Disclaimer: I now no longer need to write this. I have transcended you foolish mortals and am now an immortal owner of Squenix.

Author's Rambles: And then I woke up from a pleasant dream.

Sorry guys, no cliffhanger at the end of chapter 9, unfortunately. But I hope you like this one... there's a little drama, unfortunately.

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Chapter 10: A Weekend of Trouble (3)

AKA: Problems?

Something nudged the sleeping white-haired prince in his back, just above the bottle-scar. The haze of sleep was pushed aside for but a moment before sleep reclaimed the tired boy, plummeting him back into its dark depths.

The thing came again, poking him in the back more insistently. Sleep left him once more, the haze slowly drifting out of his mind like fog dispersing on a warm day.

The nudging came a third time, forcing his senses to kick into gear. His mind stumbled into semi-wakefulness, and Riku's eyes cracked open. All he could see was brown hair. And the hairs were tickling his face, ruffling slightly with his breath. He watched it move with his breathing for a moment, trying to puzzle out why he had a huge, bushy, brown moustache. The nudging came a fourth time and he raised his head out of Sora's mop of silky brown hair, looking sleepily at a giggling Kairi and a bewildered (and mildly angry) Roxas.

"Prince, pray tell me; why are you holding onto my twin like that?" Roxas asked in a very dangerous voice, his tone clearly demanding an answer.

Sora chose that moment to wake up, his huge, liquid blue eyes flicking open. Roxas' equally blue gaze snapped to Sora, his glare burning holes in Sora's sleepy eyes.

"That looks so cute," Kairi sighed, smothering another giggle. Sora blinked twice at the bubbly girl, glanced around seemingly unaware of his surroundings-that including his location within Riku's arms-when finally his brain decided to come online.

He gazed at Riku's face wonderingly, his face one of peace and contentment. As Riku watched, that expression changed to horror and the young brunet squealed, shoving against Riku with such force that he went flying out of the older teen's arms. "Augh!"

He sat kneeling on his bed, his cheeks burning a bright crimson at being caught cuddling up to his boyfriend. What the hell was I thinking? What on Earth happened last night?

"Riku, bro, you still haven't explained why you two were sleeping together like that," Roxas said calmly. Riku watched the anger build on the younger twin's face, waiting for the prime moment before opening his mouth to respond.

"Ah, you see-" Sora began, but Riku cut him off. "At least that explains my weird dream," he muttered.

Roxas' icy stare ripped into him. "Do tell."

"Well, I dreamed that I had found a really, really big teddy bear," Riku laughed, scratching the back of his head. Please buy it, please buy it...

"I always thought you were a weird guy, Pinecone." Riku spluttered a bit at his new-found nickname, but decided not to push it. "At least you didn't try and use ME as a teddy," Roxas grumbled. Kairi laughed a little more, then an evil grin suddenly plastered her face.

Sora watched the smiling girl for a moment. "Uh... Kairi... why are you grinning like that? You're starting to scare me..."

"You three, have you noticed yet that Axel is still asleep?" Kairi asked innocently, indicating the sleeping redhead. The three boys nodded, the twin's eyes lighting up with mischief. "Well, will you guys help me wake him up?"

Riku swore that the twin's eyes simultaneously glinted. "Well... what are you two planning to do to the poor guy?"

"Riiikuuuuu, won't you help us?" Sora whined, his eyes getting large and round. Riku's heart near-melted at the sight of Sora's puppy-dog face.

"Feh, when you do that you know I can't resist," Riku grinned, waving a hand amiably at the young brunet. "So, what will we do?" he amended. Watching their grins falter, he sighed. "You don't have any ideas, do you? Uh, guys?" he asked, a little concerned. Their faces had gone from grins to frowns and now the three looked totally and absolutely scared out of their wits.

"Plans for what, you psychic freak?" Riku twisted, still sitting on his mattress. There behind him were two tall, broad-shouldered men dressed fully in black. The one on the left had a shock of brown hair set over a large square face with narrow eyes set behind dark sunglasses, a scar down his right cheek. The guy on the right was similarly disguised-if you could call it that-with sunglasses, but his narrow features were framed by straw-blond hair.

Author's Note: It's just two randoms, nobody FF-related in particular.

"Brilliant. What are you two doing off your leashes?" Riku asked in a biting, haughty voice. "And how dare you address me in that manner?"

"Riku... do you know these two?" Kairi asked in a small voice, cowering behind Roxas. "Who are they, and how did they get in?"

Riku waved at the open window, climbing to his feet. The blanket slipped off, revealing his bare torso. He heard Roxas and Kairi gasp at the scars on his back, but put it out of his mind. "They came in through the window we left open. If you leave windows and doors open, trash like this tends to get blown in."

"You had better stop talking to us like that if you know what's good for you, princeling!" the man on the right yelled, his hand diving inside his jacket. It came back out with a very businesslike gun clutched in it.

"Oh, and why's that?" Riku retorted, crossing his arms jauntily. He had a really bad feeling about today... Great. Why are Dill and Raz here? Didn't father send them to... spy... on someone important. Why me? Garamit!

The guy on the left (Dill) grinned sadistically. "Because, 'Prince Pinecone,' as you're so affectionately known... we have been watching you. Tuesday had a most interesting end, didn't it?" Dill said in a polite, almost cheeky tone. "I bet you can never look at that door the same way again, can you?"

Next to him, Sora gulped, turned red and jumped back to stand near his twin. Clearly he knew exactly what the two were talking about. Riku just stood there, his body quivering with rage but his face showing no emotion. At least they're all behind me now. "Watching me? Why were you set to that task?"

This time Raz answered. "To stop something exactly like this from occurring." He ran a hand through his blond hair. Next to him, Dill pulled an envelope out of his pocket. It was adorned with a symbol Riku knew all too well, a heart crossed by two thorny vines. The bottom tip of the heart protruded downwards slightly before splitting into three, the two sides curling around slightly. His father's personal seal. He pulled a piece of paper from the envelope and passed it to Raz, who read it aloud. "Watch Riku. Should he show any romantic interest in any person, forcefully discourage any such activities by any means necessary. Basically, that means," Raz said in a sweet voice, his left hand still waving the gun in Riku's general direction; "we're gonna have to kill your love life."

"What? What craziness is that?!" Riku yelled, waving a hand at the note. "Has my father gone completely bananas? Granted, the old fool hates me, but he is not stupid enough to give such an order!"

Dill shrugged. "Tall, dark brown skin, silver hair? Freaky orange eyes?"

Sora and Roxas both jumped. "XEMNAS?" they simultaneously shouted. "Xemnas, the crazy who got expelled for trying to blow up the school? Is your father?"

Riku shook his head. "Not Xemnas. Ansem. Ansem, the Sage-King of Radiant Garden is my father. And that sounds like him."

Dill shrugged again. "Then your dad gave the order. So, back to business." He gestured to Raz. "Do it, partner."

Raz's face lit up and he shoved the note away into his pocket. His left hand moved the pistol from Riku's face to pointing just behind him. "G'night, lover."

BANG

"AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!"

Kairi screamed from behind Riku. He spun, his eyes slipping to the floor. There she lay, curled up in the foetal position, a pool of blood surrounding her, leaking from a wound on her stomach. Sora and Roxas fell to their knees next to her, tears pouring from their eyes. The younger twin pulled his shirt off and began tearing at it, reducing it to ragged strips of white cloth which he balled up and pressed against the hole in the dying redhead.

Riku twisted back to face the two assassins, tears streaming down his face. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" he screamed, clenching his fists tightly. Around him, the air began to swirl and eddy, caught in the currents of power that he was drawing on. "WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO KILL AN INNOCENT GIRL?!" he shouted, thrusting his hands at each man before him. His hands opened and closed, as if grabbing at a throat. In response, the two began choking, their throats squeezed by the royal power that was Riku's birthright. "She did nothing to you..." he hissed ominously. "She had her whole life ahead of her, she has a family! DIE!" His hands clenched tightly, choking them. Raz's face began to go blue; Dill's wasn't far behind. Dill scrabbled at his jacket, pulling out a small cloth ball. He hurled it at Riku. The small ball burst upon impact, covering Riku in a fine blue powder that clung to his skin. The power was cut off immediately, as if a tap had been inexplicably twisted shut.

Raz and Dill fell back to earth, gasping gratefully for air. "Heh... the... old fool... was right... about the... powder," Raz panted. "Now let's... go."

"Go where?"

Raz and Dill froze; they turned slowly, ever so slowly... behind them was a finally-awake Axel. His eyes still blinking in sleepiness, he glared unseeing at the two intruders. "I dunno who you are, but-" he sniffed. "Why can I smell blood?" He cracked his eyes open. They swivelled from Raz's gun, to Riku's tear-stained face, to the blood-stain on the carpet, to the owner of the blood. "KAIRI!" he shrieked, his face going as white as a sheet. He pushed through the two, running for his little sister. The door banged open; Mr. and Mrs. Autumn were standing in the doorway, yelling about all the noise so early in the morning. When they saw the prone, bleeding body of their daughter, Alisha fell to her knees sobbing, helping Roxas compress the wound. Gyre headed downstairs as fast as his leg could carry him, straight as an arrow for the phone.

Raz and Dill chose this moment to try and climb out the window; they had just leaped off the roof when Axel looked at the open window.

"If they think they're getting away, they have another thought coming."

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Author's Rambles: By the way, to anyone who recognises 'garamit'... where did I get it from? I'd be so interested to know if anyone recognises it.

I thought it might be interesting to put the Heartless symbol as Riku's father's personal crest. Just in case you didn't recognise it.