The next morning was a long and laborious one for Sora, full of dull office duties and strenuous delivery rides, made more difficult as Sora did not operate well on so little sleep. Every wide yawn received a pointed look from an unimpressed Cloud, who did not approve of slacking. Bleary-eyed and drooping, Sora soldiered on with the somber resolve only a paycheck can bring.
Cloud eventually took pity on his tired employee and set him free a little after lunch, mostly because Sora's yawns had become contagious, and he wanted to be rid of the source of the epidemic. But instead of taking a much-needed nap, Sora grabbed a bag and his bike and pedaled north.
When he and Roxas slipped through the discrete hole in the Jenova mansion gate, they found Namine and Selphie trimming bushes nearby. Selphie let out a startled yip and nearly dropped her pruning shears at their abrupt appearance, but Namine's practiced impassive expression betrayed no surprise.
"Sora! What the heck are you doing crawling out of bushes like a weirdo? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Selphie wailed with appropriate drama.
"Oh, sorry. The old gate guy is mean, though, so how else would I get in?" Which was a reasonable enough explanation for Selphie to accept.
"Riku's still in his lessons," said Namine, anticipating his needs smoothly. "He should be out in about an hour or so."
Sora made a noise of disappointment. Riku had too many lessons in his opinion.
"So since you're here and the Ice Prince is busy, wanna eavesdrop with us?" Selphie's grin turned mischievous.
Sora agreed with a genial shrug. "Who are we eavesdropping on today?"
"Kairi and Hayner, of course. It's one of my favorite pastimes, next to ogling all the delicious army officers," Selphie replied, eyebrows waggling.
"Delicious? How do they taste?" Sora's eyes widened as he imagined Selphie's casual feasting of flesh.
"Mm, mostly hot and spicy," she answered, tapping a thoughtful finger to her chin. "But sometimes juicy and savory."
"Like chicken?"
"More like beef."
"Oh, I see," Sora nodded warily.
"Anyway," Selphie continued with a voice lowered for conspiracy, "stay quiet, they're just over there."
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, and when Sora's gaze followed its direction he spied their targets by the stables not too far away. Kairi had a harried expression and a broom in her hands, which she thrust forcefully at the pavement walkway, while Hayner lounged lazily on a wheelbarrow next to her. The bushes acted as a slight cover for Sora, Selphie and Namine, but it was possible they would have gone unnoticed even without it, for the two of them were so completely engrossed in their conversation.
"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that," Hayner was saying with a smug sort of country drawl. "I was jus' playin'. It's not like you got in trouble or nuthin'."
Kairi gave a stifled cry of frustration and whirled around to face him, fire in her eyes and blush on her cheeks. "Humiliating me in public—or any setting, actually—is not nuthin'," she snarled with a lion's ferocity. "And the next time you decide to be a child and throw banana peels of all things in front of me, I will punch that stupid grin off your ugly face. You're lucky I didn't twist my ankle!"
But Kairi's diatribe was drowned out when Hayner burst into laughter. Kairi's lips thinned and her eyebrows rose dangerously, one hand clenched into a tight grip on the broom handle, the other into a hard fist. But Hayner's hysterics only grew, and he doubled forward on the wheelbarrow, clutching at his stomach over the hilarity of his simple prank.
"I can't believe ya actually fell for it, though!" he howled. "How din't ya see it there? But then, whoop! Splat!" He mimed Kairi's apparently spectacular fall with waving arms. "Classic!"
"Oh, sure, laugh it up now while you can," Kairi said icily. "We'll see how charming you can be when I knock out your front teeth."
Hayner's laughter cut off abruptly, and he looked up at her with surprise. Kairi had a millisecond of perceived victory before Hayner asked "So you think I'm charming?" which had her seething once more.
Hayner grinned. And unfortunately, it was still quite charming.
"Ugh, I give up," Kairi huffed and turned back to her vicious attack on the pavement dirt with her broom. "Just leave me alone, will you? Go muck up horse shit, or whatever it is you're paid to do around here."
"Aw, but I was enjoying our banter!" said Hayner, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees. Rather than leaving, he seemed to be making himself more comfortable.
"It's not banter, it's harassment," Kairi snapped. "You're such a typical pig-headed, self-involved man. You think it's your right to just invade women's personal space and ignore them when they tell you to leave them alone. Well it's not! So you can just unlearn that patriarchy-directed societal conditioning right now."
"Alright, alright," he relented, holding his palms up in surrender. "I didn't mean to disrespect your autonomy or whatnot." Kairi eyed him slyly at that. "Next time I decide to illustrate the simple joys of slap-stick comedy, I'll use Pence as the test subject."
Kairi gave a lofty 'hmph'.
"So tell me about science stuff then," Hayner tried. He seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh over his prank again, with his lips pinched together to hold it in.
Kairi leveled him with a solidly unimpressed expression.
"That's what you're into, right?" Hayner continued, managing sincere sobriety at last. "Science stuff? It's not harassing, it's expressing an interest in your hobbies, ain't it? So maybe you can answer some questions I got. See I got a lot of questions. For instance, why do men have nipples? We ain't breastfeedin' no babies. And what is fire? Don't things gotta be solid, liquid or gas? But fire ain't none of those. So what the hell? What is it, then?" He had worked himself up into an earnest confusion.
Kairi rolled her eyes with as much exaggeration as she could manage. "Men have nipples because all embryos start out more or less as females and the male hormones kick in after nipples have already formed." Hayner let out a shocked 'what!' which she ignored. "And fire isn't solid, liquid, or gas because it's a chemical reaction. Fire itself is not matter, it's the process of converting matter into a different form when the right gasses are combined with the right amount of heat and fuel. Duh. That's, like, basic science. Didn't you ever pay attention in school?" she scoffed.
"Well maybe I would'a done if I'd had a teacher as cute as you," he replied smoothly. He had acquired a strand of straw from somewhere and was now chewing it idly.
"Oh, and now I see we're on to objectify me. That's really great, Hayner. Wonderful. Because a woman is only worth listening to if she's nice to look at, huh?" She paused to pantomime sniffing the air. "Hm, what's that awful smell?" she asked. "Smells like… misogyny."
"Might just be the horse shit," Hayner offered. They were next to the stables after all.
"They certainly smell very similar, don't they?" she sneered.
"But I ain't even objectifying!" he argued. "Can't I just marvel at the complex and multi-faceted splendor inherent in the blending of intellect and beauty?"
That brought Kairi up short, and she gave him a bemused look. "Those were some might big words for a country feller," she said, imitating his drawl. "You been reading a dictionary lately?"
"Pence got me one," he said, preening proudly, twirling his straw piece. "Now when you insult me with them big ol' words, I'm gonna know what they mean."
"I'm so happy for you," was her dry response. She returned to her sweeping, but it now seemed a somewhat less violent activity.
"Oh my gosh, they are too cute," squealed Selphie from Sora's shoulder, where she had draped herself casually. "They're like a mouthful of tart candies. I can hardly stand it!" She sighed dreamily and leaned even more on her human post, and Sora staggered slightly under her weight.
As Selphie had completely abandoned her pruning task in favor of spying on her friends, the brunt of the job had fallen to Namine, who was struggling to pick up the slack. The shears were surprisingly heavy and the bush branches absurdly thick, and Namine's slim fingers were not used to physical tasks. She huffed and growled at the obstinate plants and decided that they were much worse than the irritating dirt sprites.
"Need help?" Sora asked her. He had lost interest in spying on Kairi and Hayner. Their conversation wasn't about anything interesting, anyway.
"No, no, I'm fine," Namine panted, a shrill, strained tone escaping without her approval. She wiped a bead of sweat from her flushed forehead.
"Hm? Oh, whoops! Here, let me," said Selphie, remembering the untrimmed bushes at last. She released Sora of her weight and twirled her shears with ease. With a few quick, precise snips, the unwanted branches were cleared away, as simply as if she had breathed on a dandelion's feathery seeds.
Namine tried not to glare at her partner for making it look so easy, but wasn't entirely successful at containing her resentment.
"Hey Kairi!" Sora called, waving an arm. He figured their spying was over and was eager to get to the business he had come for.
"Eh! Sora no! Don't interrupt them!" Selphie hissed at him.
But it was too late. Kairi looked over and her face lit up with delight at the sight of Sora and Roxas. She called a greeting and trotted toward them. Behind her, Hayner's pleasant smile darkened into a sullen scowl directed at the new arrivals. He stood and made his way over, hands shoved into his pockets and strand of wheat ground firmly between his teeth.
"I'm so glad you two are here," Kairi said once she was close enough. She gave Roxas a knowing smile which had him shifting uncomfortably. "I realized I actually don't know how to find you if you don't come here first."
"I'm an initiator," Sora agreed with a serious nod.
"You know, Kairi," interrupted Selphie, a sly expression twisting her features. "I noticed something interesting last night."
"Did you, now?" Kairi frowned.
"I did indeed. I noticed, as your thoughtful, concerned roommate, that you were out rather late last night. Very late. And you've been avoiding me all morning."
"What? I haven't been avoiding you! We've been working in completely different parts of the manor until now."
"So you admit you were out late!" Selphie cried.
"It wasn't that late," scoffed Kairi. "You were just asleep by the time I got back. And I was nice enough not to wake you."
"Well what were you doing all night, then?" A quirk of her eyebrows implied all the outrageous nighttime activities that Kairi could be accused of.
"Yeah, what were you doing?" Hayner asked, face full of equal suspicion.
"She was with me!" Sora answered brightly.
Which had both Hayner and Selphie sputtering in surprise. Though they both had been implying scandalous affairs, they had not expected Sora to confirm it. And Kairi, quite against her will, blushed, which only cemented the indecent suspicions in their minds. Selphie and Hayner gaped between her and Sora, one with a gossiper's greedy delight, the other with horror.
"It—it's not like that!" Kairi stammered. "Namine was there, too!"
"Namine!" Selphie gasped, overwhelmed by this revelation of events more lewd than initially imagined. Hayner was blushing now, too, despite his dismay.
"You shouldn't be so shocked that I was there," Namine replied with a perfectly straight face. "Anyway, the real surprise of the night was the cat."
"The cat!" Selphie could hardly take it. A raunchy night of two girls, one boy, and a cat! It was just too outrageous a scandal for a single gossiper to handle at once.
Kairi glared at Namine for fueling the misunderstanding further, but Namine only smiled sweetly in return. Roxas' eyes were wide at the sudden attention, but he was trying not to laugh.
"And Riku, too! Oh, and the ghost! And the crows! And the fireflies!" Sora added, helpfully. He'd had quite a bit of fun last night and didn't mind telling everyone about it.
"A ghost!" Selphie cried faintly. She was losing oxygen. She didn't quite understand what was being said anymore.
The last addition brought Hayner up short. "You—wait, what?" He frowned as if presented with a math problem.
"I told you it wasn't like that! Get your minds out of the gutter!" said Kairi. She was still blushing, however, quite inexplicably. "We were on a very important mission to find a mythical, magical object!"
"Yeah!" Sora smiled. "We were presented with many strange and fantastical obstacles, but in the end, we prevailed through the power of teamwork! And I like to think that we all learned a little more about each other and ourselves in the process. Just like a proper adventure!" He nodded in satisfaction.
Selphie seemed to join them again at last. "So, no wild orgies?"
"No! There were no wild orgies!" Kairi snapped.
Selphie slumped in disappointment. Hayner, however, seemed marginally reassured, even if he wasn't entirely clear on what had actually happened.
"Anyway, speaking of our quest, we've got lots of planning to do," said Sora. "But we should wait for Riku to finish his lessons, I think. He's got a pretty crucial role, after all."
Kairi and Namine agreed, and it was resolved that they would start in on their next phase of planning once Riku was available. Kairi dashed off to finish her laundry duties so that she could be free by the time Riku arrived.
"I hate to see her go, but damn do I love to watch her leave," said Hayner wistfully as he watched Kairi hurry back to the mansion.
Selphie made a face at him. "You know, I try to support you, I really do. But then you go and say crude things like that and I wonder what the point is."
Hayner shrugged with a quirk of a smile. "I never said I was Prince Charming. Besides, I don't need your help. She's startin' to come around, I think."
Selphie gave an undignified snorted at that. "Yeah right."
"Or maybe you're the one who's starting to come around," said Namine, thoughtful and enigmatic now that she wasn't trimming impossible bushes.
"Excuse me? I don't change for nobody," Hayner retorted. He wasn't sure he had ever really spoken to Namine before, and he didn't like her knowing tone.
"You bought a dictionary, didn't you?" she asked around a polite smile.
He blushed slightly and said nothing, his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched up to his reddening ears.
"Oh I get it!" exclaimed Sora in a popcorn's burst. "You like her, huh? But not just like her—you like her like her!"
"Way to go, Sora. A little late to the party, though," said Selphie.
"Hey, this is only the second time I've even met Hayner. How was I supposed to know?" he defended. He turned to Hayner, who was now glaring at him. "She says she doesn't like you very much, though," Sora informed him. "She thinks you're mean, and she gets mad whenever she talks about you."
Hayner's expression wavered between embarrassed, surly, and interested. "She talks about me?"
"Yeah. Kinda a lot, now that I think about it."
"Tch, like I care," he scoffed. But it was obvious to even Sora that Hayner was pleased by the news.
"Ugh I can't stand you two!" Selphie shook her head the disappointed way a schoolteacher might when presented with an obstinate student. "You're both letting your pride stand in the way of your feelings! It's driving me nuts and I can hardly focus on anything else."
"Whatever, I never said I was in love or nuthin." Hayner rolled his eyes. "It's just fun to rile her up. She's cute when she gets all mad or when she's yellin' at me about feminism 'n shit. But this ain't some fancy romance or whatnot. If you wanna be all weird about it, that's on you."
"I've got it!" Selphie exclaimed, pounding a fist into her palm with a sudden idea. "What you two need is a way to test if you are both truly in love with each other! If you're not, then I'm giving up on this drama and you're on your own. But if you are , then we'll know it's worth the trouble! And I've got just the thing—A guaranteed test to know what your true feelings are!"
"Really? What is it?" Sora's face was alight with interest.
Hayner made a show of how ridiculous he considered such a test to be, but he leaned in just the same when Selphie began her explanation.
"I learned this from an old witch woman I met when I was a little girl. She told me that you must catch a wild bee and hold it in your hands. If it does not sting you, then you will know your love is true."
"Have you ever tried it?" asked Sora.
"Yes," Selphie admitted wistfully. "But I was stung every time. Except one time the bee turned out to be a hornet, so it didn't count—and I guess I'll never know if I was really in love with that baker boy."
Hayner let out a gust of a sigh. "That's the stupidest test I ever heard. Only you would be dumb enough to get yourself stung by a swarm o' bees cuz some crazy hobo told ya."
"It seems a rather insubstantial theory," said Namine. "How could a bee sting correlate to your feelings?"
Selphie shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe the bees can just sense that kind of thing. Perhaps the palm of a lover is as sweet and fragrant as a flower, so they don't feel threatened." She was a sucker for poetry like that, and her eyes filled with fond dreams for a moment.
"Like the way fireflies can sense inner light," suggested Sora thoughtfully.
"Well I ain't shovin' my hand in no bee hive," scoffed Hayner. "I gotta work with these hands, ya know. Can't afford to get 'em all stung up."
"Maybe you wouldn't get stung, though," said Sora.
Hayner reddened once more and mumbled something which might have sounded like 'that would be even worse' but only Roxas heard him.
"Hayner! Quit yer lollygaggin' n get back to work!" came a sharp, sudden shout from a burly man who had appeared from inside the stables. "These horses ain't gonna brush themselves, are they? Course not! They ain't got no thumbs!"
Hayner shrunk guiltily under his supervisor's stern glare, and slunk away from their huddle. When the supervisor had returned inside, however, Hayner looked back and gave them a cocky grin.
"See you losers later," he called with a mock salute as he jogged off back to work.
"What a dork," sighed Selphie, shaking her head. Then she turned to Sora and Namine with a sudden knife-like glint in her eye. "So tell me, what's this great quest you were all talking about earlier? It sounded to me like the absolutely edible Master Riku is involved. I want details."
"Well, Master Riku, I suppose we can call our lesson finished for today."
The words were a starting gun, and Riku—who had spent the morning in a sluggish slouch—was suddenly moving with an explosion of energy to pack up his papers and books.
"Perhaps next time you might try a bit harder to pay attention," Mr. Eraqus added. A knowing smile turned the corners of his dark mustache and softened his grizzled face. "Or at least pretend not be so excited about leaving. It's quite hard on my self esteem, you know."
Riku scowled and rolled his eyes.
"Though I suppose when one is young, certain things may seem far more important than trigonometry and geography," he continued, now absently stroking the perfect black triangle of goatee on his chin. "Friends, for example."
Riku resolutely ignored his teacher's rambling and snapped his math textbook shut.
"I've heard you have been spending quite a lot of time lately with a certain young man who keeps managing to find his way inside the manor." Mr. Eraqus's eyes twinkled kindly beneath incompatibly severe brows. "The gate-man is apparently quite distressed over it."
"I didn't know you were such a gossiper," Riku muttered.
"It's hardly gossip, Master Riku. Making a friend is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I think it's wonderful that you've found someone to open up to. It's not good to shut yourself off from everyone the way you do. The fact that you've allowed yourself to become friends with someone shows growth and maturity on your part. I'm proud of you."
"What are you, a psychologist, now?"
"No, I'm your tutor," said Mr. Eraqus, displaying for the umpteenth time that morning his endless patience which sometimes bordered on patronizing. "And I've been charged with making sure that your educational and moral development steer you to become a respectable gentleman who is able to not only function, but thrive in society. As such, I would very much like you to learn healthy and productive ways of interacting with those around you."
Riku had heard variations of this speech many times before while being scolded for his anti-social behavior, and so was unmoved by the sentiment.
"So this is all just selfish desire on your part, then. Who would hire you if they knew you had been responsible for such a blot on society as I am?"
"Now, Riku, you know that's not true," Mr. Eraqus reproached gently. He was still smiling is irritating smile, with his hands folded over his broad desk and his head inclined in a benevolent gesture.
"I guess not. You were responsible for my cousins, after all, and no one seems to hold that against you," said Riku, aiming for insolent. His things were packed now and he was heading for the door, eager to be free of his tutor's condescending advice.
"Yes, well, those three are good boys, but only when they think no one is looking," Mr. Eraqus sighed. It was a bit of a sore spot for him. "And they were all quick and eager students, at least."
"Even Loz?" Riku snorted.
"Loz has his good merits, as does everyone. His strengths may not lie in his wit, but he has a good heart."
Riku only scoffed. "It must be difficult forcing yourself to only see the positive in people."
"Not any more difficult than focusing on the negative, I would imagine." His deep brown eyes were steady and piercing, and his gaze froze Riku in his spot by the door in a battle of eye contact. To his shame, Riku looked away first.
"Yeah, well, I have a friend now. So I guess you win," he muttered, scowling at the floor and gripping the doorknob.
"It's not a contest or a fight. I want you to understand that. I only want you to be happy." The worst thing about Mr. Eraqus, in Riku's opinion, was that he was absolutely earnest when he said things like that. "Does he make you happy, your friend?"
There was a pause, and Riku made a very different expression at the floor.
"He does."
And then, to save himself from further embarrassment, Riku opened the door and slipped out of the room in one swift motion. He dashed down the hallway, but tried not to look so obviously like he was fleeing.
As if sensing both his vulnerability and his desire to get somewhere else, Riku's three cousins chose that moment to round a corner and step into his path. Riku stopped short and braced himself as he would against a winter wind.
"Dear cousin," Kadaj cooed. "We've found you at last! We missed you at breakfast, you know. You seldom make an appearance at lunch, but usually at breakfast we are able to bask in your gracious presence. We were beginning to worry."
Kadaj was the oldest, yet shortest of the three, and he acted as ringleader for the brothers' ill deeds as he was the most clever and wicked. His thin, silver hair just brushed his shoulders and framed his somewhat delicate features and blazing green eyes.
Yazoo was the second son, willowy with a long face and heavy-lidded eyes. He had a permanent and unwavering expression of utmost boredom and disdain. He did not talk often, preferring instead to sigh in a superior, irritated manner in response to any words directed at him, though the truth was that he rarely had anything interesting to say.
Like most youngest siblings, nature had made Loz the tallest. His height was matched by a broad, muscular build, and his heavy brow and sharp cheek bones were usually softened by a vacant expression.
"What do you want," grumbled Riku. He had neither the time nor patience to deal with these three.
"Why cousin!" Kadaj gasped with a performance of offense, hand over his heart. "Must we always want something from you when we speak? Can't we simply enjoy the company of our darling baby cousin?"
"No," was Riku's flat response.
Kadaj chuckled and stepped close enough to grab Riku's chin in his hand. "You're so funny! When on earth did you get so funny?" he asked, squishing Riku's cheeks like a child. Riku jerked away with a glare.
"Cut it out, I'm busy."
"Busy busy busy, you're always so busy!" sighed Kadaj. "You never want to play with us. We're hurt!"
"I have things to do," Riku sneered.
"What things? I thought the point of being rich was that we never had things to do. The mark of a true aristocrat is never lifting a finger."
"He's studying for his entrance exams, I thought," said Loz, in that blessedly thick way that he had.
"Excellent memory. That is exactly what I'm doing," Riku agreed with a cordial nod to Loz. "Being a mage isn't easy, but someone has to do it since none of you qualify. Now if you'll excuse me." He stepped to the side and tried to squeeze his way past, but the three blocked his path once more.
"Oh yes, your fancy little magic spells. I guess you would want to practice frequently so you don't end up like your poor father. His magic didn't do him much good in the end, did it?" Kadaj's grin was catlike and toothy.
Riku's lips thinned and the grip on his books was tight enough to turn his knuckles white. But he knew better than to let Kadaj think he'd gotten to him, so he rolled his eyes.
"Good one," was his dry reply. "I get it, my parents are dead, la dee da. That one's getting old already. You're slipping."
Kadaj's act of offense was back, and he scoffed with overdone dismay. "You hear that, Yazoo? Riku thinks I'm slipping. What ever shall I do?"
Yazoo only shrugged with disinterest and examined his nails, but Kadaj hadn't expected a response.
"You wound me, Riku, you really do. How can you be so cruel to your cousin who has done so much for you over the years?"
"Whatever." Riku considered walking back the way he'd come in order to get away from them. It would take him far out of his way, but he could manage. Kadaj would consider Riku's retreat a victory, though. Or worse, they would follow him. Riku grit his teeth in annoyance.
Then he spotted Kairi walking past carrying a basket of laundry behind his cousins' backs. When she spotted Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, her eyes widened in alarm and she immediately changed course before they noticed her. But she caught Riku's eye and offered him a sympathetic expression.
Riku decided to try his luck and take what advantage he could from her sudden appearance.
"Ah, Miss!" he called out. "Are you doing the laundry there?"
Kairi froze with obvious distress, saucers for eyes and mouth open in protest at his drawing attention to her.
"Excellent, I have I shirt I spilled something on earlier, and I need it washed straight away. Could you come with me? I'll show you where I put it."
Riku brushed past his cousins' blockade, for they had turned in momentary surprise to see who he was addressing, allowing enough room for him to slip through. He walked in long, brisk strides past Kairi and around the corner she had come from, and Kairi was quick to follow.
"Cavorting with maids, are we?" Kadaj called after them. "That's low, even for you. And anyway, if you had to pick a maid, why not go for a prettier one—or at least one less pre-pubescent?" He was floundering, though, obviously irritated at having let Riku get by through such a simple trick. Kadaj prided himself on the subtlety and obliqueness of his insults, but they became more direct the more desperate he was.
After a few sharp turns down several short hallways with hurried steps, Riku was sure his cousins hadn't followed. He slowed and gave Kairi an apologetic smile.
"Thanks for that."
Kairi shrugged. "No problem. At least we both got away."
"What, you thought I'd hand you over as a distraction while I made my escape? How low your opinion of me must be," Riku said with a wry grin.
"My opinion of you improves the better I know you," she smiled. "Anyway, Sora is here. Outside with Namine last I saw him. I just have to drop these towels off at the laundry room and we can get to work."
Kairi had assumed that he would go off to see Sora on his own, as nobles simply didn't do chores, even by association. But to her surprise, Riku followed her on her delivery of the towels. She sent him confused glances as they made their way to the laundry room, which he seemed to ignore, and once they arrived, he waited patiently outside the door while she finished her business. They walked to the yard in silence.
They found Sora easily, drawn by the general commotion that always seemed to surround him. He appeared to be demonstrating to Selphie and Namine techniques for accomplishing a handstand, kicking his large feet in the air and shifting his hands below him to maintain his balance. His legs began to lean dangerously, and in a moment, Sora came crashing to the lawn with an 'oof'. Selphie clapped her hands with delight over the show while Namine wondered how she had been roped into such a ridiculous waste of time.
Sora gave a shout when he spotted Riku and Kairi. Namine turned with relief, and Selphie ogled Riku shamelessly.
"Hey everyone!" said Kairi. "Where's Roxas?"
"Chasing birds," Sora answered, nodding to his left.
Sure enough, a blob of yellow fur was pouncing to and fro at the dull brown doves bobbing about the lawn. The birds dodged his clutches easily, but squeaked in indignation all the same as they landed in different spots on the ground. They didn't fly off into the trees, however, which was either a sign of the low level of threat they considered Roxas to be, or their stupidity. Considering Roxas' success rate, odds were on the former.
"Ooh, are you all going to make your plans for how to stop that old baldy hunchback now?" asked Selphie. "I mean, you have the dagger and everything, but you can't just go up and stab him. That's just… murder. I'm pretty sure you'd get in a lot of trouble for that, you know? So what'll you do instead? It's quite a conundrum!"
"You told Selphie?" Kairi held her head in her hands in dismay. "Why, Sora, why would you do such a thing?"
Sora wasn't the least bit upset over his crime. "I don't see why not. The more people who know, the better. We can unite!"
"The more people who know, the more likely it is that Xehanort will figure out we know and try to stop us!" said Riku, frowning. "Our best asset right now is the fact that he's unaware that we know what he's up to."
"That's what I said," agreed Namine. "But he went ahead and spilled the beans, anyway."
"Oh, don't get your knickers all up in a bundle," said Selphie. "I'll keep my lips sealed, promise!"
Kairi and Riku looked doubtful, but there was nothing they could do about it now. So they resigned themselves to the fact that the biggest gossip in the manor now knew about their plot.
They moved to a spot in the garden where stone benches sat beneath the cover of trees and tried to figure out what their next step should be. Selphie followed and listened in on the conversation with the giddy excitement of a child during story-telling, but no one could exactly stop her.
Namine's lead about the dagger of light had proved fruitful, though no one was sure what to do with the thing now that they had it. Try as she might, and much to her frustration, Namine could remember nothing more of what the wizard Yen Sid had said about how to defeat shadow magic, for those days back in Mysidia had been quite some time ago. And Selphie was right—they couldn't just stab Xehanort. Even though it seemed the most direct way to halt his dark scheme, it was unlikely that any of them would be successful in assassinating a high-ranking official, especially with such a close-range weapon. And in any case, a magic dagger hardly seemed necessary for such a task, and Namine was certain above all things that magic was the critical element in Yen Sid's original explanation.
Sora had brought the dagger Oathkeeper with him, tucked away in his messenger bag wrapped in cloth, and he brought it out for everyone to examine in case it had any clues about how to use it. It didn't, though they spent several minutes inspecting the feather engravings on the silver hilt for hidden meaning. It was no longer glowing, either, apparently satisfied with its display after Sora's initial handling of it.
In the end, it was decided that some sort of investigation was necessary. Namine was in favor of the library, for her last bout of research had resulted in several promising books that she wanted to look through again. Kairi wanted to search for clues the way she had done when she'd suspected Namine of mysterious treachery, because she found she was fairly good at it. And Sora was resolved to follow his luck and intuition, with the argument that the last time he had done so, it had resulted in finding Oathkeeper. Riku sided with Sora though he didn't give a specific reason for doing so. Kairi suspected that he wanted to be in on Sora's wild ideas for the same reason he had followed him into the forest the night before—it was fun.
So they split up, with the girls returning to the mansion and the boys off to the gap in the fence where Sora's bike was hidden.
Kairi gave Riku a conspiratory wink as they left which Riku pretended not to notice.
Roxas bounded over and settled in his spot in the bicycle basket and Sora hopped on his seat, but Riku halted beside him, uncomfortable and uncertain.
"Get on," Sora prompted with an expectant look.
"We can't both fit on your bike," said Riku.
"We both fit that time we escaped the shadow monsters."
"Yeah, but—you know… that was a desperate situation. This is just—I mean, it's broad daylight. It's more embarrassing now."
"Well it's not like I have a side-car. And I'm not going to walk my bike down the hill, that's dumb. So either you get on and we ride together, or you, I don't know, run and try to keep up."
Riku grumbled and shuffled his feet in deliberation. Not only was riding on the back of a bicycle undignified, he also remembered the close contact the seating arrangement had required, and he wasn't sure he could handle wrapping his arms around Sora's waist without the fear and adrenaline of being chased by monsters.
Sora rolled his eyes. "Just get on, already!" he laughed. "This is silly!"
Roxas was chuckling at him, too, and that was the last straw.
"Fine, whatever," he mumbled, arranging himself on the flat plank over the back wheel where packages were usually tied. He wrapped his arms carefully around Sora's midsection, determined not to be uncomfortable about it.
But Roxas was still laughing at him, and Riku blushed.
"Alright! Here we go!" was all the warning Riku had before Sora shot forward like a bullet. Riku yelped and hugged himself closer to Sora, who was cackling madly as they sped down the road.
After a treacherous ride which Riku wasn't sure he would survive, they finally slowed to a stop in front of a building next to the railway tracks. But Riku hardly noticed their location as his head and heart were still reeling from their death-defying plummet down the northern district. His knees, chest, and arms were tingling slightly where they had touched Sora, and he wondered absently what chemicals Sora must be surrounded by, in his apparently poverty-stricken living conditions, for his skin to cause such a reaction upon contact.
But they hadn't arrived at Sora's home, as Riku had assumed. Sora explained that he had taken them to a mechanic shop owned by a man named Cid, with the hopes that he might be able to repair Oathkeeper more professionally. Riku nodded, surprised at how logical that plan sounded.
They entered through the large arched doorway and Sora shouted a greeting to the room's inhabitants. Red barked with rough excitement and bounded over to place heavy paws on Sora's shoulders and lick his face. Tidus looked up from the project he was working on, which seemed to be a disemboweled truck engine, and grinned at them with a face smeared in grease. Cid was in the middle of the workshop, hovering over a familiar motorcycle and arguing with the boot-clad feet sticking out from beneath the machine which apparently belonged to someone working on the bike's mechanical belly. Cid gave them a grunt of acknowledgement at their entrance, and the person under the motorcycle slid out to see who had come in. Sora's suspicions were confirmed when Cloud's familiar mop of hair and cold scowl were revealed.
"Heya Cloud!" Sora chirped. "I thought you got your bike fixed yesterday."
"I brought it back in. There's still something wrong with it."
Cloud's eyes snapped to Riku and looked him over with suspicion. And Riku, proud noble though he was and personally familiar with the infamous glowers of his uncle, still couldn't help but gulp under the man's gaze. Something about Cloud, somewhere between the sharp line of his mouth and the firm weight of his boots just instilled a kind of terror in you.
"So whacha doing here, Sora?" asked Tidus. "Pretty sure we didn't order anything."
"No, I'm here on personal business." Sora had pushed Red away from him at last and went over to stand by Tidus' work bench. He took out the dagger from the bag at his hip and unwrapped it. "Do you think you can fix this up a bit? Like, sharpen it and stuff? It's old and kind of damaged, but it's pretty important so it should be in the best shape possible, if you can manage."
Tidus held the blade on his palms and examined it with a calculating eye. "Yikes," he snorted, "this is one tough lump of rust—That is my professional assessment. I'm not exactly a blacksmith, you know. We're a mechanic shop."
"But I've seen you sharpen things before. That old knife set Mrs. Shelke brought in, and those beat-up axes for Mr. Valentine. Aerith and Zack always bring their tools here when they're dull. A dagger shouldn't be too different, right? And the rust will be easy for you, I've seen you clean up way worse."
"True." Tidus made a face. "Hah, remember that time that guy came in and dropped off that old shot gun—heap of trash, it was, crumbling with rust, couldn't have been in worse shape if it'd been out in the rain ten years. Were you there for that? Maybe it was Yuna. Anyway, this rich blond guy waltzes in, two henchmen with him dressed in suits, I swear it. Drops that in front of me, says 'listen kid, if you fix this up good as new, no questions asked, there's two hundred munny in it for you.' Well, shit, that shotgun was worth maybe thirty tops, just for scrap. But rich people are weird like that. So I took it in, and damn, by the time it was done, it was gleaming like a mirror and shitting bullets the way it ought to."
"I remember that," smiled Sora. "You were bragging about it for a week. Bought yourself new overalls with the munny."
"Bought a hell of a lot more than that! Somehow Yuna ended up with most of it, though," he laughed. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll fix this blade up so fine it can cut air. I am nothing it not diverse in my talents."
"I can pay for it," said Riku with an air of importance, because he felt he ought to. But he regretted it immediately at the look Sora and Tidus gave him for it. "I mean, I'd like to," he faltered, "if it's an issue. Or even if it isn't. I just—I'll pay for it." He managed to clamp his mouth shut at last.
Tidus gave Riku a wry grin. "I don't generally charge Sora for anything. But you look like a rich guy, and rich guys are always a little funny. So sure, I'll charge you. I'll tell you what it'll cost when I'm done, how's that?" He gave a good-natured laugh and thrust a grimy hand out to him. "I'm Tidus, by the way."
"Ah, Riku. Nice you meet you." Riku shook the offered hand gingerly, trying to hide his grimace over the dirt and grease now covering his own palm. He gave a discreet look around for something to clean his hand with, but every rag he saw was blackened with more filth. He was at a loss for what to do.
Meanwhile, Sora and Tidus were now involved in an energetic discussion of the dagger, and Sora regaled his companion with the story of how they'd found it. Though it had certainly been a strange experience, somehow Sora's telling of it turned their adventure into something bizarre and surreal which bore only a vague and technical resemblance to what had actually happened. Tidus nodded along with an amused grin, not believing a word.
Since he was busy telling his tale, Sora was no longer paying attention to the large, ferocious-looking dog, and so the dog turned his attention to Riku. Unfortunately, for Riku, all Red wanted to do was to stick his cold, wet nose into Riku's crotch. Riku tried to bend out of the way or block the dog's snout with his hand and guide him elsewhere, but Red was incredibly insistent and remarkably strong. And so Riku was forced to endure this violation and humiliation in distressed but stifled silence until Cid at last called the dog away.
The relief was short-lived, however, as Cloud then turned his attention to him. Riku felt more in danger under his glare than he had with the dog's teeth near his groin.
"Oh, yeah, Cloud, this is my friend Riku. I told you about him the other day. Riku, this is Cloud. He's my boss and stuff," Sora provided helpfully.
"Hello," tried Riku with a strain of a smile. "It's um… nice to meet you."
"Hm." If anything, Cloud's eyes narrowed. "You look familiar," he said.
Which was not something one wanted to hear from a man already trying to murder you with his eyes. Riku searched his memory frantically for any recollection of crimes he may have unwittingly committed against him, but came up empty.
"Okay," was all Riku could think of to say.
This adventure was a lot less fun than the one he'd followed Sora on last time, he decided.
"'Course he does," spat Cid. "Gray hair, pale face, greenish eyes. He's gotta be a Jenova." By Cid's tone, this didn't seem to win Riku any favor.
"Harvey, actually," said Riku, trying not to sound defensive. "Riku Harvey. Sephiroth Jenova is my uncle."
"His hair's not really gray, though," said Sora. He was looking over Riku's hair thoughtfully, and Riku had to fight a blush over the intensity of the examination. "I'd say it's more of a silvery-white."
This sounded like a compliment when Sora said it, and Riku lost the battle against his blush.
"Uncle, huh?" said Cid, who suddenly was a lot closer than he had been a moment before. He leaned in close and squinted one eye as he looked Riku up and down. "And how's that association working out for ya?"
"Well, I'm not exactly starving. But I wouldn't say it's an entirely pleasant experience. In fact, I would highly recommend you avoid being his nephew, if possible," said Riku.
Cid stared him down for a tense moment more before barking out a sudden hearty laugh. "You're not bad, kid," he said with a heavy clap on Riku's back. "Not bad at all!"
If smiling was something Riku did easily and regularly, he might have done so at that moment. As it was, he was busy wondering whether or not he now had a large, hand-shaped smear of filth on the back of his shirt.
Cid seemed to feel that Riku's status as nobility made him a prime person to talk politics with, and he launched into a rant about various policies he disagreed with. Riku was on the brink of overwhelmed, for Cid was rather intimidating.
"That uncle of yours is a real piece of work," he was saying. "Just where does he get off with that new tax hike o' his, huh? Fair 'n moderate my ass! Is it going to fix the railway? Nope. Is it smoothin' out these dams streets with all their damn potholes? Nope! Is it goin' to the little kiddies in their little schools? Not a chance! It's all so the damn army can all have shiny new boots and silky little panties for them to shit themselves in! Where the hell is the sense in that, I ask ya! And he calls this governing!"
"Yes, well, they're all very excited about the war," said Riku ruefully. A thought occurred to him, and he frowned. "The tax hike was one of Xehanort's policies, actually. I'm not much of a fan of his."
"The war! The war! Everyone 'n their mother's getting' their jollies off over the war," Cid spat. "Let me ask ya just what in the hell is goin' on in those tin buckets those monkey generals call their heads? Huh? Some soldiers just attack some poor fools on Mi'ihan road the other day, you hear about that? And are they gonna get court marshaled? Not a chance! Sephiroth waved their crimes! It's in the papers! They got off scot-free. No wonder Brahne's having a hernia!"
"Those guys got off? The ones who killed those people?" asked Tidus, frowning. "Read about that in the news yesterday. It's a damn shame."
Sora frowned too, remembering the conversation he'd overheard the army officers having in the mansion foyer.
"Yeah, they did," Riku answered with a grimace. The mansion had been buzzing with the scandal. "General Leonhart and Mage Lieutenant Aqua were against it, but Lieutenants Xemnas and Terra made the case for them and Sephiroth sided with them. And you know… Xehanort has both those Lieutenants in his pocket."
"That's too bad," said Sora. "I know Squall Leonhart was pretty mad when he heard about what happened. Those guys not getting punished probably made him more upset."
Cloud gave Sora an odd frown. "And how would you know how Squall Leonhart felt about anything?"
"Cuz I talked to him the other day. He's funny, I could see why you used to like him," Sora beamed.
Cloud's eyes widened and his face paled in what could only be fear. "You talked to him?"
"Yup."
Cloud swallowed thickly, his mouth suddenly far too dry. "And what did you say to him, exactly?" he asked, voice somewhat faint.
"The usual," Sora answered. "I introduced myself, told him I knew you, talked about the delivery shop and stuff. And he kept being like 'what? what?' It was good."
"What!" Cloud all but yelped.
"Yeah, just like that! You do a good impression of him!" Sora laughed.
Cloud's mouth worked to form words, but no sound escaped. His expression was pure terror.
"Oh, yeah, and he came by the delivery shop yesterday, too, but you weren't there. Aerith talked to him, though," Sora added.
"He wh—he was at the shop?" Cloud managed at last. "Why would he—and why would you! You told him I was in Nomura? And then he came to the shop?"
"Yup. I didn't tell him where the shop was, though. He must have figured that one out on his own."
"I need... to sit." He sat down on a stool by Cid's workbench and slumped down with his forehead on the table.
Roxas had curled up in a sunny spot beside the bicycle while he waited for Sora and Riku to finish their business in the mechanic shop. As usual, Roxas did not dare step foot inside the building, as he was not particularly fond of being chased by the guard dog. Red was usually well-behaved, but the animal could sense that Roxas was not a normal cat, and the anomaly confused him enough to make him want to attack. The first few times he and Sora had gone to the shop together had been disastrous, and though Roxas had never been hurt, he had definitely learned his lesson.
His large ears twitched slightly as he napped, listening to the amusing conversation going on inside. He was tempted to peek his head in just to see the look on Cloud's face, but he thought better of it since it required more effort than he was willing to exert.
"Woo, I'm beat, let me tell you," sighed a voice suddenly next to him.
Roxas jerked up in a snap, ears flattened and hackles raised, to find Axel lounging casually against the wall of the mechanic shop beside him.
"See, I've been chasing after this nutty kid for three days, and I am worn out." Axel glanced at Roxas from the side of his eye and smirked. "I hope you don't mind me taking a short break here," he said breezily. "This is a prime napping spot you've got."
Roxas was frozen in place and his mind drew a panicked blank over what to do. It was too late to scamper away and there wasn't anything good to hide under close by. He was trapped.
"Aw, don't look like that," said Axel. "I'm sure I bite less than you do." A toothy grin spread across his long face, and his bottle-green eyes twinkled with triumph.
"Shit," said Roxas.