Stranger Than Fiction
Chapter Fourteen:
D.I. Aurochs VS N.Y. Goers
Author's Note:
Yup, I have blitzball! And in this the group finally meet together for the whole Kingdom Hearts planning. I can't wait to write this chapter!
Thank you for all your brilliant reviews, I can't believe I've had this many already!!
I realised that my spell checker doesn't pick it up if I put Clod instead of Cloud. Sorry if there are any 'Clods' in there…
Disclaimer:
I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters.
Riku surveyed the room. Everyone was here, even though there was that awkwardness there always was. Riku gathered together his sketches, the character bios he'd created, the worlds he'd designed. He was surprised to find that others had designed worlds, keyblades, characters too…
"Ah, Riku… And all your friends as well it seems?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow as he entered the room. He saw that there were eleven teenagers, plus himself and Aerith in the room.
"Right, well, we better get this started," Riku said, placing one sketch on the table in front of everyone. It was one of Sora, grinning like a goof, a keyblade in hand with the duck and dog.
"Sora's character, the keyblade master, the 'hero' as it were. Comes from the same world as Kairi, myself, Wakka, Tidus and Selphie. General do-gooder," Riku explained, hearing a noise of protest from Sora. It was Sora who hesitantly put forward a little sketch.
"Here, I drew this as a world… It's a little bit... childish… I can't draw that well…" Sora placed it down. Riku snatched it up, surprised that Sora had drawn something so perfect for the purposes of the story.
"This is perfect for the home world. Hm… With a few adjustments… It'd work, right Seph?" Riku handed over the sketch. Sephiroth looked at it for a moment. There was an excited squeal.
"I knew I recognised you! You're Sephiroth! I'm like your biggest fan EVER!" Yuffie squeaked, trying to get up but Kairi forced her down, thankfully.
"Uh yeah… Sephiroth is my… biological father. Aerith is my mother," He gestured to the pink clad woman, who was perched on a chair arm. A few people looked at Riku disbelievingly, but Riku forced himself to continue.
"Anyhow, as I was saying. So far I have a little background on the characters. The input has been mainly from the professional writers, but I've added a few touches here and there…" Riku explained, pulling out another, full colour sketch. The one of the sunset with Sora and Kairi.
"Huh?" Kairi and Sora said together. He chuckled, as though he couldn't care less about the picture.
"It was a toss up between myself and Sora as to who Kairi fell in love with. It was decided, for the simplicity of the story line, that Kairi would love Sora, as he isn't going to turn evil," Riku explained. At this, about three people protested that Riku wasn't evil. Riku grinned and pulled out a few sketches.
He was surprised when he found the one of himself wrapped in darkness, with Sora stabbing him. He'd shredded that one… Cid made a copy…
"Uh, yeah… Anyhow…" He put them all out. Sora stood up to examine them more closely.
"I get to kill you?" He asked, his voice filled with some kind of morbid curiosity. Riku shook his head.
"Sorry, I'm your childhood friend. You can't kill me in this. Lots of dragons, demons and stuff, but no humans. Too much blood for a PG…" Riku gave the sketches to Sora to hand around. Everyone seemed interested.
He explained each of their roles to them, no one complained if they thought their roles were too minor. Sora was beaming when Riku told them what he suspected the plot would be.
"When Sora gets to Hollow Bastion, I'll take the Keyblade from him. I was supposed to be the keyblade master, but was corrupted by darkness. After that I give my body to Ansem and Sora beats me into a pulp. I stop Ansem from killing Sora and help him escape, then fade into darkness… The next time I'm in the game, I-" He stopped, Sora was unfolding a piece of paper sheepishly.
"I dunno, you say that Kingdom Hearts is where all the light is? So why not make a gateway to it… And, er, you're only an anti-hero, right, so…" Sora stopped, and handed over the dog-eared sketch.
Riku grinned. How was it that Sora thought up these ideas? It was ideal and from that, Riku found many endings popping up in his head.
"Hey, dad, this could work…" Riku said over his shoulder, handing Sephiroth the sketch. The silver haired man stared at Riku for a second.
"You just called me-" He began. Riku smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, don't get used to it…" Riku warned. Sephiroth began to smile, a sappy smile. Riku waved his hand.
"Hey, don't go all sentimental on me. It doesn't suit you. Remember cold, collected Sephiroth? Yeah? C'mon!" Riku did nothing short of slapping his father across the face. Sephiroth snapped out of it.
"Oh, right… Anyhow… This idea Sora, it's very good. I think it would fit in with the rest of the plot line… Yes, very good indeed…" Sephiroth looked up at Riku.
"You were right about your friends, Riku. It's probably because you're all friends that this is such an easy process. You all know what will work with each other. Perhaps Seph should just sack all his 'professionals' and hire you instead," Aerith joked. Despite all the tension between various parties in the room, somehow, it didn't matter so much anymore.
"I was wondering about Cloud's history. He's quite a deep looking character, with the right costume and scripting, we could make him into quite an enigmatic character," Sephiroth said quietly. Cloud looked up, a little surprised.
"Any ideas?" Riku asked the blonde. Cloud thought for a moment.
"I'm trying to find someone… Both my light and my darkness…" Cloud said. Yuffie chuckled.
"Oooh! Poetic!" She squealed. Cloud smiled.
"Right, let's see… I guess I could tie myself in with Sephiroth… Perhaps Sephiroth could be the darkness I'm trying to defeat…" Cloud suggested. Riku snatched up a pencil while they talked through the character.
Riku noticed Sora was stood behind him, looking over his shoulder. He ignored him, trying to concentrate…
Sephiroth was stood, sword raised, wearing a long black trench coat. Opposite him, wearing a red mantle and dressed in purple, with a huge sword that looked like an elongated chef's knife, was Cloud.
Between them, with gentle white wings coming from her back, kneeling down as if praying, was Aerith. Where had she come from?
"Yo guys, I think Riku has an idea," Sora called, breaking up the argument between Kairi and Cloud about making deals with Gods of the Underworld.
"Sora! It's nothing, carry on discussing things…" Riku protested, before having the sketch snatched away from him.
"Aerith? She's the light that makes the darkness face each other…" Sephiroth muttered. He clicked his fingers.
"You willing to be my enemy?" The older man asked. Cloud smirked.
"You willing to me mine?" He replied. Sephiroth laughed and began to pace around the room.
"Right, I'm going to collect in these sketches and relay what we've got so far to the 'professional' team. I think it's time you left for today…" He gestured to the clock, which was reading five p.m.
Riku stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He waited for Leon, who was obviously hanging around until after Cloud had left.
"Oh my God!" Kairi shrieked suddenly.
"What?" Sora asked, as everyone turned to face her, all with worried expressions. She grinned guiltily.
"I missed cheerleading practise…" She said quietly. Everyone groaned and continued out of the room.
"D.I. Aurochs are the best, D.I. Aurochs beat the rest. N.Y. Goers going down. We will pound you to the ground!" Sora shook his head at the cheesiness of the cheerleading chants. Well, for Kairi, that was quite a good one.
Sora watched Selphie as she performed all the high kicks and jumps. Being the smallest, she was the one who was thrown too… She looked so excited and happy, even though she was nothing like as good as the other girls…
"She's enjoying herself," Cloud commented. Sora nodded, watching as the huge dome on front of him filled with water. This was the first blitzball match he'd been to since he'd quit the team two years ago…
"You ever thought about taking it back up?" Yuffie asked, from his other side. Sora leaned back, staring at the sphere in front of him…
"There's no way I'm as good as these guys…" He said finally. Yuffie giggled.
"You're better than Keepa, he can barely catch a ball!" She protested. Sora sighed, there was too much going on at the moment, never mind blitzball too…
"Where's Riku?" Yuffie asked suddenly. Sora shrugged. Ever since the diary incident… there had been a wall between them… A rather large one…
"He isn't likely to tell me…" Sora replied. Yuffie leaned back against her chair, then pointed at the cheerleaders.
"This was the bit that Selphie's been talking about for ages…" She said. Sora watched as Selphie was thrown into the air, as she reached her zenith, she turned in the air, little bits of glittery confetti falling from her arms where she'd obviously been holding the stuff. Surprisingly, she was caught graciously on the other end of the arc.
"Selphie's actually quite good…" Cloud commented. Sora nodded, was it the same girl who had tried to make an ice cream cake?
"Surprisingly…" He muttered. The floodlights turned on, lighting up the stadium and the glass tank and the quiet of anticipation went through the crowd…
Riku dropped his cigarette on the ground, crushing it out with his heel. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel like sitting on the front row in front of everyone.
He was dressed to impress tonight, or more importantly, to look like he shouldn't be messed with. He wore black, black cords with silver zips and buckles up the legs, knee high boots with steel soles, and a black stop with the slogan 'God is busy… Can I help you?'
He knew the N.Y. Goers very well. Or more importantly, he knew the scum that would have travelled to watch them… He wasn't naïve enough to think he would get away without a fight tonight.
He hadn't been too popular back in his old school in New York…
"If it isn't the little runt. How are things, bitch boy?" A sneering voice came from behind him. Riku smirked, it was as he expected. He turned to see a man with short blonde hair, a scar across the middle of his forehead, jade eyes that were cold, harsh, cruel…
And of course, his cronies Fujin and Raijin.
"Seifer…" Riku bowed mockingly. "Nice to see you again." He grinned as Seifer tried to figure out the reason behind Riku's politeness. He didn't seem to get the sarcasm…
"Whatever, bitch boy," He growled. Riku chuckled, leaning against the stands, lighting up another cigarette.
"Give me one," Seifer commanded. Riku looked up at blonde then shook his head in disbelief.
"No," He replied his voice monotonous.
"I said give me one," Seifer repeated. Riku looked him up and down. Seifer was no longer towering above him, now he was only a few inches taller. Sure, he was tall, but not tall enough to order Riku about.
"You know, Leon's in the crowd. He'd be happy to see you," Riku said, slyly. Seifer's eyes narrowed.
"You wouldn't…" He breathed. Riku raised an eyebrow.
"You obviously don't know me well enough…" Riku replied. He then pushed himself off the wall, right up against Seifer. He felt the blonde shrink away.
"Go play with smaller fish, Seifer," Riku growled, walking away.
Sora stood up, deciding to go get a hot dog during half time. The Aurochs were winning 5-4, but it was a terribly close match. Tidus and Wakka were having a hard time getting through the superb defence of the Goers.
"I'm getting a hot dog, anyone else want something?" Sora asked. Cloud shook his head, no one else heard him. Clambering past people, Sora slipped down the side of the stands and bought a hotdog.
He stepped out of the way, into a darker area behind the stands. No one could see him there. He just wanted a chance to clear his head slightly…
Everything in his life seemed to be moving so fast… His parents deciding he was going to marry, the Kingdom Hearts film, his own feelings were so hormone driven he was having trouble keeping up with them, his friendships, his baking…
"He said to find smaller fish… I think I have…" A cold voice said. Sora spun around to see a pair of jade eyes glinting in the darkness.
"Look, Fuj, I've caught a mouse…"
Riku shuffled along the front row, sitting down beside Cloud. The blonde was staring into space, having no one to talk to except Yuffie, who was in deep discussion with Leon.
"Where's Sora?" Riku asked. He wasn't particularly sure whether he and Sora were friends at the moment. They're relationship had been strange lately, as though they were both changing at such an alarming rate that they were having trouble keeping up with each other.
"He went to get a hotdog… He's been gone quite some time now actually… Must be stuffing his face like usual…" Cloud muttered. Riku blinked slowly. Somewhere, in the regions of his gut, he got the feeling Sora wasn't stuffing his face…
"Cloud, c'mon, we've got to look for him!" Riku jumped up, sidling down the row. Cloud followed, probably because he was bored, Riku didn't know. Cloud didn't seem too interested in the blitzball…
"Why?" Cloud asked, as though he didn't care what the answer was. Riku glanced at him, wondering if the truth was the right answer.
"There are some real nasty guys around tonight. There's one I know, and he would do anything to get his revenge. I snubbed him tonight, it's likely he'll just take it out on a… smaller fish…" Riku stood on tiptoes so he could see over the top of the crowd. Sora wasn't near the hotdog stand.
"Cloud, check all the front. I'll check the back," Riku said. Cloud nodded.
"Yessir!" He replied, running off. Riku jumped off the stands, causing a few people to start and some to applaud his acrobatics. He didn't care, just running behind the stands.
For what seemed like hours he found nothing, which he wasn't sure was a good or bad thing, but finally he heard Seifer cackling laugh… Seifer only laughed when he was hurting something… Or someone…
"Poor little mouse, had enough?" He asked. Riku skidded to a halt. Sure enough, Sora was on the floor, wheezing painfully. Riku saw red, his fists clenched into balls and he launched himself at Seifer.
First he landed a painful hit on the blonde man's ribs, forcing the air out of him. Fujin and Raijin both went for him, but Riku blocked Fujin's angry attacks with one arm, landing a kick on Raijin's ribs on the other side.
He pulled Fujin in front of him, pushing her into Seifer and making them both overbalance. It was a short fight, but Riku wasn't in the mood to teach anyone a lesson. At the moment, he was most worried about Sora.
He helped the boy up, but realised it was pointless, seeing as Raijin and Fujin were already fleeing the scene, dragging Seifer with them. Riku let Sora sag to the ground again, watching Seifer go before crouching down.
"This is all my fault…" Riku whispered. Sora shook his head.
"How can it be? My stupid fault for standing around underneath the stands…" He replied. Riku felt the desire to wrap his arms around the brunet, but forced his hands into his pockets.
"No, I told him to pick on someone else. He picked on you…" Riku explained. Sora closed his eyes.
"I'd never blame you Riku… You're my friend… You never meant for it to happen…" Sora opened one eye to read Riku's expression.
A friend… It's all I ever can be, isn't it Sora? Just friends…
"Just friends…" Riku's eyes widened when he realised he'd spoken allowed. He straightened up, hiding his blushing face in the shadows.
"What did you say?" Sora asked. He bit his lip.
"Nothing Sora… I didn't say anything…" Riku replied, helping Sora up. Was it him, or was Sora's breathing shallower than it had been a few seconds ago. Riku decided it was time to leave.
In the dark, Sora was clumsy. Riku wondered how hard Seifer had hit him on the head. When they finally got somewhere near the light, Sora tripped, landing on top of Riku, their faces pressing together.
Sora didn't move from on top of him, cheek resting against cheek. Riku cleared his throat.
"Sora, c'mon get up…" He choked. The boy's dead weight really was heavy.
"Nah, I think I'll stay here…" The boy replied. Riku growled low in his throat.
"Sora-" He began, but then he heard Cloud's shout. Sora rolled off, grinning at Riku.
"Thank you for saving me," He whispered. "No matter how much we hurt each other, we'll always be friends, right?"
With that, Sora jumped up and ran towards Cloud, not stumbling or tripping over once.
That pissed Riku off a little…
Sora greeted Cloud warmly, despite the bruises on his face and body, despite the blood on his lip, despite the burning sensation in his stomach that could only have been caused by Riku's little comment… 'Just friends'…
Maybe you stand a chance Sora? That's if you like Riku… And then you can get in there and… But what if you're wrong…
Wait for the opportune moment. Make sure it's romantic. You have plenty of time. Don't rush into this like a horny rabbit Sora…
"What's up with you, you're grinning like a fool," Cloud asked. Sora chuckled.
"I'm not rushing into things like a horny bunny for a change…" He chuckled again at Cloud's mystified face. Behind them, Riku trailed, deep in thought. He heard the term 'horny bunny' and looked up to see Sora's eyes were bright and happy and Cloud was looking puzzled.
"Horny bunny? Sora, I never want to hear that phrase from your mouth again…" Cloud joked. Sora laughed.
"You're the one always trying to get me into bed!" He protested. Cloud smirked at that.
"What? You actually want to sleep with me?" He retorted. Sora pretended to think about it.
"Nah, I prefer strong guys…" Sora replied, dodging Cloud's swipe at his head and running off, sticking out his tongue. Riku looked around, wondering what had happened to Seifer and his posse.
"Oh yeah, like who?" Cloud asked, once he had Sora in a headlock. They were standing in one of the busiest stretches now, surely they were safe. Riku relaxed, finally paying attention to Sora and Cloud's conversation.
"Leon for instance," Sora said, casually. Cloud's face turned to stone and he released his hold on Sora, his hands going to his hair.
"You can't keep avoiding him forever… What happened between the two of you anyhow?" Sora demanded. Riku looked up, would Cloud really explain it? Riku, of course, knew what had happened, though he was sure as hell he didn't understand…
"It's… complicated… and my fault…" Cloud said. Riku smiled, sardonically.
"Amazing, Leon claims it's his," He remarked. Cloud winced, then Riku noticed him take a deep breath, organising his thoughts.
"We were fooling about in his room… I ended up kissing him… But he didn't respond, so I freaked out and tried to leave…" Cloud looked at the floor, as though too embarrassed or ashamed to admit what had happened.
"He tried to stop me leaving, he practically forced me to explain to him… I accused him of being like… like my previous lovers and he got angry… I got scared and ran away…" Cloud's hands were shaking, tears fell from his eyes and onto the ground.
Riku instinctively moved forward, before he knew what he was doing, he was embracing the blonde, trying to calm him down.
"It's okay… Shh…" Riku tried to soothe him. Riku felt another pair of arms overlap his own and saw Sora hugging Cloud too. The brunet's eyes opened and met Riku's. Sora's fingers were pressed against his stomach, he saw the mischievous look in Sora's eyes and then he felt Sora's fingers dance across his stomach, tickling him tummy.
With a gasp, Riku drew back to see Sora's cute little smile and Cloud looking a little happier.
"Thanks…" The blonde sniffled. Riku flashed him a grin.
"Don't give up on Leon, he's a stubborn ass, but he's got a heart… He's probably beating himself up about it too," Riku explained. Cloud smiled slightly.
"You think I stand a chance?" He asked. Riku folded his arms, wondering if this one person was the only person who didn't know.
"Yes!" Sora said, after realising that Riku wasn't going to.
"Oh…" Cloud then looked away. Riku sighed, what was with this guy?
"I'll tell you something… Last night, Leon had a nightmare, woke me up from the screaming… He said he'd dreamed of you…" Riku said quietly. Cloud looked up at Riku, smiling slightly.
"I'm that ugly?" He asked. Sora chuckled.
"Well, yeah, but Leon doesn't seem to think so," The brunet joked. Cloud cheered up immensely, and for the first time in months he truly smiled. His eyes lit up, sparkled, and a little colour came to his cheeks.
"C'mon, we've got a game to watch…" Riku reminded them, directing them to their stand and the front row.
"Squall?" Leon turned around, storm grey meeting cerulean blue. Leon blinked for a second, slightly shocked that the blonde had come over, with the sole purpose talking to him…
"Cloud," He said. He wasn't sure what else to say. The blonde looked up at the game for a while. Leon continued to watch him. What was going on?
"It wasn't your fault, you know…" Cloud said finally. He looked down once more, meeting Leon's eyes. He felt as though Cloud was assessing something. He swallowed, noting how dry his mouth suddenly was.
"I didn't mean to hurt you," Leon said softly. Cloud shrugged.
"I'm equally as guilty," He replied. Leon bit his lip, was it just him or was Cloud… flirting with him… Leon could read body language, but still, he could misinterpret it and make a fool of himself… again…
"No you're not. I tried to force you into sleeping with me. I admit it. I was after sex. When I saw you were so upset, I should have stopped. I shouldn't have-" Leon felt a finger on his lips, and stared at Cloud.
He felt his heart thumping in his breast, the butterflies in his stomach, the pure joy from one simple touch.
"And that ends the match! The Aurochs win 8-6!" The commentator yelled. Cloud removed his finger.
"That's my cue. I'll see you around," Cloud stood up. "First rule, never give them everything all at once." With that he was gone in a flash of purple and blonde.
Leon stared for a second, then a silly grin spread across his face.
I have another chance…
Ending Notes:
The end of the chapter. Yes, the couples are starting that long trundle towards getting together. Well, this isn't such a long trundle really… A lot is going to happen to the boys over the second half of the fic.
The next chapter is another relief chapter, simply because I wanted to add a little bit more of the movie side in and a little bit more Selphie cutesy stuff. Also, after the next chapter, there is just a lot of depressing stuff that happens to the boys so…
sighs R&R…