Stranger Than Fiction
Chapter Ten:
Tidus' Party
Author's Note:
None of my male characters were willing to participate this week, due to hangovers (you'll know what I mean) So I had to improvise. Enter the Selphmeister.
Selphie: Hello! Please enjoy reading this chapter, even though I'm only a minor character as usual pouts Anyhow, this chapter has a little bit of cuteness in it that isn't me! One of the reviewers said they'd like a kiss from Sakura, who seems to be around here somewhere…
You heard her, read… Personally, this is the chapter I wrote the last five to write, so let's get to it! Do you read these anyhow?
Sakura: Here ya go. Kiss Hee hee!
Anyhow, thank you for all the reviews, 100 is slightly overwhelming… I'm used to 15… I have a special treat for those who stay with this fic!
Although he won't appreciated it that much, this chapter is dedicated to Lukie. You actually like this fic, so I'll give you a shout out… Heh heh heh, explaining what lemon and lime is was a little embarrassing. Brush up on your anime terms!!!
:PDisclaimer:
I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters.
November crawled by, with Cloud and Leon avoiding each other it was a strain to keep some of the newly formed bonds between the group strong. More than ever, there was a tension between Riku and Sora.
Ever since the phone incident, Sora had been miserable and had started up his hate campaign against Riku once more. It had made, if that were possible, everyone else's situations worse.
Cloud would often just walk off by himself, sometimes he wouldn't be seen all day, but would appear to walk the five minutes he could with Sora.
Leon would sit there, talking quietly to Riku or Tidus, but he didn't smile anymore. It seemed obvious, to everyone except the two, that they were making themselves miserable by their parting.
Riku and Sora's relationship was far more depressing to watch though. It was almost as though any offer of friendship from Riku would only gain angry retorts. For every olive branch Riku offered, Sora had a match to burn it.
So it went on, the only people really being happy were those not really all that involved, such as Selphie, when couldn't she be happy?, and Yuffie, who didn't really know them all that well anyhow.
Kairi and Tidus were still going strong, but Kairi spent a lot of her time worrying over Sora, Riku, Cloud, and to a certain extent, Leon. When Tidus finally got her alone, it usually ended up in an argument…
So when it came for the Christmas holidays, every party welcomed it. A chance to have some time to themselves and eat lots of comfort food…
However, Tidus had other plans…
"A christmas party?" Sora said blankly. Tidus nodded, smiling.
"Can I come?" Yuffie asked. Tidus handed her a little envelope, with 'Yuffie' printed on it. She squeaked.
"Oooh! Who else is coming?" Selphie asked, looking at her own invite.
"You guys, and a few people from my year…"
"A few people from your year?" Sora asked, looking around at the packed house. Tidus grinned guiltily.
"I guess I got a little carried away…" Tidus apologised. Sora shrugged, it looked like it was going to be one hell of a party. Selphie looked up at him and grinned.
"Great idea for getting us here, Sora!" She said, looking over her shoulder at Sakura. It had been Sora's idea. He said to his parents that he was going to Sakura's house, that he would probably take her out then stay at there's for the night. When he'd asked Sakura about the idea, she had asked to come.
Sora hadn't seen the problem, besides, she might enjoy herself… He introduced her to the few people he knew, and soon there were a lot of half-drunk stares following her around the room.
When they got to the crates and crates of beer, Sora helped himself, wondering if Sakura had even tasted beer before. Fortunately, there were bottles of Reef too, and Sakura favoured them.
Selphie and Sakura eventually ended up wandering away, leaving Sora staring out at the party with his bottle of beer.
"Hey…" Leon walked over, leaning against the wall next to Sora. There was an uncomfortable silence, before Leon spoke again.
"Sora, does Cloud hate me?" He asked. How am I supposed to answer that? Especially with about three bottles of beer already working it's way through my system?
"I don't think so… I think he's embarrassed, and feels a bit of a fool to be honest…" Sora said, sticking to what he knew Cloud would want him to say. Leon scanned the room.
"Is he coming here tonight?" He asked. Sora bit his lip.
"He's over there," He pointed to a corner where Cloud was talking to an older girl, who Sora knew as Tifa. She laughed, leaning close and kissing Cloud's cheek.
"Sora, help me make him jealous," Leon pleaded. Sora blinked and looked at Leon, his eyes wide.
"What?" He spluttered. Leon watched Cloud still.
"You heard me Sora. I need to make him jealous so he'll come over. At least then he'll acknowledge me in some way… At least then I'll know if he meant what he said…" Leon's voice sounded sad. Sora felt torn in two. He could be helping Cloud by breaking his heart but… He couldn't do that to his friend…
"I have an idea," Sora mumbled, then began to weave through the crowded room to find Sakura. He grabbed her hand, leading her to Leon.
"Okay, if we're going to do this, we'll do this right. Sakura, I want you to go over to that blonde man over there and just flirt. Then I want you to offer to get him drinks. Run into Leon, have an, er… intimate… conversation in earshot of Cloud and then kiss. That should be enough to spark his temper," Sora felt evil for doing this, but it was for Cloud's own good. Everyone except the blonde could see how much Leon cared for him…
"Right-o!" Sakura gracefully walked over to Cloud.
Cloud wasn't quite sure what to do. This girl was very good at flirting, even he was finding it hard not to fall for her charms. He answered all her enquiring questions, knowing full well what she was doing. People like to talk about themselves, it was the perfect way of making them at ease… At the moment however, she knew all about his parents but didn't know his name…
"You're bottle's empty. Here, I'll get you another," She winked and disappeared off. She was on her way back when Leon stepped out of the shadows. Cloud immediately cringed and shrank back, but then he saw that Leon wasn't even looking at him, hadn't even noticed he was there.
"Sakura, why didn't you call me?" He demanded. She looked puzzled for a second, then she blushed.
"I-I thought it was just a one night thing…" She replied. Although their voices were low, Cloud could hear every word. He felt, if possible, even worse. Leon had turned to another woman…
"I would have preferred it to be an every night thing…" Leon growled, wrapping his arms around her waist. He relieved her of the two drinks, putting them on the nearby mantelpiece.
"Who's Cloud?" Sakura demanded. At hearing his name, Cloud listened in.
"Why bring that up?" Leon retorted.
"Who is she, Leon? Why… Why did you say her name instead of mine?" Cloud swore that Leon looked completely lost then, as though he hadn't got a clue what was going on. However, it was soon replaced with another look of regret.
"I-I don't know… I guess… Perhaps we should forget it?" He said. Sakura shook her head.
"No Leon. You were using my body, but you were calling for her. Who the hell is she?" Sakura's voice was rising shrilly. Leon looked down.
"He's…" He stopped. Cloud stepped out of the shadows. He would have loved to know what he was, but at the moment he was too disgusted with Squall. He'd fucked some girl, while fantasising about him?
So he was just after the sex after all.
"Cloud!" Leon squeaked. Cloud looked at Sakura, then took his beer off the mantelpiece.
"Go fuck whoever you want, Squall, I don't care anymore," He said, but he did. He cared a lot…
"Cloud…"
"Don't."
Sora watched the scene sadly. He knew pretty much that jealous Cloud hadn't emerged, more injured and hurt Cloud had risen to the occasion, hand in hand with angry and cold.
Sora spent the rest of the night being a social butterfly, flitting around talking to as many people as possible. Finally, suspecting he was a little bit drunk, judging by the fact he was a little unsteady on his feet, Sora retreated to Tidus' garden.
There was one thing that you had to know about Tidus' garden. That is that it was more of a 'grounds' than anything. There was enough to easily fit his house four times. So, Sora found it easy to find a love seat in a deserted part of the garden.
He sat there, smiling drunkenly. He rocked on the seat for a second, then became aware how loud the squeaking was and stopped, snickering slightly.
Sora heard footsteps along the gravel path, heading towards him.
Crunch crunch crunch snicker crunch crunch crunch.
Sora wondered if it was anyone he knew, but then he saw the flash of silver hair. He knew precisely who it was, but somewhere in his drunken mind, he welcomed Riku.
"Sora? That you?" Riku asked awkwardly. Sora was still giggling slightly to himself. Perhaps he was a little bit tipsier than he was willing to admit?
"Yeeesss," He said slowly. Riku hesitantly stepped forward, sitting beside Sora, yet quite far away. Sora stopped laughing and took in the sight before him.
Riku looked sexy, Sora would admit it. He had a black shirt on with an emblem on it that looked like a heart shaped keyhole. He was wearing leather pants too, which hugged his hips. Looking away, Sora forced himself not to think about the way Riku looked anymore.
"Well done with your plan Sora," Riku said sarcastically. Sora frowned, before realising he meant the whole thing with Sakura, Leon and Cloud.
"It would've worked!" The brunet protested. Riku chuckled and the tension disappeared. Sora moved slightly closer, trying not to do it obviously. Of course, in his present state, he wasn't sure how successful that was…
"'Course it would have, if Cloud hadn't been such an ass," Riku replied. Sora watched as Riku subconsciously began to fiddle with his watch. Sora took this opportunity to move closer.
"He's not an ass! Cloud's just misunderstood, that's all… I thought that Leon understood him, but there seems to have been a misunderstanding that is making them both confuse each other," Sora was unaware he was spouting gibberish. Perhaps if he was sober, he would have done. Riku didn't seem to notice however.
"Right… I suppose I'm so used to you speaking crap by now that you're amazing show of vocabulary hasn't fazed me," Riku chuckled. Sora didn't really know what he was doing. All he knew was at that moment, he was attracted to Riku in some alcohol fuelled madness.
"My vocabulary's good!" Sora protested.
"My point exactly!" Riku smirked. Sora pouted.
"Aw, cute…" Riku put on a patronising expression that Sora missed.
"Glad you think so," He replied. That caught Riku off guard. What was Sora doing? He was… flirting…
"Where did that come from?" Riku asked. Sora shrugged.
"Dunno… Just said it. Like you said, I spout random crap from time to time," The brunet replied. Aquamarine eyes captured his own, and he found it difficult to look away.
"Are you trying to seduce me Sora?" Riku asked, his voice low and sensual. Sora gulped and nodded.
Snow began to fall around them, melting on the boy's bodies but settling on the grass and starting to coat the ground in a white carpet.
"Pardon?" Riku teased. Sora growled, low in his throat. Somewhere, his sober self was screaming at him to stop, to think that it was Riku. But Sora's body wanted this, sod his heart and head, they didn't matter right now.
"Yes I am," Sora said, and before he knew it, Riku was pressed up against him, stroking his cheek with the tips of his fingers. Sora delighted in this touch. No one had ever touched him so sweetly before… At least, Sora didn't think they had…
"You're not doing a very good job… I'm getting bored…" Riku leaned back, withdrawing his hand. Sora watched him, before straddling his waist, trailing one of his fingers along Riku's jaw line.
"I don't think you are…" Sora murmured, when he saw Riku's eyes widen. Sora trailed the finger down Riku's neck, then round to the back of his neck, where he buried his fingers in Riku's hair, bring the boy's head up.
"I think you want me to seduce you… You want to be uke…" Sora whispered against Riku's lips. He then pushed his lips against Riku's own, forcing his tongue inside Riku's mouth.
He didn't expect Riku to push him away angrily.
"You're drunk!" Riku exclaimed. Sora frowned, and his expression just screamed 'so'?
"I don't believe this…" Riku ran his hands through his hair. He looked scared.
"Sora, stay away from me, okay? I really have enough shit going on without you adding to my problems…" With that Riku walked away, leaving a confused and horny Sora in his wake.
Leon found Sora sat on a love seat, his head in his hands. The boy looked awful, as though he'd gone through hell.
"What's wrong?" Leon asked. Sora looked up, and Leon saw the tear stains on his cheeks. He assumed it wasn't just himself who'd had his hopes dashed.
"I… I tried to seduce Riku…" He said. Leon choked on his beer, he hadn't been expecting that…
"And?" Leon pressed. Sora bit his lip.
"I was drunk, now I can't believe I did it. I don't even like him in that way. He played along, I guess he felt sorry for me or something… I don't know… Anyhow, when he realised I was drunk he got all… angry… He pushed me away and stormed off…" Sora explained. Leon took a deep breath, it was more than likely that Riku had gone home…
"Right… So that means that Riku has gone home most likely…" Leon told Sora, not knowing why. Sora would have probably figured that out already…
"He told me to stay away from him. He said he had enough problems, without adding me to them… What did he mean?" Sora asked. Leon bit his lip. Could he tell Sora?
"Was he drunk too? That's why he just exploded?" Sora asked. "I don't want to lose Riku as… as a… whatever he is…" Sora gave up trying to classify him. There was no point, Riku was just Riku and there was no way to confine him to one definition. Leon didn't want to give the kid false hope.
"Sora, Riku doesn't drink. He has bad experiences, which I won't go into. The fact is that whatever happened, it was a very sober, very normal Riku you were with. If he said something, I have no doubt it wasn't drug or alcohol affected," Leon helped Sora up.
"Both of us have made fools of ourselves tonight… I hope you're not… too hurt by what happened," Leon said awkwardly. He felt like he was apologising for Riku's behaviour…
"No, I told you, I don't like Riku in that way. It was a physical thing, I wanted to get laid, Riku was there."
Whoa, is that Sora speaking? Perhaps he isn't the innocent cherry that everyone thinks he is? He managed to seduce Riku, so maybe he's a little more rebellious than everyone thinks…
"You're not a virgin?" Leon asked. Sora chuckled.
"Yes, I am, of course I am, but to have sex you don't have to lose your virginity. There are… other things… that you can do…" Sora let that hang. Leon knew that perfectly well, but hearing Sora say that. Leon was expecting a bitch to give birth to a litter of kittens and to find a snake eating it's own tail any time now.
"Oh…" Was all Leon could say. He heard Sora's snigger.
"I'd rather you didn't share that with anyone else. That's a secret between me and you, okay? I'd rather that the other's didn't know…" Sora said. Leon nodded and followed Sora into Tidus' house.
The rest of the party passed quickly, the two brunets skulking in a corner talking in undertones and hiding their personal pains as they laughed and joked.
Life had to be made the most of… Unlike computer games, if you messed up, you couldn't just reset… You couldn't fiddle about with people to make them like you… You couldn't get a game over…
And maybe there was no happy ending…
Riku sat in the park, his head in his hands. He felt awful, what was worse, he had actual believed that Sora found him attractive. But it was drink fuelled… How could he have been so stupid?
Sighing, Riku stood up, wondering why he felt as if his heart had been torn in two. He knew he wasn't in love with Sora but… Rejection was still rejection he guessed… Not that Sora had rejected him, but he knew, deep down, that he and Sora weren't meant to be.
Sora was a rich kid, with a mysterious family life, who was outwardly cheerful and inwardly crumbing behind his own walls. Riku was well off enough to get by, with a family that was falling apart, who was outwardly cold and bitter, and inwardly hating himself for his walls.
It would never work out.
He repeated those lines over and over. It would never work out, it would never work out, it would never work out. Sora's engaged, Sora's engaged, Sora's engaged. He doesn't love her though, he loves Bob, you…"Sora…" Riku stared up at the stars, before picking up the sound of talking from down the path. He shrank into the shadows, thinking he'd rather not be a target for any would-be muggers.
"Oh Sora, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I really did try," Sakura was saying. Riku watched as Sora stopped, mere feet away from him. Riku knew that if he breathed too loudly, Sora would hear.
"That's not why I'm so upset. I… I hurt a friend tonight… I made moves on him because I was drunk… When I sobered up, I realised what I'd done. After talking to his brother I realised he's probably more freaked out by it all than I am…" Sora said quietly. Sakura smiled.
"Oh, you mean Riku…" She replied.
"How do you know?" Sora demanded. Sakura folded her arms, staring directly at Riku. She smiled, looking away as though she hadn't seen him.
"I just heard it at the party. Riku had left early, he looked kinda upset. He'd been down the garden with you…" Sakura replied. Sora looked behind him, but saw nothing.
Riku had gone, disappearing into the trees and bushes, as though he had never been there…
The rest of the holidays passed uneventfully, and soon they were back at school, being bored in Jally's lessons, being frightened by Kikuta, laughing and joking.
Sora and Riku were friends again, but it seemed that it had been decided that they weren't going to talk about the incident in the garden. Leon and Cloud avoided each other like the plague, but everyone was used to this by now.
It was strange, but Riku was beginning to enjoy his time at the school. He enjoyed his daily sparring matches with Sora, sharpening his tongue against the brunet's pathetic comebacks.
They always ended up laughing. As friends should…
It was Kairi who brought up the party, two weeks into the new Spring term. There was silence around the table, and the subject was instantly forgotten…
Life was good, and you never messed it up completely. If you did, well, there would always be someone to help you make it right again.
They all had each other to help each other grow stronger.
The group became closer, stronger, but there were still secrets.
Dark secrets that couldn't be told.
Secrets that Sora longed to scream to the world but was too scared.
Secrets that everyone had been waiting to hear…
Ending Notes:
Well, it's shorter, but a lot happened. I'm sorry for driving Leon and Cloud apart, but trust me it's only minor :P Riku's so cute, he's so confused and adorable, and Sora! I really don't like Sora at the moment, he's becoming far too… minxy… Hm…
I'm not sure why, but you love this fic, so I'm going to cut the crap here and get to writing the next chapter.
Buh-bye!