to give him one of those sexy looks, ruffle his hair, and tell him what a goof he was.

Gods, what was he supposed to do now that it was real?

Riku cautiously reached out a hand to Sora. He winced as Sora gave a shout and stumbled backwards away from it, ending up falling over a chair. Ah. Best not to attempt close proximity with the boy just yet.

But at the same time, Riku couldn't just let Sora shout out his secret to the entire household. He doubted that Sora knew it was just him -- inside that imaginative mind, Sora probably thought his entire family was out to get him. (Which is exactly true.)

"Sora. I understand," Riku spoke as calmly as the current situation allowed -- that you are frightened. But please keep your voice down."

Sora scrambled up from the floor, facing Riku with such an intense glare that the beauty had to look away. Sora could be scary when he wanted to.

"Why would I do that?" Sora hissed, not allowing Riku to get a word in. Well, at least it was a somewhat quiet hiss. "Do you really expect me to listen to you, after I find out that you --"

Before he could get another word out, Riku tackled. Somehow, if anyone up in the cosmic universe loved him, he would be able to pin Sora down and cover his mouth. Luckily for Riku, someone did love him -- he managed to lock his legs around Sora's hips, thus effectively pinning him. With one hand he covered the boy's mouth, with the other he caught Sora's small hands and held them over his head.

"Listen to me!" Riku was nearly ready to beg -- if his father came up here, whilst they were in this position, he would be dead. "I. Don't. Want. To. Kill. You. Ack!"

The last word came from the fact that Sora, in a move of brilliance, ran his tongue slowly over Riku's hand, making him pull back. With the little free-ness he had, Sora head-butted Riku in the stomach, causing him to be released completely.

"I don't believe you!"

Suddenly, Sora felt Riku's hand reaching around the back of his neck, drawing him closer. He heard Riku's words -- "Then believe this!" -- without really hearing them. As if in slow motion, Sora felt himself being pulled to the inhumanely beautiful, exotic creature that was Riku. And, before he knew it, their lips were crashed together. Sora's breath hitched, entranced at the feeling of his lips against Riku's.

Gods, is this really happening? Sora, caught up in this strange feeling of wonder, vaguely realized that he should be kissing Riku back.

But by the time he actually made to, Riku had pulled away. Sora mewled in frustration. What the hell was wrong with him?

Riku took a breath, a bit unnerved by what he had done. It didn't help, by the way, that Sora was unresponsive.

"I...don't know why I want to help you. All I know is that I feel something for you," Riku stammered. "And I want to know what that something is."

A flush worked its way nicely across Sora's face. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this happy, he really shouldn't. But, in a weird sort of way, he was happy. Almost deliriously so, actually. He had to resist the urge to near scream with happiness. A smile, something akin to sick-and-twisted, graced Sora's features. Riku was frightened.

After losing his father, being isolated, learning of his death-target, confronting Riku, and finding out that Riku liked him, Sora was just ready to burst. It was all too much. Top it off -- his mother wasn't even around. He was fighting this entire battle by himself. 'No,' he corrected himself, the sick smile growing, 'Riku is on my side now.' He sucked in a breath, trying not to laugh.

Riku, wisely, chose to remains silent.

"Riku," he whispered, almost shyly. "I still can't believe you."

Riku's heart wrenched.

"But..." Sora continued.

But?

"But I can return your feelings. And... I can give you a chance to prove yourself."

Timidly, Sora took Riku's hand and entwined their fingers, still blushing. Riku smiled; it was all he could ask for.

"I'll prove it. And I'll save you. But first, we need to get out of here. No one here knows, okay? So let's keep it a secret." Sora nodded.

The two went down the stairs as quietly as they could but, at the very bottom, Sephiroth stood waiting. He was smiling, but Riku saw that it didn't reach his eyes. It was a predatory sort of smile, an "I'll-get-you-my-pretty." smile. Riku scowled.

"Go ahead outside, Sora. I'll be out in a minute."

"M'kay."

When the front door closed completely Riku steeled himself to face his father, who hadn't stopped smiling. When he spoke, his voice was low and silky. It sent shivers spiraling down Riku's spine.

"Riku," his father tilted his head in the direction of the door to indicate he was questioning about Sora. "What is your relationship between that boy?"

"We're just friends," Riku mustered every bit of willpower he possessed to keep his tone lowered and friendly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ami and Chihiro poke their heads through the bars of the stairwell. Eavesdropping.

Sephiroth nodded, "That's good. Because, as you well know, anything further is, well, unforgivable."

He spoke the last word much softer, filling it with disgust and resentment. Riku stiffened -- he knew all too well his father's policies on homosexuals. He heard his bashing them every night at the dinner table, every time something comes up about them on the news. And he never said a word -- until now.

"My relationship with Sora is my business and my business only," he said in a tone to match his father's. "And whether I take that relationship any higher is not of your concern. And I will choose whom I wish to be with, Father, without regard for their age, gender, or preferance. Now if you'll excuse me, I will be at Leon's."

And with that he turned on his heel and strode out the door, leaving his father speechless behind him.

Knock. Knock. KnockKnock. KnockKnockKnockKnock.

"I'M COMING!"

Cursing inwardly, Leon stumbled down the stairs of his home to the front door where some idiot was banging against the door loud enough to raise the dead. Halfway down he tripped, flew down the last few steps, and rammed head-first into the large door. His mental curses soon became vocal. On the other side of the door someone was yelling at him.

"Leon are you okay? Gods, I'm sorry!"

Riku? What the hell was he doing coming over here? Hadn't they seen enough of each other for a while? He, Leon, certainly thought so. But nevertheless he picked himself up from the floor and opened the door.

Imagine his surprise when a timid Sora stepped through the threshhold with him. He watched the way Sora's blue eyes tried to focus on anything and everything at once, and just then realized how horrible his house looked. Look -- there was the spot on the grandfather clock, and his coat rack was useless considering the fact that all the coats were on the floor. He swallowed, hard.

In reality, of course, there was no mess. Just the mind playing with Leon's eyesight.

Riku noticed this immediately and, with a roll of his eyes, tugged Sora into the living room.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Slow dooown, Leon. You're going to make Sora think he's not welcome. How about a drink?" Riku clapped his hands together. "Y'know what? I'll get them. Sora, you like Root Beer, right?"

And before Sora could even nod, Riku had disappeared from the room. Which left him. And Leon. Person II who wanted him dead. Or that's what he thought.

Best not to question it. 'But then...why did Riku leave?'

Leon, as to be expected, was completely surprised when Sora began speaking.

"I lost my father in fourth grade." (1)

"E-excuse me?"

Sora was staring at the family portrait of the Leonheart's. They were all there, smiling fake smiles. It was always the same picture. His mother to his father's left, himself to his father's right, and Saku in the front. She looked the most happy out of all of them, Leon noticed with a frown. That was good. He was happy for his cousin. Happy that she was happy.

"My father. He died when I was in fourth grade," Sora was speaking softly, so softly that Leon had to move closer to hear him. "One day, he didn't come home. I remember my mother was nearly in hysterics. They found him in a ditch."

A ditch. Wait. Why did that sound so familiar? 'Becauseherefused.' Because he refused? Where did that come from? Leon's head was throbbing, and he didn't know why. Snaking a hand up to tug his hair, he tried to focus on what Sora was saying.

"And then, almost out of nowhere, it was like I didn't fit in. I realized just how much no one had liked me."

'Youwannaplay?'

"I spent fifth grade --"

'Youwannaplay?'

" -- all alone."

'Cmon!Letsplay!'

"And then... Leon? Leon!"

It hurt, it hurt so much. But why? Not enough sleep, not enough nutrition. Spots were beginning to dance across his vision, red and black and blue. Soon Sora himself was just one big blur, and he was moving too fast. He was making Leon sick. Was he going to throw up? That's what it felt like. He dropped to his knees and clutched his stomach.

"Riku!"

But he couldn't throw up on the carpet, it was new. His mother would kill him.

Suddenly there was relief. He could feel Riku's hands massaging his back, relieving him of the feeling of wanting to puke. Sora was bustling around -- what was he doing? -- quietly; it sounded like he was moving something. Leon frowned. As long as he didn't break anything.

"Up, Leon. Make a jump for the couch," Riku hefted him up, swinging him around so that he could fit -- comfortably -- on the couch. From above him a thick cover dropped from Sora's hands, covering him. It felt nice, the soft pressure.

"You haven't been eating."

It was a statement, nothing more. Though Riku did say it with a bit of anger in his voice. Not a word from Leon. He hadn't eaten since he came back from Conan's. He hadn't gotten any of the answers he went there for, thanks to Cloud's outburst. Strangely enough though, he rather thought Riku had gotten some answers. To what questions, he didn't know.

But Riku was up to something.

It was the only explainable answer. Why on earth would he bring Sora here, to his house, if he weren't up to something? Even though Leon was on his side, Cloud could have been here. Cloud could have decided to take Sora out the moment he stepped through the door. There were too many risks involved with Leon's house; Riku risking a visit here must have meant that his plan, whatever it was, was big.

That, or it was going to get ugly and Riku needed to know who was on his side. Either way, both routes bode ill for Leon. For all of them. His fine brows furrowed together as he slipped into deep concentration. Just what was Riku up to?

As if on cue, Riku revealed a bit of his plan. "I know why Sora's being targeted."

Leon's first reaction was to shout. But his stomach was still hurting, so that was ruled out. Second was to slap Riku. How could he have said this in front of Sora? And the third reaction: dawning comprehension. Simply put, Sora knew. Leon wondered how he figured it out, and voiced the question.

"He figured it out himself," Riku replied quickly. "I swear. He came to my house and confronted me about it."

"That true?" Leon muttered. Sora nodded. A sigh. "Well then -- why?"

A sad smile from Riku. "I'm not going to tell you."

Exactly as Leon expected. Contrary to belief, Riku was a brilliant strategist. He would keep Leon on his toes, always dangling the information just out of reach. Taunting, teasing. He was going to make Leon work for the information. Leon smirked, pissed but accepting; he wouldn't have it any other way.

"What do you want?"

"Leon, dahling, I thought you'd never ask," Riku batted his eyelashes playfully before resuming his serious pose. "I want Sora to be somewhere safe. He can't stay at his house -- he's all alone there. And he can't stay with us. Too obvious."

Clearing his throat for attention, Sora threw in his two cents. "What about Cloud's? His mother is always happy to see me there."

The two gave Sora such a look that the brunette was sure he had lobsters crawling out of his ears, or something equally gross. (2) Finally qualing under the intense gaze, he focused his eyes on the ground and twiddled his thumbs.

"Bad idea?" he questions weakly. "But how bad can it --?"

"Very," Leon cut in smoothly. "Sora, Cloud is the only one left who still insists on killing you."

Sora swallowed, paled.

"We don't know what he has against you --" Leon continued on despite Riku's cough of disagreement. "But we do know he will not allow you to be sheltered in his own home."

"But if Namine and Roxas are there --"

"How long do you think it would take before he slipped poison into your drink?" Riku asked gently. "There are many ways to make death look accidental."

Slumping his shoulders in a defeated sort of way, Sora decided that he would leave the negotiating to the pros. As much as he was trying to help, it was obvious that he was not meant for this. This was their game, and he was just a player. Riku suggested that he look around the house. Leon had no objection, so Sora went off to do just that.

First stop: the kitchen. Because, really, he was starving. He had been too nervous to eat much breakfast at Cloud's, having been to worried about throwing it up all over Riku's doorstep. He would just make himself a sandwhich and be gone. Reaching out to grasp the metal handle of the refrigerator, Sora wondered what kind of meat Leon had. Yank.

'Holy ---!'

Leon, as it turned out, had every bit of food Sora could only dream about. Shutting the blessed door, Sora turned and walked stiffly back to the living room.

"Leon, do you mind if I get something to eat?"

"Help yourself."

Pause.

"D-do you want anything?"

"Depends. How well do you cook?" When Sora replied that he was decent -- "I'm still alive, aren't I?" -- Leon gave him permission to eat anything he had, so long as he made something for himself and Riku to eat as well. Well, that didn't bother Sora. In fact, it gave him something time-consuming to do. It felt good to not have to worry about the troubles of the world, and only about making sure the chocolate didn't burn on the oven.

An hour later, with Riku and Leon still arguing about where to send him, Sora reappeared in the living room. His arms were loaded with dishes of different types of foods (only later did he think that balancing so many trays was rude and irresponsible, considering they weren't his dishes). He made a small squeaky noise to alert the two to his presence, royally peeved when they simply sat and stared at him.

If they didn't hurry up and help him he was going to --

" -- drop the plates!" he squeaked, desperate. "Dropping! Dropping!"

Riku chuckled, watching Leon scramble over the couch in an attempt to save his precious dishes. He could be truly adorable when he wanted to be. When he wasn't busy losing himself in his emo-ness. Riku frowned, brows coming together. He didn't like emo-ness. That was Cloud's thing. Leon wasn't allowed to be emo, not when he was around.

"Riku, come and eat something!"

And, really, he shouldn't allow Cloud to be emo either...

"Riku!"

Because Cloud was always so much more fun when he wasn't being an emotional...

"RIKU!"

Out of nowhere a carrot stick smacked him squarely between the eyes, followed by two pieces of cellery and an olive. It seemed someone was trying to catch his attention. He spun around to see Leon and Sora with their hands full of other sorts of vegetables ready to be ejected from their hands at the slightest moment.

"Woah! You got my attention. Put those down."

Grinning, the two raised their hands above their heads, letting go of the vegetables in the process. "Ah!" Riku shielded himself as he felt the cold vegetables raining down upon him.

"Next time perhaps you'll pay attention," Leon smirked, brushing off a cellery stick from Riku's shoulder. "And we won't have to revert to such drastic measures."

"What he said," Sora smiled. "Now come eat!"

Slipping a hand through his locks, Riku set himself down at the table.

He couldn't believe what was happening, really. Something that had seemed so impossible a while ago was coming true. Riku had been given a chance to prove himself. Leon was smiling, albeit a bit painfully, at Sora. Riku helped himself to three of Sora's delicious sandwhiches, some celery sticks -- though he was surprised there were any left, after all they'd thrown at him -- and some chocolate mousse.

For a moment, he thought he'd seen something flicker in the window. But he must have imagined it; nothing was there. He turned his eyes back to the table, smiling slighty. They were all -- to be cliche -- one big, happy family.

That was, until a voice rang out from the doorway.

"Squall Leonheart, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

-cough- Hm, what's that? Is this another cliff-hanger? Well, well... xD Heh. I actually had a different way to end it, but when I realized that continuing on past this point would be stupid, I cut it off right there. Hope you guys enjoyed that. I'm enjoying the fact that I got two things updated today. Hallelujah! It's a miracle. Press that little button that says review and feed meh!

Love you guys!

(1) - In an earlier chapter, I said that Sora lost his father when he was four. Disregard that. That sentence was the result of an escaping plot bunny. I have now caught the bunny, and he lost his father in fourth grade. Thanks.

(2) - 'Lobsters crawling out of his ears.' A Christmas Story. How many of you guys have seen that? I love that movie.