Chp 4: Nobody's Listening
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Disclaimer: I don't own KH or "Nobody's Listening" by Linkin Park
A/N: Thanks for all the love y'all!
~*~
Tonight Kairi wasn't sleeping like an angel or a princess. She had a scowl on her face all night long and tossed and turned nonstop. Kairi was awakened this morning, not by the pleasant scent of peaches n' cream, but sun's light hitting her eyes full of anger. She groaned and rolled out of bed. Her brown hair was a wild mess and she had a mug on her face to match. She walked slowly down the stairs as opposed to yesterday when she ran down with a smile. When she reached the bottom she stumbled over to the table and clomped down on the chair. Betsy stepped out of the kitchen with a plate full of strawberry muffins. She saw the expression Kairi was wearing and chuckled.
"Well good morning sunshine," she said sarcastically with a smile. Kairi groaned as her response, which made Betsy laugh even more. "What's troubling you peaches?" Kairi smiled softly. This was her first smile of the morning.
"My mom used to call me peaches." Kairi said quietly. Betsy smiled.
"Do you miss her?" she asked.
"She called me peaches before we went to Destiny Island. When we came there I spent less time with her and more time with Sora and Riku. When that happened she called me peaches less and less. She doesn't call me that anymore now, we don't speak very often." Betsy smiled warmly and sat down beside her. She ran her fingers through her hair affectionately.
"Aw, Kairi darlin', you're the sweetest thing. Now why don't you tell ol' Betsy what's troubling you?" Kairi smiled meekly.
"Riku," she sighed.
"Oh, it all comes back to Riku," Betsy replied with a smile.
"Yah, speaking of Riku, why didn't you tell me he had a girlfriend?" Kairi asked.
"Oh I'm sorry baby! I completely forgot about her! But even so, I try no to think about her. Betsy doesn't like Faye that much. That girl is all wrong for my Riku!"
"I know!" Kairi protested, "They're like exact 100% polar opposites!"
"I know!" Betsy agreed, "It's real sad sometimes too! I mean, whenever Riku wants to go play kickball or King of the Mountain with all the guys around Traverse Town, and you know, be a guy, Faye always makes him stay with her and watch her practice her flute or something. And whenever he tries to persuade her to do the things he likes with her she's always like "no I'll break a nail" or something like that!"
"Yah, I mean, she is SUCH a prep and Riku told me that he can't stand preps and he's acting like he's all in love with one!"
"Riku told you that?" Betsy asked.
"Yah, back when he used to tell me stuff," Kairi replied sadly. "I tried to tell him Faye is all wrong for him and then he told me to stop judging him and we got into this big argument, and then he goes off and kisses her just to piss me off!" Kairi put her hands on her head in frustration.
"Well baby cakes, what can I say, guys are just stupid like that!" They both giggled at her comment. They continued talking about the situation and then the door swung open. They could hear Riku's voice in the back ground saying "No, don't go in there, no!" and stuff like that and then Faye stepped in the front door wearing her lavender nightgown.
"Betsy...Kairi," she greeted arrogantly, "We'll be eating breakfast here." Kairi was watching Riku behind her as he slapped his hand on his head in frustration. Faye walked over and sat on the opposite side of Kairi. The three girls stared at Riku.
"Well, um..." he said as he scratched the back of his head, "Actually, I'm not that hungry so I'm just gonna go." He turned for the door.
"Oh Riku, you were just telling me how starved you were. I don't see what all the fuss is about over coming here!" Faye's voice boomed stopping Riku dead in his tracks. Riku stayed with his back turned for a second, and Kairi noticed that he clinched his fists. He turned around.
"Well...." He said while trying to look at anything but Kairi. Kairi scowled.
"Yah Riku," she said breaking the silence, "you can eat here!" she said slightly aggressively as she pushed a chair at him. "What are you scared or something?"
"No!" he immediately responded. He pulled a chair out and sat down by Faye. Faye was looking in he pocket mirror and fixing her hair while Riku and Kairi were locked in a death glare. Betsy raised her eyebrows at this situation.
"Well I'm gonna get some milk!" she said as an excuse to leave for a few minutes. Kairi and Riku were still locked in that stare. Faye snapped her pocket mirror shut.
"So,..yesterday I visiting my friend Sara and get this: she's wearing this TOTALLY hideous orange nail polish! Can you believe that? And I'm all like: Sara you need to like...." Faye went on chattering indistinctly, nonstop. Kairi and Riku never took their eyes full of anger of off each other. That's all they did. Neither of them spoke. They just got lost in each other's eyes full of anger and angst, waiting for the other to snap. Faye went on talking in her prissy, princess ways and this was severely annoying Riku since he was sitting beside her as she chattered away with no sign of stopping. Through all his frustration he dug his nails into the table. This was more than just a contest with Kairi to see who cracks first....this was about much more. It was about his rage and frustration that was building up from Kairi's sudden presence in his life and from his conceited girlfriend that Kairi only cared about herself and didn't even bother to ask why he was so angry. Riku's nails dug deeper into the table as Faye kept talking. Anger, rage, frustration, these things swirled through his head viscously as he heard Faye's annoying and horribly conceited speech and stared into Kairi's angry eyes at the same time. His rage was building and building until finally he had reached well past his boiling point. Something had to go. Riku pounded his fists on the table, got up, tipped over his chair, and whipped his head to his so-called girlfriend.
"SHUT THE HELL UP FAYE! NOBODY CARES!" He screamed this so loud everybody in Traverse Town could hear him. His face was deep red and his nails were digging into his palms as he breathed heavily to regain his breath from his screaming. Kairi had her back all the way up against the chair and was panting from shock with eyes so wide could see her retina from a mile away. Betsy poked her head out from the kitchen door with a very white face and bewildered expression. Faye, one the other hand, had tears in her eyes.
"Well fine then!" she cried. She got up and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Riku was still standing up, still digging his nails into his palms, still breathing hard, and still had rage and frustration in his eyes. He looked over at Kairi. Kairi stared back at him with an expression between shocked and terrified.
"Well I guess you won!" he spit out at her. Then he turned around and walked away, slamming the door so hard a picture knocked of the wall. As soon as he did Kairi clamped her hand over her mouth to fight back her sobbing as tears were starting to run out of her eyes. Betsy rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.
"Oh baby, I'm so sorry!"
"What happened to him?" Kairi cried, "He's never acted like that ever! I know that was about way more than our staring contest thing we were doing!" Betsy kissed Kairi's forehead.
"Oh darlin' he's just frustrated."
"At what? I know he's frustrated with me but that had to be more than just me!"
"Well hun, try to put yourself in his shoes. Imagine all that he's been through in life. All Riku wanted to be was your knight in shining armor, but you took that privilege away from him and broke his heart. You don't know what having your heart broken is like baby, and he found out at too young of an age and it scared him. He came here to escape his past and from you. He's now with someone that makes him unhappy but he stays with her because she's the only thing that keeps his mind of off you. And that's what he wants; he wants to forget about you. I know that swallowing your emotions is bad, but that's what he was forced to do in order to forget about you. Then you come out of the blue and now even Faye can't help him. But he knows that the longer you stay then the more chances he'll have of losing Faye, and if he loses her then he'll have no one to help him soothe the wounds of his past. He craves to be happy again Kairi, but he's too blind too see that Faye isn't going to help him forget you, she may mask the memories of his past for a while, but she can't blind him completely. That's exactly what I told Riku. I said "Riku baby, you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape your past. It'll come around again one day". Of course then he didn't take what I said seriously, but when you came it freaked him out and all his memories came back. Just the mere sight of brought all the memories and the emotions back. And that infuriates him. He can't live with himself knowing that no matter what he does, you'll always be there, and you coming here proves it. And you also opened his eyes to how horrible Faye is for him. Kairi, he's been escaping his past all his life. And at the table he realized that he can't run from life. He's trapped Kairi. And he doesn't know where to go. And realized this all just from seeing your pretty face again. And it frustrates him. He's angry with himself for not being strong enough to run, and he's angry at life for doing this to him. And the worst part is that today he realized that he was truly trapped. And on top of all of that since you released the memories of his past, they constantly haunt his mind and now all he has is a heart full of pain, a life that he now hates, and memories of his broken heart. That's why he wants to stay away from you Kairi, he's scared of getting his heart broken again. It's hard to explain darlin', Riku's heart is so heavy right now. It's hard to put it into words. But I do know for sure, that he is suffering."
"How do you know all this?" Kairi asked slowly.
"Well, since Faye is so self-centered and he can't really talk to her, he comes to me with all of his problems. It's so sad. My poor baby Riku is so trapped. It's like he makes the right moves but he's lost within." Kairi straightened up at this statement.
"He's not the only one that's trapped, I'm trapped too! I came here just to see Riku again and talk to him and try to prove that everything he wrote to me in that letter is wrong. But I come here and he's got a girl on his hands that's all wrong for him and I've become frustrated and jealous. I felt all these new things about feelings for Riku and I just want so much to take him in my arms and hold him. But he's pushing me away, and the more he does that the more my feelings grow and now I'm trapped in a cage of emotions. I know it may not sound like much but picture this: My cage of emotions is a place where you can't breath, you can't think, and you feel sick to your stomach, and when he comes around these things grow and grow, but he keeps pushing me farther away and my cage becomes smaller and smaller, soon I'll be stuck in a little box curled up in a fettle position of broken feelings! And the only person who can set me free is Riku!" Kairi put her hands on her head in hopelessness. Betsy rubbed her back.
"Oh, my poor baby. Y'all are both to young to deal with these things. But you have to be patient with Riku baby. He's got a head full of anger and a chest full of stress. If anyone makes the wrong moves around him he'll lash out like he did this morning. I know y'all both are now in a place where you can't breath and there's no way of escaping, but no one said life was easy darlin'. Don't worry hun; things will clear up one day, maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday. The aftermath maybe tragic, but like I said, life ain't easy."
~*~
Riku walked down the alleyways searching for Faye. He had a lot of damage control to do from the aftermath of this sudden lashing out at the breakfast table. He found her sitting on a wooden crate crying softly.
"Faye?" he said softly.
"Go away," she sniffed, "I'm mad at you." Riku sat down beside her.
"Faye, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was just very frustrated at the moment."
"Riku, you tipped over a chair."
"I'm sorry! I just have a lot to deal with right now." Faye paused and looked at him with icy eyes.
"This is all about that Kairi girl isn't it?"
"No," he said immediately responded.
"Yes it is!" she said as she raised her voice, "You never acted that way before she came!" Riku paused.
"Ok maybe it is a bit about Kairi." Faye sniffed at this.
"I knew it, you're all over her now!"
"Hell no I'm not!" Riku said as he raised his own voice.
"Riku I'm not a dumb ass! I see the way you two look at each other!"
"Faye...." Riku was at a loss for words. "Faye, I've never asked you to do anything, but I have to ask you that whatever is going on between me and Kairi I need you to stay out of it!"
"Why?" she snorted.
"Because,...well this feud between us goes back farther than you think?"
"What? You mean y'all go all the way back to the sandbox?"
"Faye! That's not the point! Now you have to promise to stay out of this!"
"And what if I don't?"
"If you don't then THIS," he said as he pointed to him and Faye, "is over!" Faye froze.
"I'm sorry Riku," he said as she hugged him, "I'll stay out of it...I promise." Riku sighed and then hugged her back. They embraced for a while.
"Meet me later ok? I need to talk to Kairi."
"Ok," Faye responded slightly insecurely. Riku kissed Faye on the cheek then took off. When Riku's back was turned a dark look went across Faye's face.
"Kairi...."
~*~
Kairi was outside of Betsy's house throwing a softball up against the walls and practicing her catching. She was unaware that Riku was approaching her. As Riku approached her and watched her play with the softball a minor flashback went through his head.
~*Flash Back*~
"Oh wait you can't shake my hand, I just painted my nails and you'll smudge the paint, sorry!"
~*End*~
Riku groaned. Kairi threw the softball and Riku stepped in its way and he caught it himself. Kairi's eyes widened and there was an awkward silence for a few seconds.
"Nice catch," Kairi said softly.
"Thanks," Riku replied as he threw the softball back to her. Kairi caught it and raised her eyebrows arrogantly.
"So, does Faye know how to catch?" Riku scowled at her. He walked slowly towards her.
"Kairi I came here to tell you that you've disrespected my wishes for you to stay in Destiny Islands, and my wishes for you to go back home, but I'm not allowing this to happen anymore." They were now mere centimeters from each other as they looked into each other's eyes with disgust and hate. "Kairi I don't want you making fun of my girlfriend." Kairi smirked at this.
"Maybe I wouldn't if she wasn't such an easy target."
"Kairi! You stop that! I've asked you to do lots of things for me and they've been ignored but I'm asking....no, I'm telling you to stay away from Faye." Kairi scowled at him.
"Why? Why does it matter that I'm around her? And that I make fun of her?"
"Because you'll screw everything up."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What am I screwing up Riku?"
"Uh, let's see: my feelings, my relationship, my sanity, my LIFE," Riku shouted. Then he scoffed loudly and turned around and walked fiercely away.
"And just how am I screwing up your life?" Riku turned around and glared at her.
"Kairi, I turned to darkness for you and didn't even get a half-ass thank- you, you messed up my feelings, you ignored me, you broke my heart, if you do anything to mess it up for me and Faye...you might as well shoot me." Kairi didn't have anything to say back, she just stared at the ground with tears of anger in her eyes.
"Why you care if I screw it up for you and Faye?" she asked as her breath started to grow teary. Riku was silent.
"That's not important! You just stay away from her!" (A/N: If you remember what Betsy said to Kairi you'll find out why.) Kairi glared darkly at him.
"Fine," she hissed, "I'll stay away from your precious Faye!" Riku glared at her then turned around and walked away.
~*~
Kairi was walking around outside thinking about what Riku had told her. It was a beautiful day outside and it was oddly quiet outside. Kairi sighed.
"Man you'd think with a day like this things would be louder than usual." Then a boy wearing a blue baseball hat ran towards her. He stopped in front of her and bent over as he panted. Then he grabbed her hand.
"Come on, we need you," he uttered under his panting.
"Need me for what?" but then he ran off with her. He took her to the middle of the Third District where a bunch of kids were standing around. The boy took Kairi to the center of the huddle.
"Ok," he panted, "Now we have enough people to play." He turned to Kairi, "By the way we're having a baseball tournament. Kairi giggled.
"Ok that sounds fun." She looked around and noticed she was the only girl.
"Ok!" one of the boys shouted as he stepped into the middle of the circle. He was very tall boy with blonde hair and green eyes. "Me and Riku are captains!" Kairi's eyes widened at the mention of his name. Her head whipped around and Riku stepped out from the crowd. He glared at Kairi then turned his head to the boy.
"Ok Jay," he said to him.
"Heads or Tails?" Jay asked as he took out his coin.
"Heads." Jay flipped the coin.
"Alright my man, you pick first."
"Wait!" Faye's voice called out into the crowd. She stepped in the middle of the circle. "I want to play to." All the guys snickered.
"What are you gonna do?" one of them called out, "be cheerleader?" The congregation laughed hardly. Riku fumed.
"Shut up Thomas," he spat at the boy. Riku then grabbed Faye's arm and pulled her away from the circle. "What are you doing?" he hissed in a whispered tone. "You don't know how to play baseball! Wait, do you even know what baseball is?"
"I know what baseball is!" Faye scowled. "Come one Riku let me play!" Riku then closed his eyes tightly to fight back anything else that was coming out.
"Fine!" he said, "Just don't embarrass me." Faye smiled and clapped her hands together as she skipped of into the crowd. Riku looked up at the sky.
"Please don't let her embarrass me!" he begged. The captains picked teams and Faye ended up on Riku's team and Kairi on Jay's team.
"Ok kids, let's play!" Then the group separated into their teams. As Kairi was running off someone ran into her purposely.
"Hey, what's your problem ma." she turned around and Faye was standing their smirking.
"You better watch your back!" she called out. Kairi rolled her eyes and then ran off with her team.
"What was that all about?" she said under her breath.
~*3rd Inning*~
The score was tied at 3-3 and then Faye stepped up to bat. Riku had already found a nice place to hide to spare him the embarrassment of being jeered at about Faye totally beefing it at the plate. When she was up there all the guys in the outfield taunted her.
"I hope you don't break a nail Faye!"
"Why don't you go back to the beauty parlor where you belong!"
"Man, you need to go back to playin' with dolls!"
"You're goin' down girl!" Kairi, who was at third base, smirked at all of this.
"Well this should be interesting!" she said. The pitcher snickered then threw his first pitch. Faye swung and missed it by a mile. The guys jeered at her. Faye scowled at all of them and then she noticed Kairi at third base. She tightened her grip on the bat.
"You're goin' down," she whispered under her breath. The pitcher threw the ball again. This time Faye hit it and it sailed straight towards Kairi at a high speed. Kairi had to duck to keep her head from being knocked off. Kairi straightened up and stared at Faye with disbelief, as did everyone else on the field. No one even went after the ball. There was complete silence as everyone stared wide-eyed at what they just witnessed. Riku got out from his hiding place and also stared with disbelief. Faye smirked then walked casually to first base. Riku's eye's widened.
"Oh no....," he said under his breath as the vision of Faye hitting the ball at Kairi ran through his head. One of the guys finally snapped out of it and went and got the ball. When this happened everyone went back to normal. Kairi was still stiffed, as the shock from the ball heading straight towards her hadn't shaken yet. Kairi snapped out of it and her eyes grew cold as she glared at Faye who was standing on first base like she was the queen bee.
"Oh it's on now!" she said under her breath. The rest of the game for Faye and Kairi consisted of baseballs being thrown at hit at each other, lots of jeering, and death glares. The game was over and Riku's team had won (11- 13) but Riku's mind was on the fighting that had been commenced by Faye. He was furious.
"I told her to stay out of this!" he hissed under his breath.
~*~
Kairi walked fiercely down Traverse Town looking for Faye. She finally found her walking in front of her. Kairi glared at the girl.
"Hey!" she called out aggressively. Faye turned around.
"What do you want?" she asked arrogantly.
"Oh, you wanna know what my problem is? My problem is your little punk-ass coming in here thinking you can steal my guy you little man eater!"
"Oh you wish! I ain't trying to steal your man!"
"That's bull! I see right past you always pulling him to the side when he's around me talking to him! You disgust me you little slut!" Kairi fumed at this.
"Yah well even if I did steal your man I'd be doing him a favor cause I'd be relieving him from your stupid, preppy, conceited ass!"
"Why I oughta..." Faye growled as she stepped towards Kairi.
"Oh, don't step so hard Faye, you'll smudge your toenail polish!"
"Shut up!"
"Why don't you shut up prep?"
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Riku came up from behind them. His face was red and he was glaring fiercely at both of them. "Is anybody listening? Can anybody hear a word I'm saying? Kairi, I told you to leave Faye alone and Faye, I told you to stay out of this! Did y'all not hear a word I've said? Did y'all think I was kidding because hell no I wasn't! Damn, and y'all wonder why I get mad!" Both Faye and Kairi were frozen in their guilty tracks. "Man, what am I saying? Y'all don't care about what I want." Then he turned around and walked sadly away. When he walked away Faye started crying and then ran off. Kairi felt like doing the exact same thing but her body wouldn't allow her to. She stared sadly at Riku walking away.
"I'm sorry Riku," she whispered sadly. Then a tear fell down her face.
~*~
~*Riku's Room*~
Riku lied on his bed staring at the ceiling thinking about what had happened.
"They both screwed it up," he hissed. "If they had just stayed away from each other everything would've been fine! Why won't anybody listen me?" Riku pounded his fist on his mattress. He had an unhealthy level of frustration in him. He had to get it out or he would explode on someone. Riku looked around the room for something to let his anger out on. He tried punching his pillow but that wasn't enough. He got up from his bed and looked around for something, anything to help him get his anger off of his chest. Then he looked over at his desk. He approached it slowly and opened it. Inside of his desk was a notebook, not just any notebook, but the notebook he poured all his soul out on back when he lived on Destiny Island in his days of loneliness. It was the notebook he had written Kairi's letter in. He took the book and sat on his bed as he flipped through all of his angst-driven songs, poems, and thoughts he had written. Riku picked up a nearby pencil and tapped it on the notebook in thought. Then he flipped to any empty page and poured out his feelings onto the page.
// (Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called you so clearly but you don't want to hear)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held in my chest
And everything left's a waste of time
I hate my rhymes, but I hate everyone else's more
I'm riding on the back of this pressure
Guessing that it's better I can't keep myself together
Because all of this stress gave me something to write on
The pain gave me something I could set my sights on
Never forget the blood, sweat, and tears
The uphill struggle over the years the fear and
Trash talking and people who started it was to
And the people that started it just like you
(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held up in my chest
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
...Heart full of pain
(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)//
*
*
*
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Man, it's funny how you can go from having no clue what happens next to 13- page plot outburst. In case y'all are confused, Riku is now infuriated because he knows that he's trapped in life, he has a blow-hard girlfriend, and Kairi brings back memories that pains him to think about. And he wanted to keep Faye and Kairi away from each other because when he sees them together it just doubles his pain. When he told them to stay away from each other, they wouldn't listen and he now knows that no matter what he does, Faye and Kairi will always be there to screw up his life. That's just the small version of what he's feeling, and for full details read back to what Betsy says to Kairi and what is going through Riku's head before he blows up on Faye. Well that's all for now. Once again, thanks for all the love, it's really encouraging! Y'all rock!
Peace Out,
Kia Saphia
~*~
Disclaimer: I don't own KH or "Nobody's Listening" by Linkin Park
A/N: Thanks for all the love y'all!
~*~
Tonight Kairi wasn't sleeping like an angel or a princess. She had a scowl on her face all night long and tossed and turned nonstop. Kairi was awakened this morning, not by the pleasant scent of peaches n' cream, but sun's light hitting her eyes full of anger. She groaned and rolled out of bed. Her brown hair was a wild mess and she had a mug on her face to match. She walked slowly down the stairs as opposed to yesterday when she ran down with a smile. When she reached the bottom she stumbled over to the table and clomped down on the chair. Betsy stepped out of the kitchen with a plate full of strawberry muffins. She saw the expression Kairi was wearing and chuckled.
"Well good morning sunshine," she said sarcastically with a smile. Kairi groaned as her response, which made Betsy laugh even more. "What's troubling you peaches?" Kairi smiled softly. This was her first smile of the morning.
"My mom used to call me peaches." Kairi said quietly. Betsy smiled.
"Do you miss her?" she asked.
"She called me peaches before we went to Destiny Island. When we came there I spent less time with her and more time with Sora and Riku. When that happened she called me peaches less and less. She doesn't call me that anymore now, we don't speak very often." Betsy smiled warmly and sat down beside her. She ran her fingers through her hair affectionately.
"Aw, Kairi darlin', you're the sweetest thing. Now why don't you tell ol' Betsy what's troubling you?" Kairi smiled meekly.
"Riku," she sighed.
"Oh, it all comes back to Riku," Betsy replied with a smile.
"Yah, speaking of Riku, why didn't you tell me he had a girlfriend?" Kairi asked.
"Oh I'm sorry baby! I completely forgot about her! But even so, I try no to think about her. Betsy doesn't like Faye that much. That girl is all wrong for my Riku!"
"I know!" Kairi protested, "They're like exact 100% polar opposites!"
"I know!" Betsy agreed, "It's real sad sometimes too! I mean, whenever Riku wants to go play kickball or King of the Mountain with all the guys around Traverse Town, and you know, be a guy, Faye always makes him stay with her and watch her practice her flute or something. And whenever he tries to persuade her to do the things he likes with her she's always like "no I'll break a nail" or something like that!"
"Yah, I mean, she is SUCH a prep and Riku told me that he can't stand preps and he's acting like he's all in love with one!"
"Riku told you that?" Betsy asked.
"Yah, back when he used to tell me stuff," Kairi replied sadly. "I tried to tell him Faye is all wrong for him and then he told me to stop judging him and we got into this big argument, and then he goes off and kisses her just to piss me off!" Kairi put her hands on her head in frustration.
"Well baby cakes, what can I say, guys are just stupid like that!" They both giggled at her comment. They continued talking about the situation and then the door swung open. They could hear Riku's voice in the back ground saying "No, don't go in there, no!" and stuff like that and then Faye stepped in the front door wearing her lavender nightgown.
"Betsy...Kairi," she greeted arrogantly, "We'll be eating breakfast here." Kairi was watching Riku behind her as he slapped his hand on his head in frustration. Faye walked over and sat on the opposite side of Kairi. The three girls stared at Riku.
"Well, um..." he said as he scratched the back of his head, "Actually, I'm not that hungry so I'm just gonna go." He turned for the door.
"Oh Riku, you were just telling me how starved you were. I don't see what all the fuss is about over coming here!" Faye's voice boomed stopping Riku dead in his tracks. Riku stayed with his back turned for a second, and Kairi noticed that he clinched his fists. He turned around.
"Well...." He said while trying to look at anything but Kairi. Kairi scowled.
"Yah Riku," she said breaking the silence, "you can eat here!" she said slightly aggressively as she pushed a chair at him. "What are you scared or something?"
"No!" he immediately responded. He pulled a chair out and sat down by Faye. Faye was looking in he pocket mirror and fixing her hair while Riku and Kairi were locked in a death glare. Betsy raised her eyebrows at this situation.
"Well I'm gonna get some milk!" she said as an excuse to leave for a few minutes. Kairi and Riku were still locked in that stare. Faye snapped her pocket mirror shut.
"So,..yesterday I visiting my friend Sara and get this: she's wearing this TOTALLY hideous orange nail polish! Can you believe that? And I'm all like: Sara you need to like...." Faye went on chattering indistinctly, nonstop. Kairi and Riku never took their eyes full of anger of off each other. That's all they did. Neither of them spoke. They just got lost in each other's eyes full of anger and angst, waiting for the other to snap. Faye went on talking in her prissy, princess ways and this was severely annoying Riku since he was sitting beside her as she chattered away with no sign of stopping. Through all his frustration he dug his nails into the table. This was more than just a contest with Kairi to see who cracks first....this was about much more. It was about his rage and frustration that was building up from Kairi's sudden presence in his life and from his conceited girlfriend that Kairi only cared about herself and didn't even bother to ask why he was so angry. Riku's nails dug deeper into the table as Faye kept talking. Anger, rage, frustration, these things swirled through his head viscously as he heard Faye's annoying and horribly conceited speech and stared into Kairi's angry eyes at the same time. His rage was building and building until finally he had reached well past his boiling point. Something had to go. Riku pounded his fists on the table, got up, tipped over his chair, and whipped his head to his so-called girlfriend.
"SHUT THE HELL UP FAYE! NOBODY CARES!" He screamed this so loud everybody in Traverse Town could hear him. His face was deep red and his nails were digging into his palms as he breathed heavily to regain his breath from his screaming. Kairi had her back all the way up against the chair and was panting from shock with eyes so wide could see her retina from a mile away. Betsy poked her head out from the kitchen door with a very white face and bewildered expression. Faye, one the other hand, had tears in her eyes.
"Well fine then!" she cried. She got up and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Riku was still standing up, still digging his nails into his palms, still breathing hard, and still had rage and frustration in his eyes. He looked over at Kairi. Kairi stared back at him with an expression between shocked and terrified.
"Well I guess you won!" he spit out at her. Then he turned around and walked away, slamming the door so hard a picture knocked of the wall. As soon as he did Kairi clamped her hand over her mouth to fight back her sobbing as tears were starting to run out of her eyes. Betsy rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.
"Oh baby, I'm so sorry!"
"What happened to him?" Kairi cried, "He's never acted like that ever! I know that was about way more than our staring contest thing we were doing!" Betsy kissed Kairi's forehead.
"Oh darlin' he's just frustrated."
"At what? I know he's frustrated with me but that had to be more than just me!"
"Well hun, try to put yourself in his shoes. Imagine all that he's been through in life. All Riku wanted to be was your knight in shining armor, but you took that privilege away from him and broke his heart. You don't know what having your heart broken is like baby, and he found out at too young of an age and it scared him. He came here to escape his past and from you. He's now with someone that makes him unhappy but he stays with her because she's the only thing that keeps his mind of off you. And that's what he wants; he wants to forget about you. I know that swallowing your emotions is bad, but that's what he was forced to do in order to forget about you. Then you come out of the blue and now even Faye can't help him. But he knows that the longer you stay then the more chances he'll have of losing Faye, and if he loses her then he'll have no one to help him soothe the wounds of his past. He craves to be happy again Kairi, but he's too blind too see that Faye isn't going to help him forget you, she may mask the memories of his past for a while, but she can't blind him completely. That's exactly what I told Riku. I said "Riku baby, you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape your past. It'll come around again one day". Of course then he didn't take what I said seriously, but when you came it freaked him out and all his memories came back. Just the mere sight of brought all the memories and the emotions back. And that infuriates him. He can't live with himself knowing that no matter what he does, you'll always be there, and you coming here proves it. And you also opened his eyes to how horrible Faye is for him. Kairi, he's been escaping his past all his life. And at the table he realized that he can't run from life. He's trapped Kairi. And he doesn't know where to go. And realized this all just from seeing your pretty face again. And it frustrates him. He's angry with himself for not being strong enough to run, and he's angry at life for doing this to him. And the worst part is that today he realized that he was truly trapped. And on top of all of that since you released the memories of his past, they constantly haunt his mind and now all he has is a heart full of pain, a life that he now hates, and memories of his broken heart. That's why he wants to stay away from you Kairi, he's scared of getting his heart broken again. It's hard to explain darlin', Riku's heart is so heavy right now. It's hard to put it into words. But I do know for sure, that he is suffering."
"How do you know all this?" Kairi asked slowly.
"Well, since Faye is so self-centered and he can't really talk to her, he comes to me with all of his problems. It's so sad. My poor baby Riku is so trapped. It's like he makes the right moves but he's lost within." Kairi straightened up at this statement.
"He's not the only one that's trapped, I'm trapped too! I came here just to see Riku again and talk to him and try to prove that everything he wrote to me in that letter is wrong. But I come here and he's got a girl on his hands that's all wrong for him and I've become frustrated and jealous. I felt all these new things about feelings for Riku and I just want so much to take him in my arms and hold him. But he's pushing me away, and the more he does that the more my feelings grow and now I'm trapped in a cage of emotions. I know it may not sound like much but picture this: My cage of emotions is a place where you can't breath, you can't think, and you feel sick to your stomach, and when he comes around these things grow and grow, but he keeps pushing me farther away and my cage becomes smaller and smaller, soon I'll be stuck in a little box curled up in a fettle position of broken feelings! And the only person who can set me free is Riku!" Kairi put her hands on her head in hopelessness. Betsy rubbed her back.
"Oh, my poor baby. Y'all are both to young to deal with these things. But you have to be patient with Riku baby. He's got a head full of anger and a chest full of stress. If anyone makes the wrong moves around him he'll lash out like he did this morning. I know y'all both are now in a place where you can't breath and there's no way of escaping, but no one said life was easy darlin'. Don't worry hun; things will clear up one day, maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday. The aftermath maybe tragic, but like I said, life ain't easy."
~*~
Riku walked down the alleyways searching for Faye. He had a lot of damage control to do from the aftermath of this sudden lashing out at the breakfast table. He found her sitting on a wooden crate crying softly.
"Faye?" he said softly.
"Go away," she sniffed, "I'm mad at you." Riku sat down beside her.
"Faye, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was just very frustrated at the moment."
"Riku, you tipped over a chair."
"I'm sorry! I just have a lot to deal with right now." Faye paused and looked at him with icy eyes.
"This is all about that Kairi girl isn't it?"
"No," he said immediately responded.
"Yes it is!" she said as she raised her voice, "You never acted that way before she came!" Riku paused.
"Ok maybe it is a bit about Kairi." Faye sniffed at this.
"I knew it, you're all over her now!"
"Hell no I'm not!" Riku said as he raised his own voice.
"Riku I'm not a dumb ass! I see the way you two look at each other!"
"Faye...." Riku was at a loss for words. "Faye, I've never asked you to do anything, but I have to ask you that whatever is going on between me and Kairi I need you to stay out of it!"
"Why?" she snorted.
"Because,...well this feud between us goes back farther than you think?"
"What? You mean y'all go all the way back to the sandbox?"
"Faye! That's not the point! Now you have to promise to stay out of this!"
"And what if I don't?"
"If you don't then THIS," he said as he pointed to him and Faye, "is over!" Faye froze.
"I'm sorry Riku," he said as she hugged him, "I'll stay out of it...I promise." Riku sighed and then hugged her back. They embraced for a while.
"Meet me later ok? I need to talk to Kairi."
"Ok," Faye responded slightly insecurely. Riku kissed Faye on the cheek then took off. When Riku's back was turned a dark look went across Faye's face.
"Kairi...."
~*~
Kairi was outside of Betsy's house throwing a softball up against the walls and practicing her catching. She was unaware that Riku was approaching her. As Riku approached her and watched her play with the softball a minor flashback went through his head.
~*Flash Back*~
"Oh wait you can't shake my hand, I just painted my nails and you'll smudge the paint, sorry!"
~*End*~
Riku groaned. Kairi threw the softball and Riku stepped in its way and he caught it himself. Kairi's eyes widened and there was an awkward silence for a few seconds.
"Nice catch," Kairi said softly.
"Thanks," Riku replied as he threw the softball back to her. Kairi caught it and raised her eyebrows arrogantly.
"So, does Faye know how to catch?" Riku scowled at her. He walked slowly towards her.
"Kairi I came here to tell you that you've disrespected my wishes for you to stay in Destiny Islands, and my wishes for you to go back home, but I'm not allowing this to happen anymore." They were now mere centimeters from each other as they looked into each other's eyes with disgust and hate. "Kairi I don't want you making fun of my girlfriend." Kairi smirked at this.
"Maybe I wouldn't if she wasn't such an easy target."
"Kairi! You stop that! I've asked you to do lots of things for me and they've been ignored but I'm asking....no, I'm telling you to stay away from Faye." Kairi scowled at him.
"Why? Why does it matter that I'm around her? And that I make fun of her?"
"Because you'll screw everything up."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What am I screwing up Riku?"
"Uh, let's see: my feelings, my relationship, my sanity, my LIFE," Riku shouted. Then he scoffed loudly and turned around and walked fiercely away.
"And just how am I screwing up your life?" Riku turned around and glared at her.
"Kairi, I turned to darkness for you and didn't even get a half-ass thank- you, you messed up my feelings, you ignored me, you broke my heart, if you do anything to mess it up for me and Faye...you might as well shoot me." Kairi didn't have anything to say back, she just stared at the ground with tears of anger in her eyes.
"Why you care if I screw it up for you and Faye?" she asked as her breath started to grow teary. Riku was silent.
"That's not important! You just stay away from her!" (A/N: If you remember what Betsy said to Kairi you'll find out why.) Kairi glared darkly at him.
"Fine," she hissed, "I'll stay away from your precious Faye!" Riku glared at her then turned around and walked away.
~*~
Kairi was walking around outside thinking about what Riku had told her. It was a beautiful day outside and it was oddly quiet outside. Kairi sighed.
"Man you'd think with a day like this things would be louder than usual." Then a boy wearing a blue baseball hat ran towards her. He stopped in front of her and bent over as he panted. Then he grabbed her hand.
"Come on, we need you," he uttered under his panting.
"Need me for what?" but then he ran off with her. He took her to the middle of the Third District where a bunch of kids were standing around. The boy took Kairi to the center of the huddle.
"Ok," he panted, "Now we have enough people to play." He turned to Kairi, "By the way we're having a baseball tournament. Kairi giggled.
"Ok that sounds fun." She looked around and noticed she was the only girl.
"Ok!" one of the boys shouted as he stepped into the middle of the circle. He was very tall boy with blonde hair and green eyes. "Me and Riku are captains!" Kairi's eyes widened at the mention of his name. Her head whipped around and Riku stepped out from the crowd. He glared at Kairi then turned his head to the boy.
"Ok Jay," he said to him.
"Heads or Tails?" Jay asked as he took out his coin.
"Heads." Jay flipped the coin.
"Alright my man, you pick first."
"Wait!" Faye's voice called out into the crowd. She stepped in the middle of the circle. "I want to play to." All the guys snickered.
"What are you gonna do?" one of them called out, "be cheerleader?" The congregation laughed hardly. Riku fumed.
"Shut up Thomas," he spat at the boy. Riku then grabbed Faye's arm and pulled her away from the circle. "What are you doing?" he hissed in a whispered tone. "You don't know how to play baseball! Wait, do you even know what baseball is?"
"I know what baseball is!" Faye scowled. "Come one Riku let me play!" Riku then closed his eyes tightly to fight back anything else that was coming out.
"Fine!" he said, "Just don't embarrass me." Faye smiled and clapped her hands together as she skipped of into the crowd. Riku looked up at the sky.
"Please don't let her embarrass me!" he begged. The captains picked teams and Faye ended up on Riku's team and Kairi on Jay's team.
"Ok kids, let's play!" Then the group separated into their teams. As Kairi was running off someone ran into her purposely.
"Hey, what's your problem ma." she turned around and Faye was standing their smirking.
"You better watch your back!" she called out. Kairi rolled her eyes and then ran off with her team.
"What was that all about?" she said under her breath.
~*3rd Inning*~
The score was tied at 3-3 and then Faye stepped up to bat. Riku had already found a nice place to hide to spare him the embarrassment of being jeered at about Faye totally beefing it at the plate. When she was up there all the guys in the outfield taunted her.
"I hope you don't break a nail Faye!"
"Why don't you go back to the beauty parlor where you belong!"
"Man, you need to go back to playin' with dolls!"
"You're goin' down girl!" Kairi, who was at third base, smirked at all of this.
"Well this should be interesting!" she said. The pitcher snickered then threw his first pitch. Faye swung and missed it by a mile. The guys jeered at her. Faye scowled at all of them and then she noticed Kairi at third base. She tightened her grip on the bat.
"You're goin' down," she whispered under her breath. The pitcher threw the ball again. This time Faye hit it and it sailed straight towards Kairi at a high speed. Kairi had to duck to keep her head from being knocked off. Kairi straightened up and stared at Faye with disbelief, as did everyone else on the field. No one even went after the ball. There was complete silence as everyone stared wide-eyed at what they just witnessed. Riku got out from his hiding place and also stared with disbelief. Faye smirked then walked casually to first base. Riku's eye's widened.
"Oh no....," he said under his breath as the vision of Faye hitting the ball at Kairi ran through his head. One of the guys finally snapped out of it and went and got the ball. When this happened everyone went back to normal. Kairi was still stiffed, as the shock from the ball heading straight towards her hadn't shaken yet. Kairi snapped out of it and her eyes grew cold as she glared at Faye who was standing on first base like she was the queen bee.
"Oh it's on now!" she said under her breath. The rest of the game for Faye and Kairi consisted of baseballs being thrown at hit at each other, lots of jeering, and death glares. The game was over and Riku's team had won (11- 13) but Riku's mind was on the fighting that had been commenced by Faye. He was furious.
"I told her to stay out of this!" he hissed under his breath.
~*~
Kairi walked fiercely down Traverse Town looking for Faye. She finally found her walking in front of her. Kairi glared at the girl.
"Hey!" she called out aggressively. Faye turned around.
"What do you want?" she asked arrogantly.
"Oh, you wanna know what my problem is? My problem is your little punk-ass coming in here thinking you can steal my guy you little man eater!"
"Oh you wish! I ain't trying to steal your man!"
"That's bull! I see right past you always pulling him to the side when he's around me talking to him! You disgust me you little slut!" Kairi fumed at this.
"Yah well even if I did steal your man I'd be doing him a favor cause I'd be relieving him from your stupid, preppy, conceited ass!"
"Why I oughta..." Faye growled as she stepped towards Kairi.
"Oh, don't step so hard Faye, you'll smudge your toenail polish!"
"Shut up!"
"Why don't you shut up prep?"
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Riku came up from behind them. His face was red and he was glaring fiercely at both of them. "Is anybody listening? Can anybody hear a word I'm saying? Kairi, I told you to leave Faye alone and Faye, I told you to stay out of this! Did y'all not hear a word I've said? Did y'all think I was kidding because hell no I wasn't! Damn, and y'all wonder why I get mad!" Both Faye and Kairi were frozen in their guilty tracks. "Man, what am I saying? Y'all don't care about what I want." Then he turned around and walked sadly away. When he walked away Faye started crying and then ran off. Kairi felt like doing the exact same thing but her body wouldn't allow her to. She stared sadly at Riku walking away.
"I'm sorry Riku," she whispered sadly. Then a tear fell down her face.
~*~
~*Riku's Room*~
Riku lied on his bed staring at the ceiling thinking about what had happened.
"They both screwed it up," he hissed. "If they had just stayed away from each other everything would've been fine! Why won't anybody listen me?" Riku pounded his fist on his mattress. He had an unhealthy level of frustration in him. He had to get it out or he would explode on someone. Riku looked around the room for something to let his anger out on. He tried punching his pillow but that wasn't enough. He got up from his bed and looked around for something, anything to help him get his anger off of his chest. Then he looked over at his desk. He approached it slowly and opened it. Inside of his desk was a notebook, not just any notebook, but the notebook he poured all his soul out on back when he lived on Destiny Island in his days of loneliness. It was the notebook he had written Kairi's letter in. He took the book and sat on his bed as he flipped through all of his angst-driven songs, poems, and thoughts he had written. Riku picked up a nearby pencil and tapped it on the notebook in thought. Then he flipped to any empty page and poured out his feelings onto the page.
// (Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called you so clearly but you don't want to hear)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held in my chest
And everything left's a waste of time
I hate my rhymes, but I hate everyone else's more
I'm riding on the back of this pressure
Guessing that it's better I can't keep myself together
Because all of this stress gave me something to write on
The pain gave me something I could set my sights on
Never forget the blood, sweat, and tears
The uphill struggle over the years the fear and
Trash talking and people who started it was to
And the people that started it just like you
(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held up in my chest
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Head full of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
...Heart full of pain
(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)
(Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)
Told you everything loud and clear
(But nobody's listening)//
*
*
*
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Man, it's funny how you can go from having no clue what happens next to 13- page plot outburst. In case y'all are confused, Riku is now infuriated because he knows that he's trapped in life, he has a blow-hard girlfriend, and Kairi brings back memories that pains him to think about. And he wanted to keep Faye and Kairi away from each other because when he sees them together it just doubles his pain. When he told them to stay away from each other, they wouldn't listen and he now knows that no matter what he does, Faye and Kairi will always be there to screw up his life. That's just the small version of what he's feeling, and for full details read back to what Betsy says to Kairi and what is going through Riku's head before he blows up on Faye. Well that's all for now. Once again, thanks for all the love, it's really encouraging! Y'all rock!
Peace Out,
Kia Saphia
