It has been an age once again, over a year—how many darn times am I going to leave this story and return? -_-' I am deeply sorry about being gone, but see, I had a lot and a lot and a lot of personal issues going on. First, I was in a biking accident and was really injured, and then issues went on with my (now) ex-boyfriend. I won't go into them, but the man's a pig. A lying, cheating bastard. That was the main reason I was never able to ever come on here and write, and I guess you can say school as well. Being a senior sucks, that's all I gotta say. Also, I started ice skating again. That was a good thing; I should have never quit in the first place. It takes a lot of my time as well. (And just last Saturday, I had a bad skating fall, and have been off my feet for several days. Isn't that nice?)
I'll try and update when I can, but I won't promise anything. I hope you guys who originally read this story are still around and remember it—all the reviews and comments I got before were so awesome, you guys are the best. I love you all, seriously. Hopefully you'll enjoy this, whether you're a first time reader or returning after my very long break!
Summary: Riku's mom signs him up to help out with an orphanage around the Christmas holiday. Riku groans at the idea. He doesn't want to help them, but he doesn't have an option.
Disclaimer: Don't make me say what I must—it makes me so utterly depressed… -Quietly mouths that she, in fact, does not own Kingdom Hearts- Oh, the humanity! -Faints-
Warning: This fic will contain shonen-ai (boyxboy love). If you do not care for boyxboy love, I suggest you leave. This fic will also contain language.
Reviews: You guys are so amazing; you have no idea how happy your reviews make me! And thanks for the critique/comments so much, because if you say anything that seemed a bit off, I go back and edit it often—especially the last chapter, thanks for all the comments! Man, we hit 200 reviews and beyond! I'm so sorry I was gone so long, it's so unfair to you guys that faithfully read my stuff, but I greatly appreciate it all, and I hope you guys return to see this silly mess of a fic through to the end!
A/N: I went back and edited the last chapter, 9, with Sora's episode and everything—it just didn't come out the way I wanted it to—so I strongly suggest you read the parts of last chapter involving Sora again before reading this one, that is, if you read this story before—but if you're a first time reader, go ahead and hurry and read this one! Anyway, it has been a while, but most of this chapter was written back when I was writing the other ones, but I had to go back and change some, since, as I said, I edited the previous chapter quite a bit. Anyway, I tried to make this one extra long to make up for my absence once more! Hopefully you guys will like it, I had a blast writing it! Now on with the story—for I must shut up and stop typing now. XD
An Unexpected Gift - Chapter 10. Painting is Good for the Soul, Uh-huh
-o-
"Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. - Samuel Johnson
The next day, Riku called Axel immediately after he woke up. Axel sounded better that day—more cheerful and happy. He said that he had been released, for there was nothing really wrong with him—just beaten really badly. They subscribed him some pain medicine, and advised him just to take it easy and get plenty of rest. Axel's mother had wanted him not to go to Destiny Orphanage, but he persuaded her to let him do so. He told her he would be fine. Riku told Axel that he would try and visit him some time today.
But Axel simply said, "There is no need—there is someone who needs you far more than I do."
After getting off the phone with Axel, Riku turned to look down at Sora. The brunet was still asleep. He smiled softly—but then it morphed into a frown. He had never expected...that something like that would happen with Sora. Why had Sora gotten so sick like that—just because Riku was gone for a few hours? It worried Riku so much; he had never expected anything like this to happen. He had never, ever wanted to see Sora that upset, crying, and sick.
Riku sat back down on his bed, a headache beginning to make itself evident. He supposed he should wake Sora up, for it would soon even be time for breakfast; the boy was sleeping in late today. "Sora," Riku whispered quietly, attempting to wake the boy but he also didn't want to shock him or disturb him. But the boy did not stir whatsoever to the mention of his name; Riku repeated it slightly louder; still, no movement.
"Sora, time to wake up," said Riku, touching the boy's shoulder.
And that, of course, was the magic touch. Sora's eyes fluttered open, and he moved from his back to his side. He then saw Riku's blurry face (for his eyes were still clouded over with sleepiness) and he smiled. "Riku...you're here."
"Of course I'm here, silly. Where else would I be?"
"I don't know," said Sora, shaking his head. "It's just...since yesterday, I was worried, I guess. I'm sorry, Riku."
"There's nothing for you to apologize for, Sora," said Riku. "I just wanted to talk to you about—" Riku stopped as he suddenly heard Kadaj yell out that breakfast was ready. "I'll be right back, Sora—and with food." Riku grinned.
Sora grinned as well. "Okay, Riku."
Riku quickly ran down the stairs, where he ran into Yuffie before he could head into the kitchen. "Good morning, Riku," she greeted. "Hey...how's Sora? Is he still all right?"
"He's fine, Yuffie."
"GREAT!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly, grinning widely. Ah...Yuffie was no longer worried and she was her usual self again. "Because remember, darling Riku, we are painting today, and you agreed, so you will not be getting out of it, 'kay? We were going to do it yesterday, remember, but..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Riku, nodding his head slightly. Honestly, he just wanted to forget about that day and erase it from his memory. He knew Axel and their mothers felt the same way. They had tried to forget about the past with Axel's father, and mostly, they tried to not think of it, but there was always one thing that reminded them—that would never go away. But they could try their hardest to forget. Riku shook his head, a fake smile on his face. "Sure, sure, Yuffie. That's fine. When will we start painting?"
Yuffie did not notice the fake smile, though, and just continued to grin widely. She twirled around on her heel. "Riku, m'dear, we will start painting right after lunch. It's a good time for us, since Kadaj won't be busy, and well...everyone else will try and help, too."
"Sounds good to me," said Riku. "Now, Yuffie, I really have to go. It's time for breakfast—you know. I really need to give him his breakfast."
"Are you sure he's all right?" asked Yuffie, just having to get it out of her system.
"Yeah, Yuffie..." said Riku. He waited a moment, prepared to go get the food, but he could not help but ask something. "Hey, Yuffie...do you know anything that could have brought on what happened with Sora? What I mean is—has he ever gotten sick and upset like that before, anything like that?"
Yuffie shook her head. "No, Riku, ever since he was first here (and I wouldn't know, because I didn't work here when he first came, but Reno told me) he's been very quiet—barely spoke a word. Some of the other kids apparently thought he was deaf, so they just started to ignore him entirely, never even bothering to talk to him. Cloud told me that Sora's always been quiet. He said he's tried to talk to him many times—but usually all he'd get out of him was a word or two. We've never seen Sora cry or be upset like that. It seemed like he had asthma or something. No, nothing has ever happened like that before."
"Really?" Riku asked, worried. "So he's always...he's always been like that?"
Yuffie nodded her head.
"Thank you." Riku then took off into the kitchen, not able to speak to Yuffie anymore. He quickly got the food and then headed back up the stairs. He stared at the door for the longest time; the food was beginning to grow cold. He felt like he could not enter for some reason. He was not entirely sure why, but he felt like he could not. It was not like the time when he could not enter Axel's room at the hospital—this was different.
Was Sora really that insecure...that he could not handle Riku being gone for just a few hours? Why had he ever opened up to Riku in the first place? Why was he the one? What's so special...about me, anyway? Riku thought. I mean...Sora barely spoke a word before, Yuffie said, but he started talking to me...and when we went out for lunch, Sora was talking quite a bit. Did I really...help him so much?
Riku shook his head. Whatever I did, if I helped him or not, I want to help Sora continue to grow—where he can talk and feel secure about himself, and not think he's horrible because he survived and his parents didn't. I have to...I have to help him, somehow.
Riku had never been sure of why he had taken such an interest in the brunet in the first place. The first time he had laid eyes on Sora, he knew there was something different...something special about him (and no, he didn't mean special in that way). There were so many different things behind Sora's blue eyes—so many different emotions and feelings; Sora had a smile he had never seen on anyone else's face, such a sweet and innocent and beautiful smile—no smile could compare; he had a soft, quiet voice, it was sometimes hard for Riku to even hear him; and sometimes...sometimes Sora looked so small and frail and weak—that it just made Riku's heart hurt. He was so fragile.
Riku cleared his throat and entered, seeing Sora's bright smile as soon as he did so. Riku smiled, as well. "Hey there, Sora, sorry I took so long."
"No problem," said Sora, his smile still intact.
"Hey, the food looks really great today."
"Yeah, it sure does."
Riku sat down on his bed after handing Sora his tray. He began to eat, as did Sora. Riku watched Sora out of the corner of his eye. So far today, he had been acting normally—nothing out of the ordinary. Well, it was normal for Sora, anyway. Riku returned his gaze back down to his food, no longer looking at him.
"So, Sora, how have you been feeling lately?" he suddenly asked, startling Sora. "No longer feeling sick or anything, right?"
And it wasn't just Riku speaking to him that startled him—it was the question in itself as well. How had he...been feeling lately? How was he supposed to answer that? "I-I—I don't know," was all he could utter.
Riku sighed, setting his tray to the side. "Sora, you need to tell me how you're feeling. You know, I care about you—I care about you deeply—and I want to make sure everything is all right with you. I just want...to see you happy and healthy, all right?"
There was silence for a long time, and Riku did not feel like speaking again—he did not want to rush Sora. If he did not feel like talking about this today, he would simply try and ask him the same question tomorrow. Either way, Riku was going to get to what Sora felt deep down inside—how he felt about himself—he really...he really just wanted to see the boy be as happy as he possibly could be.
"I...I really don't know how I feel," said Sora, finally.
"That's okay," said Riku. "We can talk about it later, okay? Let's just eat now, all right?"
"O...Okay."
Roxas was very anxious this morning. Whenever would Axel come in? It was late—and he still was not here. Roxas was growing more anxious by the minute—no, the second. That Volcanohead had said he would be here today—that it would be all right and he would come in—but why wasn't he here yet? Roxas paced back and forth anxiously. And just then, a noise came from the door; Roxas' head immediately jerked around to look at who it was. He let out a breath he had been holding when he saw a spike of red hair. So...Volcanohead had come after all.
Sure enough, he was on crutches as he had said—and he still looked as bruised and beaten as ever, and still had the bandage on his head. Roxas stared at Axel as he came through the door, but showed no motion of standing up—and he did not call out to him or anything. Well, actually, he was planning to, but as soon as he opened his mouth to say something, Rinoa, Seifer, Zell, Lulu, Marth, and several kids ran up to him, asking him many questions. Roxas rolled his eyes, returning to his comic book. He was going to talk to Axel, damn it. He was here first...
"Roxas!"
Roxas' ears perked up at this. Had someone just called his name? Hmph...odd, indeed. And the voice sounded familiar, too—and somewhat annoying. But Roxas paid no mind to it, and continued to read his comic book.
"Hey, Roxas!" called the same person, before they sat down beside him.
Well, Roxas couldn't exactly ignore that. He looked away from his comic book, only to discover that the voice belonged to a certain redhead. Roxas immediately set down his comic book and sat up, somewhat shocked. "V-Volcanohead?"
"Hah. That's me, I guess."
"H-how...how are you?" Roxas asked.
"I'm okay, really. I mean...my ankle should be fine soon, my arm's already quite better, and I'm just really sore right now, but I'm sure I'll be fine. Anyway," Axel laughed, "I'm still moving out and about—so that's gotta be good for something, but how are you, Roxas?"
Roxas stared at Axel, silent. How could he ask a question like that—when he himself was so badly off in the first place? "U-um...I'm fine." Roxas scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat awkward and nervous.
"Well, that's good to hear," said Axel, smiling brightly. "So...let's talk about how you called me Axel yesterday."
Roxas looked affronted. "As if I would call you by your first name, Volcanohead!" he protested. "That would never happen in a million years! You were simply delusional from being bopped in the head!" As soon as he said it, Roxas regretted it. His eyes widened in horror as he stared at Axel, the smile immediately vanishing from his face. "I-I—I—I didn't mean it, Axel! I am so...so sorry."
"It's okay," said Axel, a hint of a smile returning to his face. "And besides, you just called me Axel again."
Roxas looked horrified. "Oh, no, I didn't! I clearly called you Volcanohead, you big dope!"
"Well, I say otherwise."
"Well, I beg to differ from your opinion!" Roxas protested.
"Oh, Roxas, come on...you don't have to beg."
"I'm not begging, you idiot!"
Axel laughed.
It would seem when it really came down to it laughter and fun were the best medicines of all. And Axel was laughing a lot and having a great time just being around Roxas. It was truly...making him feel much better.
"They've sure got something special, huh?" Rinoa whispered to Seifer.
Seifer grunted. "Yeah...they do."
Breakfast was done with now, and Riku decided to hang around in then teens' room with Sora's for a while.
"So...are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Riku asked, attempting to be nonchalant; he did not accomplish it.
"I...I don't really know," said Sora, his voice quiet and sounding confused. "I-I mean...what am I supposed to say, really? I have no idea."
Riku repositioned himself on his bed, leaning in closer towards him. "You can tell me...anything. What are you feeling? Happy? Scared? Emotional? Freaked out? Sad? Mad? Anything at all, Sora—just tell me."
Sora looked at Riku for quite some time—trying to think of what to say, thinking it over. "All...all right. I guess—I guess I feel scared? I don't know, really—I guess I feel kind of scared. I don't know exactly why, though. It's confusing..."
Riku waited patiently, keeping quiet. He just wanted Sora to continue talking.
"I mean, after Mommy and Daddy died, I really...I really didn't have anyone else to be around. Everyone else scared me. I didn't want to talk to them—I wanted to keep quiet, so I ignored them and kept to myself. But when I saw you...something seemed different. I don't know what it really was—you just seemed different. I felt like I could talk to you, I felt like you could help me. And I guess...I guess I'm scared because I'm worried you'll leave me, like my mom and dad."
"I—I—I won't leave you, Sora—I already told you that yesterday, you don't have to worry about that. And Sora, listen, everyone cares about you here, too—they were all very worried about you yesterday...you should try and talk to them, trust me. Now, what else are you feeling?"
"Confused," answered Sora immediately.
Riku raised his eyebrows. "Confused? Confused about what?"
Sora looked rather nervous; but before Riku could even question him on his confusion—and his nervousness, the door was opened, and in stepped Yuffie. Riku now looked horrified. "What is it, Yuffie?"
Yuffie just continued to grin, her hands behind her back. Okay...something was definitely up. Riku crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Yuffie laughed somewhat nervously. "Okay, Riku, I need you to do something for me—well, not just for me, for the whole orphanage."
"Spit it out, Yuffie."
"Ehehe... Well, it seems we forgot to pick up the paint, what with planning it, and what happened yesterday...so...could you go and pick it up with Leon?"
"Why me?" Riku yelled.
"Well, it will be several cans, so Leon would need some help."
"No, I mean, why must it be me that helps? I don't want to!"
"Now, Riku, you're sounding like your old self."
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean," said Yuffie, indignant.
Riku sighed, exasperated. "Oh, all right. But why can't Cloud go? Or Reno?"
"They're both busy, especially Cloud."
"And what about you?" Riku asked, curious.
Yuffie merely shook her head at Riku. "Oh, silly Riku, I am very busy myself."
"With what, exactly?" Riku asked dryly.
"Oh, I am the entertainment for the children, of course!"
"Oh, how I pity them," Riku muttered to himself.
Yuffie quickly pulled Riku up from his seat and threw him to the door. She grinned as he quickly ran down the stairs, her throwing him propelling him forward. She then sat down on his bed. She turned towards Sora. "Hey, Sora."
Sora stared at Yuffie for a long time. Finally, he uttered, "H-hi," very quietly.
Yuffie smiled. "How ya feelin' today?"
Meanwhile, downstairs, Riku was grumbling and cursing the evil Yuffie. Leon spotted him and walked over to him. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't bite you."
Ahhhh! Riku screamed in his head. He's even scarier when he talks! Oh no! Run for the hills! He honestly thought Leon really did look like he would bite him. Especially after he had said that. It made him look even scarier—which was rather odd, when you thought about it. He cleared his throat nervously. "All right, Leon."
Leon called out to Cloud, "I'll be back soon, okay? I'll miss you."
"Bye, Leon! Miss you too!" Cloud called back.
Riku stared at Leon for a moment, as the brunet walked toward the door, preparing to leave. His tone...had not sounded nearly as gruff as usual—when he talked to Cloud. This was very interesting, indeed. Well, do'h, Riku, thought he, he's his boyfriend now. Of course he'll be nicer to him. I am such an idiot.
"Well, are you coming or what?" Leon asked, the door wide open, letting in a draft.
"Y-yes!" said Riku, as he quickly clambered towards the door. He quickly went down the stairs, following Leon, and then got into Leon's car, and drove away. Riku sat there in the passenger's seat, feeling very...awkward and out of place. He had never been left alone with Leon before, so this was very weird, indeed. He kept his mouth shut—not sure of what to say, and if he really wanted to talk to Leon at all or not.
"So...how you doing at school?" Leon suddenly asked out of the blue as he continued to drive.
Riku was so shocked by the fact that Leon had just asked him a question, that he did not answer right away. His eyes were wide, and he had the most shocked expression on his face—his mouth was wide, too. Honestly, Riku was gawking. Finally, though, he realized he should speak, and he cleared his throat nervously. "Ehehe...well...yeah, school's fine, I guess. I get good grades."
"Really? What college are you planning to go to, then?"
Riku looked even more shocked now. He expected Leon just to grunt or something in response, but he had gone and asked him another question! Oh, honestly, what was the world coming to? Riku felt like he was going to lose his mind. "U-um...well...I was thinking of Twilight Town's college."
"That's a great place—I graduated from there, you know."
"Really?" Riku could not hold back the enthusiasm behind his voice. He was generally excited. He had never met anyone before that had gone there. "What's it like? Are the classes good? What about the teachers?"
"Whoa, one question at a time, there," said Leon, laughing slightly. Riku gawked. He realized this was the first time he had ever heard Leon laugh. Now that...had to count for something, right? Man—he had never known Leon was like this. Riku supposed then it was like he had judged him—based on how he acted usually, and Riku felt badly about that. Goes to show that the saying is true: you can't judge a book by its cover, or in this case, you can't judge a Leon based on how he has spoken about ten words to you in the past. Now, that was just plumb rude. "Well, it's a really great school, I was able to learn a lot, the classes were excellent—and almost all my teachers were fantastic."
"Good, good. But which teachers sucked? What if they're still there if I go?"
Leon let out a laugh. "Hah. Well, the worst teacher...was Mr. Hopkins."
"Like, are we talking about Anthony Hopkins here?" Riku could not help but ask. "Because...having a cannibal for a teacher would totally suck." (1)
"No, no," said Leon, smiling slightly. "Mr. Hopkins...was basically evil. He always asked me questions suddenly, ones that had nothing to do with the close—so I was unprepared to answer. Hopefully, if you go, he won't be there anymore. He was rather old, anyway."
Before Riku could say anything further, the car stopped.
"We're here," Leon announced, pulling out his keys and pocketing them.
"Oh...okay." Riku opened the door and stepped out. It was rather odd when he thought about it—he had never known Leon was capable of talking so much. He supposed...that it showed he really did not know all that much about Leon, which was true. He realized then, that basically the only person at the orphanage he was spending time with—was Sora. He knew he needed to spend time with him, and he wanted to, but he needed to spend time with others, as well. He wanted to get to know everyone better—even Reno (though he had already learned quite a bit about the redhead, to be honest).
They walked into Home Depot, and began to walk towards the paint section.
"So...what paint are we getting?" Riku asked, shrugging his hands into his pockets.
"I have no idea," said Leon. "Yuffie just said that we had to pick it up. It was already paid for and everything."
As Riku and Leon neared closer to the paint section, Riku suddenly spotted a huge pile of cans of paint in the distance. There were so many. Riku laughed slightly at the sight. He pitied whoever was picking up all of that paint. Seriously, it would take forever to load all of the cans into a cart, and then get them into a car. But despite his pitying, Riku could not help but laugh. But then, suddenly, Leon walked ahead of him, and began loading those very same paint cans into a cart. Riku's jaw dropped in horror. No way! he thought. Yuffie bought...that much paint? Literally, in his mind, he was flipping out. He seriously was. And this was no exaggeration, mind you. Not even in the slightest.
"No…no way!" said Riku, utterly astounded, his jaw still dropped.
"Yes, sadly, it's true," said Leon. "Come and help."
Riku did so, but he was still so astounded, he could not talk. The whole way home, actually, he was unable to talk, his mouth was wide the entire time—still amazed that they had this much paint. Was Yuffie planning to have them paint the outside, too? Well, Riku would simply refuse, if that were the case! Painting walls was one thing, but painting the outside of a building was an entirely different matter all together.
He was going to have a miserable fucking day.
They had arrived back at the orphanage, and by then it was time to eat lunch. But before Riku could even attempt to go to the kitchen, Yuffie glomped him. "Oh, Riku! You're back! Have you gotten the paint with Leonella?"
"Leon...ella?" Riku repeated slowly.
"Yes! When I first found out that Leon was gay, I started calling him that...but then I stopped calling him that—because I forgot about it, and now I suddenly just remembered!"
"Don't call me that again," Leon warned as he passed by her.
"No can do, Squally!"
And it would seem...that Yuffie was in quite a hyper mood today. She would not be told what to do, no siree.
"Yeah, we picked up the paint, Yuffie, will you let me go now, huh?"
"Nope!"
"...Please?"
"Still, the answer is nope!"
Finally, after a few minutes, Yuffie finally said Riku could be on his way. He rushed to the kitchen and got his lunch and Sora's, and then went up the stairs. "Sora, I'm back again!" he announced as he opened the door. "Sorry about how Yuffie threw me out before I could not even say goodbye. It was a bit extreme, don't you think?"
Sora smiled at the sight of Riku. He then laughed at what Riku said. "I'm glad you're back, Riku. So...you all are going to be painting, right?"
"Right. Hey, Sora, remember how we were talking earlier—"
"So, what color? Is it going to be bright and colorful? Or softer and plainer?" Sora asked quickly.
At how much he spoke—and how quickly, Riku was able to tell that Sora did not wish to speak about what they had been earlier. All right, he thought, it's a-okay with me. Perfectly fine. We'll just talk about something else, instead. "Um, actually, I don't know what color it is," said Riku, thinking about it. "Oh my gosh! How could I have not even thought about checking? Oh, I am an awful person!"
Sora chuckled. "Riku, you always make me laugh."
Riku stopped accusing and cursing himself, to stop and look at Sora. His beautiful laugh. Every time he heard it, it was like a refreshing sound—simply beautiful. He always had to stop and listen, cease to listen or pay attention to anything else. He smiled softly. "Well, you always make me smile when you laugh, Sora."
"Why?" asked Sora as he began to eat.
"Because...it's a wonderful sound," said Riku, his eyes gazing down at Sora softly.
Sora looked up at Riku, his blue eyes looked somewhat confused and full of wondering. "No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," he insisted, grabbing Sora's left wrist and staring into his dark, sapphire eyes.
"A-all right," Sora succumbed, his cheeks tinted.
"Roxas, you know, you are saying Volcanohead just because you want to. It doesn't even make sense anymore!"
"What on Volcanohead are you talking about, Volcanohead? I can say Volcanohead as much as I Volcanohead to."
"You're replacing other words with Volcanohead!" Axel protested. "Do you not even realize it?"
"I am merely saying it because you keep insisting I called you Axel, which I clearly did not."
"Well, fine, you didn't call me Axel, okay? But if you're going to insist on keep calling me Volcanohead—then I must think of something for you."
"What?" said Roxas, completely astonished. He could not be called nicknames! And surely, Volcanohead would just call him something really dumb, like, shorty or pretty boy. He would not stand for this!
Axel thought it over. Since Roxas called him Volcanohead because his hair reminded him of a volcano, what could he call Roxas, because of his hair? He thought about it for a long time, and then finally, he thought up the perfect nickname. "Tornadohead!" (2)
"Excuse me?" questioned Roxas, raising an eyebrow.
"Tornadohead," Axel repeated. "I called you Tornadohead...because of how your hair looks."
"Yeah, I figured that out, Sherlock," said Roxas. "But...but you know, you don't have to be so mean."
"Mean?" said Axel, gaping. "You're always mean to me!"
"That is entirely beside the point, Volcanohead," said Roxas, his arms still crossed.
"No, Roxas, that is the point entirely!"
"Hey, you didn't call me Tornadohead!" Axel pointed out, entirely ignoring what Axel had just said.
Axel slapped a hand to his forehead. "Roxas, please listen to me. I don't really want to call you Tornadohead; I just said that because you always call me Volcanohead, that's all. You've called me Axel a few times—no matter how many times you try to deny it. Well, I'll be leaving you alone now, I have to go and help Rinoa." And then Axel left, crutches and all.
Once he was gone, Roxas sat there, alone, feeling oddly lonely without the redhead by his side. He stared at the door for several long minutes—where Axel had gone through just moments ago. He continued to stare, not entirely sure why he was staring at all—but deep down, deep down he had a pretty darn good feeling as to why, he just ignored it.
"I sort of...I sort of miss you, Axel," slipped through his lips quietly.
Lunch was done with now and it was time to get in some good painting. Honestly, Riku was beginning to regret his decision in saying he would help. The horror of his mother painting his room pink when he was younger came to mind—and he had to repaint the whole thing blue himself, for Kazumi said, "Oh, I most certainly won't partake in it. After all, pink is a much lovelier color than blue. Don't you agree, Riku?"
Of course, he did not.
Either way, whether he wanted to paint or not, he would not be getting out of it—he would have to do it no matter what. Why? Because, it was simple—Yuffie could tell what Riku was thinking, and every time he got that look in his eye, she walked up to him and said, "No way! You're painting, and that's that!"
And so, of course, that was that.
"Well, I suppose it's time to paint then, huh?" asked Riku, his shoulders slightly slumped and leaning over slightly.
"Yes, it is, m'good boy!" said Yuffie, slapping Riku on the back, making him nearly fall to the floor in shock. "Cheer up though, why don'tcha? Honestly, turn that frown upside down!"
"I'm not frowning, Yuffie."
"I think I should know what you're doing, sweetie." Yuffie then cleared her throat. "Anyway!—let's get to painting! Painters will be Riku, Tifa, Leon, Cloud, Reno, Kadaj, Zexion, Demyx, Marluxia, Xemnas, Larxene—and, of course, me!"
"Well, you better be painting," Riku grumbled under his breath. "This is all your stupid idea, anyway."
"What the hell happened to you?" Yuffie asked. "When I first asked you, you were all for it, buster!"
Did she just call me buster? thought Riku, a bit freaked out. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Yuffie, that was before I remembered the horrid memory of painting from my childhood."
Yuffie suddenly grinned widely. Riku did not care for that look whatsoever. "Oh, and dare I ask what it is?"
"No, no, you do not dare, Yuffie."
"I think I just did, Riku."
"Well, I'm not telling you either way."
"I won't leave you alone until you do!"
"Well, I don't care!"
"I'll force everyone to not paint—and just have you paint it all, instead."
Riku gawked at Yuffie. There was no way! No way! No way! Riku continued to repeat over and over again in thought. He was in utter disbelief, in all honesty. He simply could not comprehend such a thing, you know. Rather hard on him, of course. "You wouldn't..."
"Oh, yes, I would," said Yuffie with a smirk.
"Fine!" Riku shouted. He then whispered quietly in Yuffie's ears (for he did not want anyone else to hear, after all), "My mom painted my room pink—and I had to re-paint the whole thing blue by myself. And I had a big room, trust me."
Yuffie suddenly burst out laughing. "But Riku, darling, you should have kept your room pink! Pink suits y—mf!"
Riku quickly covered a hand over Yuffie's mouth. "Shut up about that, you!" he ordered harshly.
"MI fill mot be buiet!" Yuffie said, though it came out quite muffled, for, her mouth was covered by Riku's hand, after all. Yuffie then bit Riku's hand, and ran away from him, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Riku loves pink! Riku loves pink! Lalalala!" And she repeated it over and over and over again, and Riku felt like he was going to go deaf. Really. He could not take it anymore. Especially when others began to laugh, and he even saw Leon holding back his chuckles. He nearly lost it, in all honesty.
"Oh, I'll paint, all right! Just shut the hell up!"
"Woohoo!" Yuffie cheered. "All right, then! Let's get this party started!"
"I wish I were dead," Riku groaned.
"What was that, dearest?" Yuffie asked, the wide grin still intact on her face.
"Nothing," said Riku. "Nothing at all."
"That's what I thought," said Yuffie. She then skipped along her merry way.
So, it was finally time to paint—and in order to paint, the furniture had to be moved. Riku did not complain about this, because Yuffie was watching him like a hawk. Riku began to feel like a pitiful rabbit about to be swooped up by her. She was positively evil.
They decided ('they' AKA Yuffie) that they would start by painting downstairs first. This took a very long time, even with twelve people. Finally they finished, though, and it was time to start painting upstairs.
"Yay, yay, yay, I'm so excited!" sang Yuffie as she skipped up the stairs. "Painting is so much fun!"
Truthfully, everyone seemed to be having a really good time except for Riku. He was just tired, that was all. But he had to admit, that painting wasn't all that bad, but with Yuffie dancing every which way (and often "accidentally" getting paint on others) was a bit too much to take at times. But he still felt really tired—he would just be glad when all of this was over. But then he remembered he would get to see Sora upstairs soon—and that made him very happy.
He was suddenly grinning as they began to move furniture in the first room they were to paint upstairs. Reno noticed the sudden improvement in the silver-haired boy's mood and expression and he asked him about it.
"Yo, Riku, why are you grinning like an idiot in love all of a sudden?"
Riku was suddenly snapped out of his pleasant thoughts of Sora by the stupid redhead; whom he would rather forget even existed. After being snapped out of said thoughts, he was suddenly shocked by what the stupid redhead had just said.
"What did you just say?" asked Riku, his anger meter beginning to rise.
"I said, and I repeat—Yo, Riku, why are you grinning—"
"I know!" Riku screeched. "I heard what you said!"
"Then why are you asking me what I said, hmm?"
"Because you are a fool! Why would you say such a thing like that?" Uh-oh...Riku's Anger Meter™ has risen to 12...beware!
"Because you really looked like that—and so I was curious as to why, that's why!" Reno defended himself
"Well, curiosity killed the ca—ca—oh, shit, forget it!" Riku found that he could not even utter the phrase curiosity killed the cat because, well, since he detested cats and thought they were the spawn of Satan, and since they always seemed out to take his life, that he just could not bring himself to say it; he simply could not—and that was that.
"Why can't you say that?" Reno asked, now curious about this, too.
"Aw, forget it!" shouted Riku, wishing Reno would just implode and be gone forever.
"Nah, but seriously, Riku—what were you thinking about when you were grinning like a fool in love?" Reno asked, sounding a tad more serious than he often did.
Sora was the thought that was instantly in Riku's head. He had been thinking about Sora when he was grinning so happily, but that was just because he was thinking about how he would see the brunet again soon—not because he loved him or anything... No, of course not. Sure, Riku cared for the boy—he really, really did—but he did not love him in that way.
He most certainly did not.
But, in a way—
"Will you two quit yakkin' and start painting already? All the furniture's already been moved, you fools!" Yuffie screamed at the two of them, bopping both of 'em on the head.
"All right, all right, already," said Riku, cursing Reno for getting him into this whole mess in the first place.
"Riku is in looooooove!" Reno announced as he skipped around the room, going ahead and grabbing a paint roller. He then began to paint, as he continued to keep singing, "Riku is in love - la dee da la dee da - Riku is in love" over and over and over again.
Now, something happened that had never, ever, EVER happened before. It is truly a horrific event, and it is too much for young children to witness, even most adults, for that matter. Hardly anyone could stomach to witness such a scene. It was a most terrifying experience, and let me tell you—you have experienced nothing in life in a horrific way—until you have experienced this.
All right, I might as well go ahead and cut to the chase now, hm?
Well, the fact of the matter is...
The anger meter hit...
...15.
Yes, Riku's Anger Meter™ had never hit that level in his entire life before, and, well...if you do in fact remember, if his anger meter hit 15, it meant...well...that you were dead. This isn't looking too good for our idiotic—but still loveable—Reno...now, is it? Yes, the anger meter had been rising steadily, but had managed to still stay controlled, somehow, but Reno prancing around and singing such things was the final straw; the absolute final straw. Riku could no longer take it, and his anger meter had finally reached the deathly level. 15.
And when it actually managed to reach this level, Riku stomped over to Reno, intent to kill (he seriously was going to kill the poor lad); he had the look of a murderer in his eyes, and Yuffie, Cloud, and some of the others noticed this. They wanted to stop him, but he just looked so darn scary that it seemed like if they got in Riku's way, they, too, would end up dead. First of all, when Riku actually reached Reno, he punched him (Oh, my! Physical violence!), and then he attempted to strangle him, of course, this did not actually happen, because as he was just about to do so (he had already begun to wrap his arms around his neck), the anger meter dropped down to 14.9, just barely missing out, and Riku let Reno go.
But after he let him go, and Reno looked scared out of his mind, he ordered, "Don't you dare ever say that again," and stomped out of the room.
As soon as he was gone, the group left in the room realized Riku was a force to be reckoned with.
And then, five minutes later, Riku returned, apologizing tremendously for what he had done (and almost done!) but Leon dismissed the entire thing, saying that Reno had had it coming to him; Reno looked affronted at Leon's comment, and turned away from Riku, unwilling to accept his apology.
But then...five minutes later once more, Reno practically glomped Riku, saying, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" and continued to apologize over and over again.
My, word! Too much emotion in this one room! It's practically suffocating in here!
It was time to (finally!) paint the last room, and Riku (and the whole team of little painters, actually) were quite exhausted, and by now, they just wanted to be done. The only one that still managed to actually be hyper and in a good mood was Yuffie—no one else could take it anymore. Especially Riku, you know—especially him; he was the worst off! He felt like he was going to collapse any minute now...
But then he remembered, the last room they had to paint was the teens' room, and that meant he would get to see Sora. Riku nearly jumped for joy, and he was grinning again, grinning like a fool in love—but quickly, the grin disappeared. After all, he did not want Reno or Yuffie or anyone else to spot his happy grin, for fear they would say he looked like he was in love again.
Pssh, as if, thought Riku.
Oh, Riku, how oblivious you are!
"Gack!" Riku screamed out, falling over.
"What's gotten into him?" asked Reno, staring at Riku as he lay on the floor, in shock.
"Who knows?" said Yuffie with a shrug.
Oh, my, Riku, why do you sound so surprised?
"I thought you were gone, that's why!" Riku voiced his thoughts aloud...oh, my.
"Uhh...and now he's talking to himself," Reno pointed out.
"Just ignore him; he's crazy," replied Yuffie.
My, Riku, now everyone thinks you're crazy...maybe you shouldn't voice your conversations with me aloud, hm? suggested the voice.
I couldn't help it! replied Riku. I was surprised you were back! Why are you back, anyway? You've been gone forever!
My, your sense of time is off...I only went away in chapter 8!
What in the hell are you talking about? Riku asked the voice in thought.
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea.
Riku growled in thought. For goodness' sake, will you get to the point already? Why are you back again?
Oh, my...but Riku...I thought you missed me? You mean you did not? You sure acted like you did while I was taking that nap...
So...this whole time you were just taking a nap?
Yes, indeed!
Now that we got that out of the way...will you tell me why you are bothering me now?
Oh, yes, yes, you see—you don't realize that you are, in fact, in love with someone.
You are fucking wrong this time, you stupid, stupid voice, Riku spat.
No, I am not, Riku. Don't forget—and how many times do I have to tell you this? I am you. Nothin' is changin' that.
It's changing right now! Riku screamed in thought. Because I'm going to ignore you and you're gonna disappear!
The voice was prepared to retaliate, but was interrupted by a spunky Yuffie.
"Riku!" she whined as he tugged on his arm. "We have to hurry up and paint the last room! C'mon! You'll get to see Sora and after that we'll have dinner, okay?"
Riku was grateful that Yuffie was here for once. The voice would not shut up, and kept singing exactly what Reno had been singing earlier, and it was getting stuck in his head, and Riku himself almost began to sing it, to be honest. It was driving him cra-zy. Absolutely nuts. He felt like he was about to shoot someone...but whom could he shoot? If Seph were he, he'd probably shoot him. Hmm…maybe he should head back home now, get out of the rest of the painting job, and go shoot Sephiroth...yes, that idea suited him quite well...
My, word! Is Riku in a murderous mood or what today? It was the fault of Yuffie, Reno, and the voice...combine all three of them together, and the anger meter would probably reach an uncharted, invisible level...like 20 or something. Then someone really would end up dead, that's for sure. Riku was bound to kill someone one of these days, but maybe...just maybe...Sora would keep him in check. Whenever he was around Sora, the anger meter was at 0. He could never be mad around the brunet—he simply could not.
Anyway, they had (finally! Once more!) moved onto the last room, and this time they were actually in the room. Leon and Cloud had gone ahead and already begun to move the furniture. Demyx was singing; Zexion was ignoring; Marluxia was simply prancing around; Xemnas was telling the paint to submit, though it for some reason would not listen to him. Aerith and Tifa were in a big discussion; Larxene was off in a corner brooding; Kadaj had gone ahead to help Cloud and Leon more furniture. Reno and Yuffie went ahead decided to set up all the paint stuff, for once not deciding to bug Riku (Reno had learned his lesson last time, and Yuffie thought it best to ignore him for the moment, after all, Riku was finally able to see Sora.)
So yes, that was what he was doing. Riku had wandered off to go visit Sora, for he had not seen him since lunch, and he was really, really beginning to miss the boy. Riku smiled brightly as he walked over to Sora.
"Sora!" he greeted happily.
"Hi, Riku!" he greeted back with a big smile of his own; the smile that Riku loved so much. "I—I've missed you a lot. But I guess you've been pretty busy, huh?"
"Yeah, I have." Suddenly, the memory of last night slapped Riku in the head.
He worried about how Sora was feeling—if he were all right. He wished Sora would open up to him a bit more—tell him what he was feeling. Well, it had worked a little earlier—and Riku really could just be glad for that much. I don't know how it would feel like to be in Sora's situation—so if he has problems, I can try and get him to open up to me, but it he wants to keep them to himself, then he should be allowed that, too. But Riku just hoped, to be honest, that Sora would not get so upset if he were gone again. But the silver-haired teen had no intention of leaving Sora like that again.
But what about when I leave? When I'm done helping out here...? he thought. It had never really occurred to him before...that he would have to end up leaving. The thought...seemed odd. He had only been here nine days , but still...it seemed almost, like he had been here forever. It seemed weird...the thought of leaving.
"Riku! Stop talking to Sora and get to painting, you hear me?"
Who was it? Of course, it was Yuffie. Who else would talk to Riku in such a way?
"Oh, fine, devilwoman!" Riku replied.
This resulted in Riku getting a paintbrush chucked at him. And the paintbrush had paint on it. It went right across his cheek, barely missing his hair ('twas a good thing Riku had put his hair up in a ponytail, 'twas indeed.) His left eye began to twitch, as the anger meter rose once more. Oh, Riku truly is murderous today, indeed, he is! Oh, the horror of it all!
Riku grabbed a brush himself, dipping it in the deep red paint can that was already open, and threw it right at Yuffie's face. She tried to dodge, but it was too fast, and it smacked her right in the nose.
"You did not just do that," she growled.
"You started it!" Riku objected.
Reno then decided to be merciful and save everyone the trouble. "Paint fight!"
After that, it all went downhill. Further downhill than it had even been before. Riku felt like he was at the bottom of a bottomless pit, and seeing as it was impossible to be at the bottom of a bottomless pit, you knew Riku was in a dark place—a very dark place, indeed.
Now, back to Volcanohead and Tornadohead...
Roxas had managed to piss Axel off, even in the horrid state he was in.
This upset Roxas, because he did not really want Axel to be upset with him, especially after all he had had to go through. He really, really felt bad about the way he acted, and he wanted to apologize. But Roxas was stubborn, and often he refused to apologize. But he knew this time it was called for. So after avoiding Axel all day, he decided to find the redhead and apologize to him like he deserved to be.
Although, finding the redhead turned out to be a harder task than he first presumed it would be. In fact, Axel was nowhere to be found in Destiny Orphanage. After looking everywhere, he finally asked Rinoa, and she said that Axel had stepped outside for a few minutes. So Roxas went on outside to go search for him. He found him easily; he was just sitting down on the stairs, with his bad leg laid out straight; his back turned to Roxas, he already knew who it was.
"Hey, Tornadohead," he greeted, smiling, though Roxas could not really see that.
"I—I—I—I'm sorry...Axel," he managed to finally get out his apology as he sat down beside Axel. "I really, really am."
"That's okay, you don't have to apologize, Roxas."
"Hey—not calling me Tornadohead?" Roxas asked, managing a grin.
Axel laughed. "Well, you didn't call me Volcanohead, after all. I thought it was only fitting."
"Hey...mind if I just...sit here a while with you?" Roxas asked, feeling sheepish all of a sudden.
"Please do."
And so the two (friends?) sat together, Volcanohead feeling content, and Tornadohead feeling quite happy himself. He really did...miss Axel when he wasn't around.
Riku hoped he would never have to go through such an experience in his life again. Never. Ever. Ever. It was so horrific it made any other war seem like nothing! It was the horror of...the paint war!
Yuffie and Reno were the worst devils, but everyone got quite involved. After Reno kept spraying Riku with paint, the silver-haired teen finally grabbed an entire bucket of blue paint and splashed the entire thing on Reno. The redhead's hair now appeared to be an odd shade of purple...and he said that Riku would regret what he had done. Deeply regret it, indeed.
Well, after this, Reno grabbed a can of (pink!) paint, and dumped the entire thing over Riku (it took about ten minutes to finally catch the teen, though). Riku went into hysterics following this. He would probably never get over this incident in his entire life—he would live with the horrors of it all still troubling him even to his grave. Yes, it was that bad.
But somehow (thankfully) the paint war finally came to a close, and without the room really being painted at all. Everyone was splotchy with a million colors from all the paint (Yuffie seemed to have picked a few cans extra of different colors, such as pink, just for fun). Riku was mainly pink, though also red, orange, green, blue, and purple. His hair...oh, his hair! He wondered when it would ever return to normal. Even though it had been tied up...it still managed to get paint on it...mostly pink paint. Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
Everyone was practically covered from head to toe, and if Riku were in a better mood at all, he would probably laugh at how they all looked, but he knew he probably looked the worst of all, so he kept his (slight) amusement to himself.
Finally, everyone got around to painting (how was there any left, even?) and Riku was just about to start, when Sora called for him. "Yes?" he asked without looking towards the brunet.
"Hey, Riku—can you come here for a minute?"
"Yeah, okay," he replied, setting down the paint bucket he was moving over towards the wall. He straightened up and turned around to face Sora, only to get a paintbrush with yellow paint thrown at him, hitting his arm. "Ack!" he cried out in surprise, never suspecting that Sora would partake in the (now dead) paint war.
"Hey, what was that for?" Riku asked in surprise, walking over closer to the boy.
Sora giggled, covering his face with his hands. "I'm sorry—it's just—it looked like fun," the boy managed to get out between laughter.
Riku could not get mad at Sora for this, he wanted him to have fun, too—and if it was at his expense—he did not mind whatsoever. Riku smiled at Sora. "Oh, really? Well, surely you won't mind this, then," he said as he dipped his right hand in green paint and then he smeared it across Sora's face.
Sora looked curious at first, feeling the paint on his face; he then let out a small laugh.
Riku groaned and fell down to the floor.
"What is it, Riku?" Sora asked, bewildered.
"Ah, you just look—look—so damn cute," Riku confessed, defeated.
"Riku, get your butt off the floor and finish painting now!" Yuffie demanded. "We have to hurry up and finish, I went ahead and ordered a bunch of pizzas!"
"Pizza?"
"Yes, and if you want any, you better hurry up and get over here!"
"All right, already!" But before Riku left, Riku hoisted a can of paint up on Sora's bed, and handed the boy a paint roller. "Here, do you want to help, too, Sora?"
After a moment, Sora answered, "Yes!" with a smile.
Riku's heart fluttered again.
You hear that, Riku? There goes your heart a-fluttering. Hmmm...I wonder what that could mean? asked the voice.
Shut up and go away! Riku demanded.
So after they finally finished painting, the pizza just came, and even though everyone was an utter mess, and paint was all over everywhere, it had been...a very fun day. Riku could not remember having so much fun in recent times (and such horror, too), but when he thought of it, he knew that all his past days here with Sora...had been fun, sweet, magical...he really felt like his life had been flipped upside down when he started volunteering here—and when he met Sora, his life had been changed for the better, he knew it, and for once, he was eternally grateful to his mother.
Riku sat down with Sora, and the two ate their pizza together. They talked a lot; Sora really was starting to talk more than he used to, now. Riku was glad. Maybe, just maybe, he would get Sora to open up to him more, and maybe he would really get to know whom Sora was. He really wanted to know.
That night, before he went to bed, Riku called Axel again, and the two talked for a little while. But Axel said he really had to go, mumbled something about "Tornadohead" or something of the sort—Riku was confused, but he let it go. Axel sounded fine, really—actually, better than fine.
Riku was glad. He was glad that even through all these horrible things that they had to go through, that still—life seemed so good. He could not help but feel happy as he lay in his bed, waiting for sleep to overcome him. Sora was already far gone, the boy was tuckered out, and after all, it had been a very eventful day. Riku was just so...undeniably happy—and he wondered if it was okay—if it was okay to be this happy in life.
Riku turned his head to glance at the moon peaking in through the window. He smiled as he turned back, closing his eyes. Oh, well, he thought to himself, I believe...it really is all right to be this happy, and I hope we all can be this happy...for a long, long time.
And with that, Riku finally drifted off to sleep.
1 – Uhh…just Riku being dumb and acting stupid. XD Connecting Anthony Hopkins to a teacher with the last name Hopkins. The cannibal thing comes from Sir Anthony Hopkins playing one in the Silence of the Lambs. Actually, I haven't seen the movie, I always get a bit too creeped out to watch it. XD But I'll see it one of these days, anyway.
2 – Tornadohead. Hahahaha. One of my reviewers, and I believe it was Empress of Misfits, suggested that Axel call Roxas something, and she thought up Tornadohead. Hahaha. I loved it so much I just had to use it. XD
Next chapter: An entire chapter devoted to Axel and Roxas! Bwahaha, it shall be brilliant! I just love AkuRoku so much! I don't think Riku and Sora or any of the others will be in it all—I really want to write a chapter with just Tornadohead and Volcanohead. XD Won't give any of it away—just now that it will be titled: The Adventures of Tornadohead and Volcanohead. XDXD
Anyway, thank so much, I am so glad to be writing this again! Please remember to review, as your reviews give me the inspiration to keep writing! :)