Scripted Head Note

Damn, has it really been a month since I updated? *Sigh* That is way too long, for one of my stories. But, I have a valid reason. I have had to work on eight chapters this time, rather than the usual four. The reason for this being that I am going to start two new stories, one of which I've already decided on, and shall include more info for it in the scripted foot note. The other one is where you guys come in. Now, obviously, you're guy's opinions mean everything to me, as you guys are the readers, so I am coming to you for this. If you go on my profile right now, you will see a poll to decide which story I will start next, and I want all of you guys to vote. There are four different stories, and I already have the first chapter created for all four of them, so that as soon as one of them hits the required target (either first to twenty or highest in a month, whichever comes first) I can put the first chapter of it up. So, please go and vote, and I want you to keep something in mind. If what you voted for doesn't win, fret not, as all of the stories will be done at some point, this just decides which one will be done first. Now, onto the real head note.

Well, after that amazingly fun fiasco at the party, Riku and Jessica must face the aftermath of being out all night: sleeping all day. Enjoy

Thanks For Caring For Me

I woke up to see a ray of sunlight filtering through my curtains. I sat up, groaning lightly, and looked to the foot of my bed, to see that a certain tan colored fox was missing from her usual spot. I reached over and grabbed my phone from my bed side table, and checked the time. I groaned again, flopping back on my bed. It's seriously fucking eight in the afternoon? Arceus, I can't believe that I slept that long. Granted, I was out until who-the-fuck-knows o'clock last night, so I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. Oh, well. Laying here won't solve anything. I need to shower, and then explain what happened last night to the others. I got up and grabbed some clothes. I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. When I was done, I left my room, before heading downstairs. I glanced into the living room to see that Adam, Kyle, and Ashtynn were sitting on the couch, watching T.V., while Ashley was curled up on the floor, seemingly asleep.

"Hey, guys." I greeted, as I entered.

All eyes turned to me, and Ashtynn said, "Hey, you're finally up."

Kyle scoffed, and said, "Yeah, took you long enough."

Adam elbowed him, and said, "Give the kid a break. He and Jess didn't get home until, like, four or five in the morning."

"Speaking of her," I said, sitting down next to Ashley, who raised her head up to look at me, before putting it on my lap, where I began petting the Ninetails, "where is she?"

"Still asleep." Adam replied. "But, honestly, I'm curious. Where the hell did you go last night?"

"Yeah, and why did you disappear in the first place?" Kyle added.

"Well, to answer the first question, I went out to the woods." I replied. "And, to the second, let's just keep it at I don't exactly have good memories involving what Archer called me last night."

"What, frea-" Kyle started, but was cut off as Adam elbowed him in the side again.

"Please, just please, don't say it." I said, sighing. "I can't stand to hear it."

"Alright, then." Ashtynn said, sounding slightly confused. "We won't then."

"Thank you." I said, before changing the subject. "So, did I miss anything while I was out?"

"Not necessarily." Kyle replied. "I mean, you missed breakfast, of course, but other than that, you didn't miss anything important."

"Well, then, I guess that that's good." I said, sighing. "Arceus, I still feel so fucking bad about last night, though."

"Why so?" Adam asked me.

"Because I lost my temper and came dangerously close to stabbing Archer in the stomach." I replied. "And then there's also the fact that I may have fucked up Sudden Obsession because of it."

With that, I put my head in my hands, feeling ashamed all over again at my actions. I looked up when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. My eyes fell on the owner of the hand, who happened to be Jessica, who had apparently entered without anyone noticing.

Our eyes met, and I could see a caring light in hers, as she said, "Calm down, Riku. It's perfectly fine, and you mustn't blame yourself."

"She's right." Adam added. "And, besides, it's not like we'll actually lose. I mean, we're all awesome at what we do, and we have you, Riku."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I mean, we wouldn't exactly be able to perform without you." He answered. "And, besides that, you're pretty much the best member of the band."

"Not really." I replied. "I just play a guitar and yell into a mic. How the hell could I be the best in the band?"

"Dude, shut up." Kyle said. "You are the best, no matter what you say."

I was about to deny it again, but was stopped as the others agreed with them.

I sighed, and said, "Whatever." I stood up, and said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I think that I'm going to go eat. No matter how many times I do it, I still don't enjoy not eating for almost twenty four hours."

"Yeah, I can see that." Ashley said.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Jessica asked me.

"Of course not." I replied.

We left the room, heading for the kitchen.

"So," I said, as we entered the kitchen, "do you want me to cook something, or would you prefer, like, sandwiches or something?"

"It'd be awesome if you could cook something." Jessica replied. "Although, if you don't want to, then you don't have to."

As she was speaking, I had been looking through the different places that we keep the food, only to be disappointed.

"Damn it." I said, as I closed the fridge.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked me.

"It looks like nothing's getting cooked." I replied. "We don't really have anything that I can cook, honestly."

"What?" She asked me, shocked. "How is that even possible?"

I sighed, and said, "Well, it could be due to the fact that no one has gone grocery shopping in almost a month."

"Oh." She replied. "Right. That may be a contributing factor."

I thought for a second, before saying, "How about this, we could go out and grab a late lunch somewhere, and on the way home we can go grocery shopping?"

"Sounds good." Jessica answered.

We left the room and went into the foyer.

"I'm going to go grab my jacket." Jessica said, heading for the stairs.

I nodded, and said, "Alright, I'll tell the others where we're going."

I poked my head into the living room and said, "Hey, guys, Jessica and I are going to go out to eat, and we'll be going grocery shopping on the way back. Anything that you guys want?"

"No, we're good." Kyle replied, before being agreed with by the others.

"Alright then, see you guys later." I said, before retreating.

I turned around to see that Jessica had returned, her jacket already on her, and mine in her hand.

"Here," She said, handing me my jacket, "I thought that you may want yours, as well."

"Thanks." I replied, accepting the jacket. I put it on, and said, "So, are you ready?"

"Yep." She answered.

We went to the door and I held it open, allowing her to go first.

"Thanks." She said, as I closed the door behind us.

Outside, I could feel a slight bite from the cold weather. I looked to the sky and saw that the sun was behind the trees, causing the brilliant sunrise to cast an orange glow through every gap in the tree's leaves in branches. Well, I guess it isn't too shocking that it's slightly cold. I mean, it's getting late in the year, and the sun is going down. Fuck, this is a late lunch. As we started down the driveway, I chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" Jessica asked me.

"How late it is." I replied. "I mean, we could honestly just call this dinner."

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed. "Well, if it is dinner, then what will the others do?"

I shrugged, and said, "I don't know, starve?" We both laughed a little, before I said, "Truly, though, I don't know. I imagine that they'll just order pizza or some shit."

"Yeah, I guess." She replied. She sighed, before saying, "Arceus, I really hate pizza restaurants. It's so greasy and disgusting."

"Then why did we eat so much pizza when I first got here?" I asked.

"Because none of us know how to cook." She answered. She punched me lightly in the side and said, "Or, at least, we thought that none of us knew how to cook."

I laughed and said, "In my defense, no one ever asked me. That is, until Ashley asked me."

"Yeah, I guess that she did take the initiative." She said.

"Yep." I agreed. "Anyway, where exactly are we eating?"

"I'm not too sure." Jessica replied. "Why don't you choose?"

"I would, but, despite the fact that I've lived here since August, I still don't know a lot of places around here." I said. "I mean, the only time I ever leave the house is with you guys, and we normally just go to the skate park or the mall."

"Yeah, I guess that that is true." She said. She thought for a second, before saying, "Well, there is this good burger restaurant that I haven't been to in a while. We could always go there."

"Very well." I said, nodding. "Lead the way."

She nodded, and began guiding us to the restaurant. After a while, we arrived at the mall.

"Um, I thought we we're going to a restaurant." I pointed out.

"The restaurant's in the mall." Jessica replied. "I mean, it's not in the food court or anything, as it is real food."

I chuckled and said, "Hey, don't make me tell Ashtynn that you insulted her employer."

"Oh, be quiet." She said, as we went across the parking lot. "I mean, it's not like she doesn't insult the food here, herself."

I shrugged, and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right." As we entered the mall, I asked, "So, when does the mall even close?"

"Like, midnight, or something like that." She replied. "It used to be much earlier, but they recently changed it for some reason."

"Alright then." I said, as we made our way through the mall. "So, where is this place? I mean, I've been here multiple times, yet I haven't ever seen it."

"That's because it's on the other side of the mall, and the door is outside." She explained.

"That makes no sense." I said. "I mean, wouldn't they get more business if they had a door on the inside, as well, to show that they actually do exist?"

Jessica shrugged, before saying, "Yeah, I imagine. I guess that they either just don't want to do that, or just don't care enough to do it."

"That seems slightly odd." I commented.

She shrugged again, before saying, "Yeah, I guess. But, they have awesome food, so I don't really question it."

We eventually came to the restaurant. We went in, and I saw that it wasn't too packed, as expected. We were almost immediately greeted by a man in what I assume to be a waiter's outfit.

"Hello, and welcome." The man said. "Just two?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Very well." He replied, reaching behind the podium next to him. He retracted his hand, revealing two menus, and said, "Follow me."

The man lead the way through the restaurant, taking us to our table. He sat us down in a booth and gave us our menus, before leaving.

"Well, he certainly seem into his job." I said.

"Yeah, but he's always been that way." Jessica said.

"Always?" I questioned. "How long has been working here?"

"Since the place opened." She replied. "It's actually a family owned restaurant, so they only hire family."

"I guess that I can see how that would be a good idea." I said. "Although, it does sound like it could harm familial relationships."

Jessica shrugged, and said, "I guess. But, to the best of my knowledge, there has yet to be any staff changes, so it appears to be going well."

"True, true." I agreed.

The waiter returned after a few minutes, and we gave him our orders. He picked up our menus, and retreated from the table once again.

"So," Jessica started, "I was thinking that after we eat, we could wander around the mall. Do you want to?"

"Sure." I replied. "I slept all day today, so I will absolutely take this opportunity to be out of the house."

"Agreed." She said. "So, I was actually thinking of a few ways to improve your stage outfit, should you choose to use the one from last night."

"Stage outfit?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. Y'know, the outfit that you play when we play. We all have one." She explained. "You are going to be using the one from last night, correct?"

I just shrugged, and said, "I guess. Granted, it's nothing more than white dye and spike bracelets, so it's barely an outfit. Although, that does also mean that there is a massive amount of space for improvement."

"Truthfully, though, it was fairly good." Jessica complimented.

"Yeah, well you can thank Ashley for that." I replied. "I'm not quite sure how, but she managed to put it together in only a few minutes."

Jessica laughed, before saying, "Well then, I guess that she truly has a knack for putting together costumes on short notice."

Just then, our food arrived, so we temporarily suspended our conversation until we were alone again. The waiter sat our food down, before leaving.

"Anyway, you're right, she is good at it." I agreed. "But, I do still feel that it could use some improvement."

"And I have a few nice ideas for some improvements." Jessica said, before taking a bite of her burger.

"Quite." I said. Changing the subject, I asked, "So, how have you and Levi been doing?"

"What do you mean?" She asked me.

"Well, he hasn't been around too much recently, and I don't remember seeing him last night." I replied, hoping that I didn't sound as worried as I felt. "I was just curious as to if everything was alright."

"Yeah, everything's fine." She answered. "I mean, he's had a lot more things to do recently, but we still find time to be together."

"Well, that's good." I replied, keeping my voice steady, while I let out an internal sigh of relief. "I'm glad that there haven't been any problems or anything."

"Why would there be?" Jessica asked me, her voice getting shaky, as look of worry suddenly crept onto her face. "What, have you heard something?"

"No, I've heard nothing." I reassured her, having to fight to hold in the truth. "I was just curious is all. I mean, he's had extremely frequent and long practices as of late, and I just wanted to make sure that the lack of time together hadn't affected your relationship."

"Oh." She said, calming down. "Alright then."

How odd. She seemed so defensive and worried when I brought that up. Has she had a poor relationship in the past? With that, we stopped talking, and we actually began eating. We finished within an hour, and I paid for the food, before we left.

"So," Jessica said, as we stepped outside again, "now, we can get the extra stuff for your outfit."

"Alright then." I said. "Lead the way."

She nodded, and we entered the mall. We wove our way through the horde of people, trying to get to wherever she was leading me.

"Y'know," I said, "I didn't notice it when we first came through here, but there is a surprising amount of people here for it to be ten at night."

"In other places, yeah, probably." Jessica replied. "But not here. Even though this isn't a big city or anything, it's pretty much a city that never sleeps. People are always out somewhere here."

"Once again, another thing that I somehow still haven't discovered, even after living here for so long." I said.

She shrugged, and said, "Well, as you said earlier, you don't commonly go anywhere without us, for some reason."

"Honestly, the main reason that I do that is because being alone sucks." I replied.

"You're not wrong there." She agreed.

We finally made it to the store, which seemed fairly devoid of people.

"C'mon, I know exactly what to get you." Jessica said, leading me through the store. We got to a mirror at the back of the store, and she said, "Wait here. I'll go and get what you'll need."

"Um, okay." I said, as she walked away.

After a few minutes that were spent looking at the nearby rack of shoes randomly, I heard a voice behind me say, "Excuse me, but could I help you find something?"

I turned around to see a Mightyena wearing all black behind me, looking bored as hell. I guess that he works here.

"No, I'm not really looking for anything right now." I replied. "I'm actually waiting for a friend. She went to go and grab some clothes."

"Alright then, just tell me if you need anything." He responded. He was about to walk away, when he stopped and said, "Wait, you're Riku, right?"

"Um, yes." I replied, confused. "Do I know you?"

The Mightyena chuckled, before saying, "No, not really." He stuck his hand out and said, "Name's Chris."

I shook his hand and said, "Not to be rude, but how did you know my name?"

"Well, besides the fact that I go to the same school as you, I was at the dance last night." He explained. "I have to say that you guys fucking killed it."

"Oh." I said, surprised. "Um, thanks. I honestly wasn't too sure as to whether or not I was doing as well as I had hoped."

"Trust me, dude, you were." He said. "And if you don't believe me for some reason, I have a fuck ton of people online to back me up."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Have you guys not seen the videos yet?" He asked me. I shook my head, and he pulled out his phone, saying, "You guys are all over the internet."

He pulled up a video online on his phone and showed it to me. I could see that it was our performance last night, specifically during our second song.

"People seriously recorded that and put it online?" I asked, as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Yep. Hell, last night it looked like everyone in the crowd had a phone out. I'm surprised that you didn't notice it." He said.

I shrugged and said, "Well, I was trying to concentrate on not fucking up the music, so I didn't really have too much time to watch the crowd."

"Well, you absolutely succeeded in that." Chris said. "Everyone online is saying how good you guys were, and how badass the finale was. Speaking of which, how were you able to do that?"

I shrugged again, and said, "It's just a talent. I can control aura more than other Lucarios, which allows me to have it take more shapes than just the standard Aura Sphere attack."

"That's pretty cool." He said.

At that moment, Jessica returned, a bundle of clothes in her arms.

"Alright, this is all of it." She said. She noticed Chris, saying, "Oh. Hello."

"Hey." Chris greeted.

"Did I interrupt something?" Jessica asked me.

"Not necessarily." Chris replied. "We're just talking about your guy's performance last night."

"Oh." Jessica said. "What about it?"

"Y'know, just how awesome you guys were." Chris replied. We heard the sound of a bell ringing in the store, and Chris sighed, before saying, "Damn. Sounds like a customer needs help. Anyway, it was nice meeting you guys." He started walking away, saying, "And good luck against Nemesis later. I know you guys will kick their asses."

When he was out of earshot, Jessica said, "So, who was that?"

"Well, that was Chris." I replied. "He apparently really likes Sudden Obsession."

"Really?" Jessica asked, a hint of joy in her voice.

"Yeah." I replied. "And he's not the only one, apparently."

"What do you mean?" She asked me.

"Apparently a lot of people recorded our performance, and they put it online." I said. "And, well, people seem to love us."

"That's awesome." She said, a wide smile on her face.

"Yeah, it is." I agreed. "Anyway, you have some clothes for me to look at, right?"

"Oh, right." She said. She held the bundle out, and said, "What do you think of this?"

I accepted the clothes and examined them. There was a pair of black combat boots, similar to mine, with a band of spikes a few inches before the toe of the shoes decorating them, a black bandana with the bottom half of a skull on it, and a pair of black jeans, decorated with red stitching and chains.

As I was looking at them, Jessica said, "So, what do you think?"

"Really dark and black, yet still stylish, and only slightly flashy. I like them." I said.

At my words, Jessica's smile grew wider, and she said, "Awesome. I was hoping that you would."

"How about we go and check out and get home?" I suggested. "It's getting late."

"Alright." Jessica said, nodding.

I paid for the clothes and we left the store, before weaving our way through the mall towards the exit. By the time that we got outside, snow had started falling down in sheets.

"C'mon." I urged. "We don't need to be out too late with it snowing like this."

We quickly started towards the house. We had been walking for about ten minutes when I noticed that Jessica had started lagging slightly, and she was shivering horridly. I fell back to where I was walking beside her.

"Not too good with the cold?" I asked.

"N-no." She answered, having to fight her chattering teeth just to answer. "You'd think that me being a fire type would provide some extra heat, but I'm so bad with the cold." Pitying her, I started taking off my jacket, but she said, "No, don't. I can get over it. We don't need you getting sick."

I ignored her and removed my jacket, before throwing it over her. I was immediately bitten by the cold weather, but I ignored it.

"Don't worry." I reassured. "I won't get a cold. I mean, I didn't last time I let you borrow my jacket."

"I guess." Jessica replied, but I could still here the uncertainty in her voice.

I noticed that she was still shivering a fair amount, so I pulled her over to me, in a hug of sorts.

"What are you doing?" She asked me.

"Sharing body heat." I answered.

She just looked up at me, before rolling her eyes. We continued down the street, moving slowly and awkwardly due to our position. We eventually arrived home, and we entered the heated house with sighs of relief. The house appeared to be quiet, signaling that the others had gone to sleep, which Jessica pointed out.

"Well, I guess that we should go to bed, as well." I said, as Jessica gave me my jacket back.

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed.

We both started for the stairs, but before we could reach it, Jessica turned to me, before hugging me.

When we broke apart, I asked, "So, what exactly was that for?"

"It was a thank you." She explained. "A thank you for caring about me so much."

"Oh." I said, slightly shocked. "Well, it's nothing really."

"Still, I wanted to say thanks." She said. "I know how weird it is to be thrown in with a new family so suddenly, and I also know how hard it is to grow to care about the family, yet you seemed to care for us immediately. So, I guess it's a thank you for that, as well."

"Um, alright." I said.

I just stood there, as Jessica continued up the stairs.

When she hit the top, she turned back to me, before saying, "Well, goodnight Riku."

"Yeah, goodnight." I replied, as she went to her room.

P.O.V Change: Ashley

I continued watching from the blackness of the living room as Riku followed Jessica up the stairs. I let out a deep sigh of sadness.

"Arceus, this sucks." I commented to myself. "It's so obvious that they like each other, and they would make a perfect couple. But I know that Riku would never initiate a relationship; with how he is, someone else would have to do that. Granted, even if he would, Jessica's still stuck dating that scumbag Levi, and there isn't anything that we can do about it." I let out another sigh, before saying, "If only there was some way for them to see the truth about each other."

With that, I leapt back up onto the couch, before curling up to go to sleep.

Scripted Foot Note

So, as I said, here is the note about my other story. Now, this story is special, and may not appeal to everyone, and if it doesn't then that is fine. This story is actually going to be an Archive Of Our Own exclusive story, due to the fact that it is actually an original work, and not set in any fandom. I will put the summary to it up in my profile in its own section soon, but know that I don't actually have a set release date for it, all I know is that I will put out the first chapter sometime after the twenty second, hopefully within the following week.

So, that was an interesting new chapter, right? I don't know, I think that it was alright, so let's go with yes. Anyway, there is actually something that I meant to put in the last chapter. Would anyone like to request a song to be played in the battle? I already have all of them planned out for Sudden Obsession, but I don't know what ones to put for Nemesis. So, if you guys want, you can request a song, just make sure that it will actually work for the battle. Now, with this chapter done, I bid you ado.