Stranger Than Fiction

Chapter Eleven:

Starring Sephiroth

Author's Note:

Seeing as this chapter is mainly about Sephiroth and Riku, I wanted to have some kind of lightness in it. However, to be honest, wherever I looked for a bright character, they all seem so angst ridden at the moment. sighs Another heavy chapter then…

Mmm, I baked cookies… Want some? You can have a virtual cookie if you review!!!

This will be the last chapter I upload until I've finished Heartagram. Then I'll concentrate purely on this fic. I know Lukie is peeved because I've got up to chapter nineteen on my computer. Ha ha ha. But you won't know what happens until I've managed to finish Heartagram. Hee hee hee…

Disclaimer:

I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters.

"Sora?" Riku asked, entering the classroom. Sure enough, even though the lesson had ended, Sora was still there, working hard on the latest assignment. He'd been doing that a lot lately, doing all his work at school…

The brunet was looking more and more tired, and would often come to school looking sick and tired. Riku was worried for his friend, but due to his love/hate relationship with the boy, couldn't show it.

"C'mon, book boy, let's get something to eat!" Riku coaxed. If there was one thing Sora was interested in, it was food. But Sora didn't even look up from his book.

"Sora, did you hear me?" Riku asked. Sora looked up, and blinked at Riku blankly.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sora looked so adorable, Riku had to keep the little smile to himself. He shoved his hands in his pockets to stop himself from cupping Sora's cheek. Bad Riku! Bad!

"Food Sora, you know, the fuel that we humans run off," Riku said, as though talking to a small child. Sora pouted, and Riku clenched his fists in his pockets. Any second he knew he'd just kiss that little pout away, scaring Sora completely in the process and ruining their friendship.

He quickly turned away. Sora's engaged, remember. He's in love, really in love, with a girl. Not with you. Get a grip on yourself, Riku!

"Huh? What's wrong?" Sora asked. Riku flashed a grin his way.

"Nothing. C'mon, let's go," He waited while Sora packed away his things and followed him to the cafeteria. There, Sora bought a drink, nothing else, and followed Riku outside.

Riku sneaked glances at Sora through the corner of his eye. Sora was thinner, he noticed, but there seemed to be a little more muscle on him. Had he been working out? For or with his fiancée? Riku scolded himself for being jealous.

"You know what, you go on ahead. I should really do this essay," Sora was about to turn back to the building, but Riku quickly reached out. He meant to grab Sora's arm, but he ended up grabbing the boy's hand instead.

His mind flew back to that night in Tidus' garden. It was the last time he'd had skin contact with Sora, he'd purposefully avoided it, but he felt the shocks go through him exactly as it had then.

God, if just a touch can do this, what would screwing him do?

"No, you're going to drag yourself away from homework for one day. Sora, we've all missed you," Riku purposefully used 'we' but he meant it really as 'I'. Sure, people had commented that Sora had locked himself away a little bit more, but it was Riku who really worried.

"You shouldn't. I'm not worth it," Sora replied.

"You are worth it Sora, now stop whatever it is you're doing, and for god's sake, for one lunch hour, sit with your friends rather than skulking in the library!" Riku replied angrily. Soras eyes widened in shock and slight fear. Riku knew he was quite scary when he got like this.

"R-Riku-" He began but Riku turned away. He was angry. He wasn't sure why, but he was. He felt like Sora was avoiding him mainly, that Sora was trying to get away from the group because he was in it.

"I don't want to hear it Sora. I'm disappointed. I thought we were friends. I guess I was wrong," Riku tried to walk away, but a hand grabbed his. Sora's large blue orbs bored into his.

"I am your friend, but I can't do my homework at home at the moment. I have other commitments… I'm not avoiding you, Riku. I would love to sit there with you and the others, just act as though nothing's wrong. I'm getting married to someone I don't love, I'm being forced to attend social events almost every night, I'm suffering from exhaustion and I can't handle a large group of people right now."

It came out as a little bit of a speech. Riku listened quietly, his anger disappearing. He felt a pang of sympathy for the boy, being forced to marry? What kind of old fashioned family was this?

"Oh…" Inventive

"I-Is that all you're going to stay?" Sora asked, no, pleaded. Riku turned around, reluctantly pulling his hand from Sora's.

"You're saying you want to be alone. I understand. Go on, I'll tell the others you had to go somewhere," Riku said quietly. Sora shook his head, retaking Riku's hand in his own.

"No, I don't want to be alone. I want someone to talk to, but I'm not sure I can yet. I want you to be there… I-I…" Sora fell silent, obviously not knowing really what else he wanted.

Riku couldn't have been happier. Sora wanted to talk to someone, and instead of choosing Cloud or Kairi, he had chosen him. He was Sora's shoulder to cry on. He was truly Sora's friend, finally.

How had that happened?

"You want me to go up to the library with you?" Riku asked. Sora nodded, looking slightly relieved that Riku had said something. Riku pretended to think about it.

"Sure, I guess… I suppose I could get some of my homework out of the way…" He followed Sora away from the group without a look back at them.

Kairi frowned as she watched the scene. She couldn't hear what was being said, but she could imagine. Riku and Sora, everyone commented on how well they complimented each other. That deep down, they were bestest friends.

Looking at that scene, Kairi felt a tinge of regret when she realised that Sora would rather spend time with Riku that her, and that Riku would rather spend time with Sora than flirting with her to get Tidus' back up.

"I don't care what you say, that badge is pink!" Selphie yelled, pointing at the offending badge. Kairi sighed and stood up, knowing where Riku and Sora were headed. Everyone looked at her.

"Let's go to the library!" She announced. Everyone traipsed up to the library after her.

Sora sat opposite Riku, taking deep breaths. He wanted to tell Riku, and he wanted to tell him now. He felt like he had to. He had to let the silver haired boy understand him.

"Riku, I'm ready to tell you now," Sora whispered. Riku looked up, his eyes slightly excited, but still guarded. Sora felt his mouth go dry.

"My parents… My parents they-" Sora felt a hand fall heavily on his shoulder.

"Whatcha doin'?" Kairi asked, sweetly, and the whole group surrounded the table, pulling up chairs to sit around. Sora looked at Riku, who's gaze was annoyed.

"We were talking privately," Riku snapped. Kairi smiled back at him, sickeningly sweetly. Sora wasn't sure when he'd started to dislike Kairi, it was probably when she played him for a fool with the whole Tidus thing.

"What about?" She asked, looking at Sora. Sora looked away, hating the way those eyes were just cold. Heartless bitch

"What part of 'private' don't you understand?" Riku asked. She shrugged and leaned back.

"I didn't think there were any secrets among friends," She said simply, batting her eyelashes at Riku unashamedly. Riku rolled his eyes and looked disgusted.

"You don't know anything Kairi, so keep your mouth shut," Sora growled. Everyone looked at him. Since when did Sora talk to anyone like that?

"Perhaps if you told us-" She began, but Sora stood up so fast that the chair tipped over.

"For God's sake, you won't stop prying will you? What is your problem Kairi? You pick out a boyfriend, get all smug, then go after others. You get jealous of a friendship so much you try to break it apart, then, when all I want to do is talk to someone who might be able to understand, you follow me up here just to annoy me!" Sora slammed his fist into the table, tears shining in his eyes.

"Sora, don't take it out of Kairi," Selphie said softly. He turned to her, looking as though he was going to shout at her.

"I'm sorry, Selph, but I'm fed up of hiding it all away. I'm tired of being cheerful Sora. I'm plain tired. It's okay for you, you've actually got a life away from them. I don't see them telling you who to marry. You think it's fine, as long as they let you do what you want," Sora then turned on his heel, slinging his back onto his shoulder and storming away. Riku stood up to go after him, then thought better about it.

"Well done," Riku commented sarcastically. "You know, he was just about to tell me why he's so pissed. Guess now I'll have to wait. If he even tells me at all. Thanks Kairi, you managed to destroy a little trust. How do you feel?" Riku asked the last question as though she'd won a game show, then stood up, walking away in the opposite direction as Sora.

Kairi stared in both directions at retreating backs. Everyone on the table seemed slightly shocked.

"They were right, you know. You really don't give a damn who you hurt," Tidus stood up, taking Wakka, Selphie, Leon and Cloud with him. Yuffie remained, looking at Kairi with… pity?

"I thought you were cool once, but I've realised… You're just pathetic…" Yuffie stood up and walked away.

Riku waited by the school gate for Sora, who walked passed a few minutes later without Selphie for a change. Riku hoped Sora would finish trying to tell him his secret, but he was dismayed to find the boy silent and unresponsive.

"Sora? You listening to me?" Riku asked. There was no response.

"I'm going to star in a porno movie. Yeah, it's really going to be quite good. You see, this really hot girl, named Cindy, original huh, is wanting her fridge repaired, so I go to repair it, and we end up screwing on her kitchen table. Then the neighbours come in because we're making so much noise and join in for group sex," Riku explained.

"I'll have to watch it sometime," Sora said, smiling for the first time that day. Riku yelped, he hadn't thought that Sora was listening. Feeling a blush go across his cheeks, he avoided looking at Sora.

"Why, want to see me naked Sora?" He joked. Silence.

"It was a joke Sora," Riku said, immediately thinking about Tidus' party again.

"I know… I'm sorry about the party Riku. I don't know what came over me…" Sora apologised.

"Don't apologise. It's not entirely your fault, is it? I let you, I could have stopped you, but I didn't," Riku knew he needed to clear the air about this. He had to make sure he knew that there was never going to be a 'him and Sora'.

"Why didn't you ask me to stop?" Sora asked. You can tell him the truth you know. You can tell him… He would tell you, you know he would…

"I didn't want you to," Well, that is the truth… I guess…

"Oh… Then why..?" Sora left the sentence open. Riku took a deep breath.

"Why push you away? Sora, you were drunk as hell. I doubt you were even on this planet. You didn't really want me, you wanted 'Bob'. You were just randy and I was the nearest thing…" Riku felt his heart sink.

"No, I wanted you, not Bob," Sora said definitely. Riku refused to look at him. He wasn't sure whether doing so would have helped matters or made them worse.

"You 'wanted' me? No you didn't Sora. At least admit it to yourself, you wanted sex," Riku replied. Sora thought about this for a second.

"Well, yeah, I guess you're right. I did. With you." Why is he making this so difficult? He doesn't like me like that, so why is he doing this?

"Sora, stop now, before I end up hitting you," Riku said through clenched teeth. Sora looked at him, puzzled.

"I'm only trying to clear this up. At the time, I wanted to have sex with you. I didn't want it with Sakura, or Kairi, or Cloud or whoever. I wanted it with you. Is that so difficult to understand?" Sora asked. Riku laughed, a hollow empty laugh.

"Sora, do you realise how much you're hurting me?" He asked, without realising quite what he was saying. Sora's head snapped up.

"What?" Sora asked. Riku sighed. You've opened your trap, now explain to the poor boy…

"This is awkward… Sora… You don't like me, as in the like like. You were drunk and that's it. It hurts, but it's the truth. You didn't feel for me, and I have to accept that. It still torments me a little though. If I hadn't stopped you…" Riku let it hang. He hadn't quite told Sora as such, he'd leave that for the boy to figure out.

"Riku, you like me?"

Riku was saved from answering this question by someone calling his name. He turned around to see a woman with long brown hair and bright green eyes. He'd never seen her before in his life, but somehow, he knew her…

He glanced at Sora, before turning back. The woman smiled down at him, a strange look in her eye… The kind of look a mother gives a child…

"You're Riku, aren't you?" She asked. Riku nodded, wondering why the hell she was asking. The woman in the pink dress laughed, as though she'd won the lottery and flipped open her cell phone.

"I've found him! Seph, I've found him!" She squealed down the phone. Riku frowned up at her.

"Who are you?" He asked. She didn't answer his question, but five minutes later a large black car pulled up, and a man stepped out.

He was tall, that was the first thing Riku took in. The next was that he had long silver hair, and large blue eyes. He was black leather clad, he creaked when he walked. He was wearing stylish specs, hell, he was wearing stylish everything.

And Riku had seen him before. He was known simply as Sephiroth. The actor… The bad guy… The smart ass… He had played some of the most evil characters in film history, including the part written for him in a film named 'Reunion'. He was as famous as you got.

Riku felt slightly awed.

"Oh Seph! I can't believe we've found him! Look he has your hair and features, but he definitely has my eyes! Oh, he's so adorable!" The lady in pink said. Sephiroth nodded, looking at Riku over his specs.

"Stand up straight," He commanded. Riku felt confused. Her eyes? His hair? Unless…

"You're my parents…" He said suddenly, but the revelation brought him no pleasure. Great, his parents were famous. If that was Sephiroth Cordele, then that could only be Aerith Cordele, his wife… And he was their son…

"That's right, honey!" Aerith said. Riku felt Sora's presence beside him, Sora's disbelieving stare. But of course, Sora didn't know that Riku was even adopted. This must be a weird shock…

"Don't call me that," Riku snapped. Should he be happy to see his parents? He only had one mother, she was waiting at home, in bed with a nurse beside her, counting her days.

"You're being rude with no reason. May I ask why?" Sephiroth asked. Riku looked him dead in the eye, unnerved by the lack of emotion in them.

"I only have one set of parents. My father's a prick who left us, and my mother is waiting for me to go home. I like my life as it is. No, I love my life as it is. I don't want it to change. If I wanted it to change I would have found you," Riku snapped. Aerith's eyes filled with tears, and Sephiroth looked immensely displeased.

"How can your current situation be better than the one we can offer you? The best university, the best car, never needing to work again, a servant to wait on your every need?" Sephiroth asked. Riku pushed all the things he was offering from his mind. He wasn't going to be bribed by material things.

"I don't care if I don't have all that, as long as I have a parent who loves me," Riku replied. Aerith's lips trembled.

"But we'll love you," She whimpered. Riku turned to her.

"You loved me enough to leave me in an orphanage in a rough area, with only the clothes on my back. You put me through years of bullying and self-hatred. When I finally get away from that, you try to claim me again? What's with that?" Riku demanded. Sephiroth's cool gaze hooked his once more.

"It was a decision made by Aerith's father. He forced her to give you away. We were unmarried at the time, and it would have been disastrous to our careers. We are ready to have a family now, so we want you back," Sephiroth said it as though it was enough. As though that was more than enough justification. Riku laughed.

"Sora, let's go," He turned around, walking away swiftly. He was home before he realised that Sora hadn't followed him.

Sora frowned at the couple. Okay, Sephiroth was a little bit cold, but the Aerith woman seemed nice…

"If you see Riku again, give him this. If he ever needs us, he can contact us on this number," Aerith held out a business card in a shaking hand. Sephiroth's hand snaked around her waist and he pulled her close.

"May I ask something, sir?" Sora asked, looking up at the silver haired action star.

"Hm?" The man asked. Sora tilted his head slightly.

"Would you not try to contact Riku again until he gets in touch with you? He will eventually, he's too curious not to, but… Please?" Sora asked. Sephiroth regarded the brown haired boy with curiosity.

"Alright. What is your name, boy?" He asked. Sora smiled.

"Sora Hikka," He replied promptly. Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly.

"George's son?" He asked. Sora nodded, noting the slight awe that was now in Sephiroth's features.

"He's one of my financial advisors. How is he?" Sephiroth asked. Sora snorted.

"He's fine, when's he not? Get yourself another advisor too, he fiddles his books," Sora advised. Sephiroth raised his eyebrows as Sora walked away.

Aerith sat in the car, her vision blurred by tears still. Beside her, Sephiroth took her hand while still driving.

"You heard his friend. He'll call us. Don't worry yourself about it," Sephiroth said quietly. Aerith nodded.

"He's my son and he hates me. No matter how curious he is, it won't change that…" She sobbed. Sephiroth squeezed her hand before removing it to indicate.

"Aerith, I told you it wouldn't be easy. If we want our son back, we're going to have to work hard. We have to earn his trust as though he's just anyone else. He's going to be a friend above anything else. He may never accept us as his parents… I rejected my family," Sephiroth reminded her. Aerith nodded, but the tears didn't stop.

"I just don't know what to do. He was created by us, it was our love that created his life. Why should he love someone else? Why should someone else love him for us? It's not fair!" Aerith cried. Sephiroth bit his lip. Aerith didn't realise what she was saying, obviously.

"Don't be so selfish…" He said quietly. She nodded, before looking up at him.

"Why aren't you sad?" She asked. Sephiroth sighed deeply.

"I am, Aer, I'm just good at keeping it inside…"

Riku ran into his mother's room, throwing himself onto her bed. Her arms instantly wrapped around him. Leon, who had been unfortunately sitting on the bed, was thrown backwards and ended up with Riku's hip crushing him.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked. Riku sniffed, he hadn't been aware he was crying until now.

"My parents… They've found me…" He said quietly. Amy took a deep breath.

"And?" She pressed.

"They basically tried to force me to go with them. I told them no. I already had you and I didn't want any more parents. They got upset and I left," Riku explained. He shifted, so his weight wasn't on Leon's lap.

"What were their names?" Leon asked, curiously. Riku's eyes darkened.

"Sephiroth and Aerith Cordele," He replied. There was even heavier silence.

"The film star?" Amy asked. Riku nodded. She smiled, sadly.

"Oh Riku, I appreciate the effort. I know that you love me, darling, but they are your parents. You're real parents. The parents that must have been searching for you for quite a while. They're putting their reputations on the line for you. I think the most you could do is hear them out?" Amy said. Riku shook his head. His mother was treating him like a child.

"Mom, I don't want to know them… I mean… They're not my real parents, they just created me," Riku tried to argue. Then the doorbell went. Leon got up to answer it.

"I can't believe you'd be so stubborn! They are your parents Riku, and they must love you to even try to meet you. What harm could come of hearing them out?" Amy scolded. Leon re-entered the room, behind him was Sora, looking a little confused.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I got this from them. The woman… Aerith… She said this is her number or Sephiroth's or something…" Sora held out a business card. Riku took it, staring at the number.

"Thank you Sora," He mumbled.

"Riku, about earlier…" Sora began. Riku shook his head.

"Please, forget it. I can't believe what I said. I was being stupid again, I guess. Forget it," Riku stood up, then threw the business card in the waste paper basket at the side of his mom's bed.

"Thank you for bringing it Sora, but I don't need it. I'll see you tomorrow at school," Riku stood up and walked out, going to his room and throwing himself on his bed.

"Um… Hello Mrs. Leonhart," Sora said, awkwardly. Why's she in bed? Is she sick?

"Hello. You must be Sora, correct?" She asked. Sora nodded.

"I've heard a lot about you from Riku and Eva. I heard you were cute, I didn't expect you to be quite so," She winked. Sora felt his face flush.

"Th-Thank you, ma'am," He stuttered. She laughed.

"Don't call me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel older than I already am," Mrs Leonhart said. Sora nodded.

"I'll remember that ma'-" Sora stopped himself, grinning sheepishly. She looked at the clock.

"I'm sorry, I need to take my medication now. I would like to talk to you more, Sora, but it would be best if you go. Squall, help me," She ordered. Sora looked at Leon, noting that he must be 'Squall', but said nothing and left silently.

He didn't know why, but he felt like crying. Such a beautiful woman, such a wonderful woman… Somehow, Sora knew she was dying.

It filled him with grief that she would have her life taken early than should be, and his parents would most likely live on until their old age and die of too much wine and cigarettes.

Walking home slowly, he finally arrived home, extremely late. He walked in to find his father waiting for him. He held himself upright and tried to look strong. He was tired though.

He hadn't really lied to Riku, sure, there had been a lot of social events recently, lots of nights spent entertaining Sakura, but there had been a lot more beatings too. His sick appearance coming more from that than anything else.

"Why are you late?" George Hikka demanded. Sora clenched his fists.

"Ran into a friend's parents," He replied curtly. His father's upper lip curled into a snarl.

"Oh really, which friend would this be?" He asked. Sora tried to calm himself down.

"Riku," He replied.

"Oh, his parents are worth being late home for?" Hikka asked. Sora forced himself not to answer that question.

He felt the pain, but it didn't really sink it like it used to. Now he just let it happen. It was inevitable. Besides, soon he'd probably have a brain haemorrhage and die anyhow, so it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered…

Sephiroth pulled up at the Hikka residence. He wanted to know if his number had got to his son. He noticed the door was open and pushed it open further. Inside, he heard a whimpering, and the sound of a fist impacting on a body.

Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock when he saw Hikka, who he would have considered a friend, hitting his son, the boy who had taken Riku's number cheerfully, who had run an errand for someone he had just met.

"My God…" Sephiroth said, involuntarily. He was cold, usually, but this… This was beyond being cold. To walk away from this would be to turn his back on something that could destroy that young man's life, much like his own.

Hikka stopped, turning around to see Sephiroth. He stepped away, and his son straightened up, his eye was closed up almost completely, his lip was split.

"Ah, Mr Cordele, what may I do for you?" Hikka asked cheerfully. Sephiroth was speechless.

"What were you doing?" He asked. Hikka glared at his son.

"Teaching the boy punctuality," He replied. Sephiroth flexed his fingers. He came so close to showing Hikka a taste of his own medicine.

"He was late for what?" Sephiroth asked. Sora was leaning against a wall, looking at the floor, blood dribbling from his mouth.

"Home. Why are you asking all these questions? I'm a financial advisor for you, nothing more," Hikka's eyes narrowed. Sephiroth felt rage flare.

"Sora was late home because I asked him to run something to my son for me, over the other edge of the neighbourhood. He ran into my wife and I on the way home, and we talked for a while. Afterwards he offered to run over to my son's house and give him the number, which I assume he did. I was here to check up on my son's reaction," Sephiroth said coldly. Sora pushed himself off the wall, walking slowly across the room.

"He threw it in the bin. I'm not sure whether he'll get it out again…" Sora explained. Sephiroth sighed and ruffled the kid's hair.

"It can't be helped if I have the most stubborn son in the world," He said quietly. Sora grinned, then a pained expression came across his features, and he clutched his mouth.

"Would you like to come back to my house?" Sephiroth asked. Sora shook his head, looking at his father.

"My place is here," He said. Sephiroth shook his head. We want children more than anything, and this man has them and abuses them. Aerith was right, it isn't fair…

"My number, Sora. If you ever… want to come over… just ring," Sephiroth handed him a business card. Sora took it, and it looked to Sephiroth as though the boy stuck it down the waistband of his jeans.

Probably to stop the old man taking it from him…

"Hikka, you're financial services are no longer required. I want you to switch my account to my new one immediately. Here's the paperwork," Sephiroth handed the paperwork over and turned to leave. When he reached the door, he took one look at Sora.

Poor kid… I wonder if anyone knows the hell he has to go through?

Ending Notes:

I'm so sorry that Sephiroth is so OOC, but he needs to be… I wanted to write this chapter so bad, but when I did, I didn't want to create too many spoilers. So I tried to give it length but not too much secret delving. Personally, I like this chapter. I worked dead hard on it…

Review please.