Chp 5: Mister Cellophane

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or "Mister Cellophane" as seen in Chicago

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A/N: Here are some responses to some of your reviews:

heather b: thank you for all of your wonderful song suggestions, and after evaluating what I'd like to happen in the story so far, I'll use your idea for "Unwanted". And by the way I'm from Alabama so that should clear up the "y'all" thing

Beta Genius: you can probably tell I've seen Chicago now! Anyway, I saw that movie right before I wrote this story, and that song and the references they make to cellophane, gave me inspirations for this story.

Note for EVERYBODY: Man, I went from having to create the story with my ideas only, to having LOTS of really wonderful ideas from a lot of you. I can only use so many because I'm shooting for a certain angle but I appreciate every suggestion made (man, I've been getting requests for Avril Lavigne a lot, hehe). Well anyway, I'm going to add this one chapter in where Kairi REALLY starts to fall for Riku and Riku is faced with a totally new conflict. After this, the story can go absolutely anywhere. So if any of y'all have any more suggestions you have to feed em' to me quick so I can try to make them all come together someway. Thanks in advance.

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* Riku walked slowly down Traverse Town, kicking the rocks that scattered the floor as he pondered his dreary thoughts. His head was full but his chest had been relieved of some frustration and stress. He knew this would only last temporarily but he had no way to shake it. He wasn't sure what he felt. He was confused and lost as his horrible situation ran through his head. Everything inside of him was so mixed up he couldn't explain what was happening to him. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Riku stopped walking. He was so angry at everything: at Faye, at Kairi, at himself, he just didn't know what to think anymore. Riku punched his fist into the wall.

"Why me?" Then he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He turned around quickly. It was Faye. Her eyes were cold and serious.

"Hi Faye, what do you want?"

"You've been acting very strangely lately."

"Yah? So what?" he replied with an attitude. He didn't like Faye when she acted like this. She was his girlfriend but he wanted her to stay as far from his personal life as humanly possible.

"You never acted that way when Kairi wasn't here," she said seriously.

"Yah, and....?"

"I think there's more to her than you say there is."

"So what if there is?"

"Riku, you've been acting angry lately, and it's all because of her."

"So what are you trying to say?" Faye paused and glared at him with cold eyes.

"You loved her once, didn't you?" she asked. Riku paused. He didn't want Faye knowing about anything that happened between he and Kairi. He knew she'd read too much into it. But he answered truthfully.

"I thought I did," he said softly.

"What the hell does that mean? You either did or you didn't. Now tell me which one!" Riku got mad at this. No one talked to him like that.

"I don't have to do that. You're not my mom!"

"Which one Riku?" she persisted. Riku got annoyed at this.

"I did! Ok? I loved Kairi, but I don't anymore. There! Are you happy? What are you gonna about it Faye, huh?"

"I don't want you to see Kairi anymore."

"WHAT?!" Riku screamed.

"You heard me," she replied darkly.

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not the boss of me!"

"If you don't love her anymore then why are you so mad Riku?"

"Well I.....," Riku paused. He didn't have anything to say back.

"Riku you can either say good-bye to her or say good-bye to me: take your pick." Riku froze. He couldn't believe she had asked him to do that. This just added more and more to the stress and anger inside of him. If he chose to not talk to Kairi again then he wouldn't have Faye to be there anymore to help him heal the wounds of his past. But something about him was still holding onto Kairi. Something deep inside of him at the bottom of his frustrated heart. Riku bent his head down.

"I won't see Kairi anymore," he agreed.

"Good," she replied coldly. Riku still had his head bent down. He didn't want to look at Faye right now. She disgusted him at the moment. He didn't want to hug her or kiss her or anything. He just turned around and walked away. As he walked farther on, a whole new conflict, and totally different feelings flowed through his mind. But now his chest was once again filled with stress. He stopped walking and leaned against the wall.

"Well, I should at least tell Kairi." Then he walked away to deliver her his news.

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Kairi was in the inn Betsy worked in, helping her clean up the tavern. She was all alone. It was about nine at night and Betsy had left a while ago, but Kairi not only wanted to pay Betsy back for her kindness, she also had a lot on her mind about Riku and she hoped cleaning would take some of it off. She sighed as he wiped of the wooden tables as her thoughts pondered on the boy that haunted her soul. When she had wiped the tables spotlessly clean she loved over to the cabinet.

"It looks clean to me," she said as she examined the cabinet with silver beer pints on it. She looked at the very top of it.

"Well that part isn't." She went and got a very large chair, and stood on top of it as she cleaned the top half of the cabinet. The chair started to wobble. Kairi looked alarmingly at the legs of the chair. One of the legs had duck tape on it.

"Ah! I got the flimsy chair!" she cried out. Right after she said that the chair's legs collapsed. The heavy chair fell over onto the floor causing the whole tavern to shake. And when that happened, a compartment from the ceiling swung open and a ladder fell out onto the floor causing a big "thud". Kairi blinked in shock at what all had just happened. She hopped down onto the floor.

"I wonder what's up there?" she said as she looked up at the room that was upstairs. She looked around to make sure no one was around, and she smiled and climbed up the ladder. She poked her head through the compartment. There was a room. Her curiosity started to grow and climbed into the room to investigate further. It was your basic room; wooden floor, crème colored walls, a brown bed, a bookcase, a desk, nothing out of the ordinary. But Kairi was still very curious as to whose room this was. She walked over to a book that was lying on the floor. She picked it up and flipped through the pages. It was book full of elaborately hand drawn demons. Kairi continued to flip through the book in fascination and admiration at the beautifully drawn pictures. Kairi paused and stopped turning the pages.

"Wait a minute..."

~*Flashback-10 Years Ago*~

"Riku what are you drawing?" the young Kairi asked as the two kids drew their pictures on the cave walls.

"It's a monster...look," he replied as he stepped out of the way.

"Is that all you can draw?" Kairi giggled, as she looked at all his monster drawings.

"No silly, I just love drawing monsters the best!"

~*End*~

Kairi quickly turned to the front flap of the book. 'This book belongs to: Riku'. Kairi put the book down. She looked around the room once more.

"So this is Riku's room!" she said with a smile. She touched his brown bed softly.

"And this is where Riku sleeps!" she said almost giddily as she hoped onto the bed. She lowered her head down to his pillow softly.

"Mmmmm, Riku's hair smells like vanilla!" Kairi never acted this way towards Riku or Sora. She was acting in a way that of a little girl who had just seen her dream celebrity. But this thought hadn't fazed her yet. She stretched out on the bed in order to get more comfortable. As she did this, her hand slid under his pillow, but something was already under there. Kairi paused in puzzlement, and then pulled whatever was under the pillow out. It was a very battered brown notebook with 'Riku' written on it in faded black letters. Kairi thumbed through the pages quickly. All of the pages were ripped and torn in little places, there were stains all over them, the writing was scribbled on there, and there were very scratchy drawings here and there.

"Well he must've not been feeling to well when he wrote this." She thumbed through the pages once more to see if she could catch any key words:..Kairi...Kairi...Kairi...Kairi, the same words were written on every page. She closed the book quickly.

"He wrote this when he was still on Destiny Island," she said sadly. Kairi thumped her fingers on the book debating on whether she should take a peek at what was inside or not.

"I shouldn't do this, it's a total invasion of Riku's privacy." But she still thought about it. But in the end, like most people, she gave in to her curiosity.

"Just a quick peek," she told herself as she opened to a random page.

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June 10

I'm starting to question the things Malificent makes me do. I keep wondering what's in it for me? There's always a catch to these things. People just don't offer to do you favors without wanting something in return. That's just the way people are. My suspicions of her are always high. Well even if there is a catch, I don't care, anything to get Kairi's heart back. I'd do absolutely anything to get her heart back. No matter how dangerous, or life threatening, or bizarre it might be. I might be taking the slightly darker path to get her back, but like I said, I'd do anything for her. I remember when Sora asked me why I was doing this my exact thoughts were: Don't know, don't care, it doesn't matter as long as I can get Kairi's heart back. I can't stand seeing her in this condition. While I hold her hand, and kiss her brow, and tell her everything is going to be all right she's just sits absolutely lifeless through it all. It's very painful at times. Kairi is the sunshine in my life. Without her my whole world is in darkness. Whenever I'm around her all my boundaries are destroyed and I'm totally vulnerable, she's the only person in the world that can do that. I love her so much, and no matter what it takes I will bring my sunshine back..no matter what it takes.

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Kairi's hands were shaking as they touched that page slightly. A tear fell from her eyes. It now hit her that she truly blew him off for Sora. And that he meant so much to her and she took herself away from him. Kairi wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to another page.

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October 18

I don't understand. Yes, I know I screwed up and got my heart plunged into darkness, and I became Ansem's walking, talking freak puppet. But that doesn't mean I didn't TRY to get Kairi's heart back damn it! Kairi totally sees right through me. And not talking about she sees right through me as in she sees right through my image and knows the real me and all that crap, I'm talking about cellophane sees right through me. She doesn't even know I'm there. That's what I mean. I may have failed in getting her heart back as I vowed but I took a risk! Sora took the safe way through it all. Which makes ME stronger. I'm the one who took the risk in getting my heart consumed by the heartless, and when it did happened I got consumed by much worse than the heartless. Could Sora have gone through that dangerous road to try and save Kairi..NO! Who cares if I was on the wrong side? I was doing what I had to do in order to save Kairi! She won't even acknowledge the fact that I even tried to help her, let alone I went through the deep darkest depths to try and help her! She spends all her time with that little traitor Sora and walks right by me like the cellophane that I've now become. I don't believe this! I loved her damn it! I went through things unimaginable for her, all for her. And she just blows me off for Sora! What did I do to deserve this?!

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Kairi cried more freely now. At this point, she decided that she was getting what she deserved to read Riku's piercing thoughts. His words sank deeper and deeper, as did the words in that haunting letter that brought her here. She turned the page and continued to read on.

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September 10

I have come to now realize and accept that my presence here on Destiny Island is that of cellophane. If you were to look at a painting with a room full of people, I'd be the blurry face in the back that no one notices. I am now that toy that sits on your shelf collecting dust, waiting to be played with again. My situation has become not one of being enraged that Kairi barely acknowledges my existence, but one in which I crave to be noticed. Everyone needs to be noticed, to feel appreciated and loved. I feel like a puppy that has been abandoned by its master. I have faded into the dark corners of Destiny Islands striving for someone, anyone to pull me out. I now sit back, faded into the background, just waiting for someone to acknowledge me. I feel so alone and unwanted. In my melancholy state I wrote a song that sums up my life right now perfectly..

//If someone stood up in a crowd

And raised his voice way up loud

And waved his arm

And shook his leg

You'd notice him

If someone in a movie show

Yelled "Fire in the second row,

This whole place is a powder keg!"

You'd notice him

And even without clucking like a hen

Everyone gets noticed, now and then,

Unless, of course, that person should be

Invisible, inconsequential...me!

Cellophane

Mister Cellophane

Should have been my name

Mister Cellophane

'Cause you can look right through me

Walk right by me

And never know I'm there!

I tell ya

Cellophane

Mister Cellophane

Should have been my name

'Cause you can look right through me

Walk right by me

And never know I'm there...

Suppose you was a little cat

Residin' in a person's flat

Who fed you fish and scratched your ears

You'd notice him

Suppose you was a women wed

And sleepin' in a double bed

Beside a man for seven years

You'd notice him

A human being's made of more than air

With all that bulk, you're bound to see him there

Unless that human being next to you

Is unimpressive, undistinguished

You know who..

Cellophane

Mister Cellophane

Should have been my name

'Cause you can look right through me

Walk right by me

And never even know I'm there

I tell ya

Cellophane

Mister cellophane

Should have been my name

'Cause you can look right through me

Walk right by me

And never know I'm there

Never even know I'm there//

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Kairi slammed the book shut and started crying hysterically. What she wanted to do now, more than anything, was take Riku in her arms and never let go. But she couldn't because he hated her now.

"Well I guess I get what I deserve," she said as she choked on her tears. She felt lower than anybody could ever go. She felt her heart breaking at the words she had just read. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She got up quickly, hurried down the ladder, and ran out of the tavern crying. She had to find Riku.

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Riku walked slowly through Traverse Town with his hands in his pockets.

"How am I going to tell her?" he asked himself. He bent his head down in sadness. When he lifted it up he saw Kairi running towards him. He closed his eyes.

"Ok, it's the moment of truth," he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Kairi, I..," but he stopped when he saw her crying. "Kairi, what's wrong?" he asked with concern. Kairi looked at Riku in front of her with tears of sorrow and desperation in her eyes. She was breathing heavily. She was sick to her stomach just trying to hold back the urge to wrap her arms around him. Her heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest. Finally, she just let it out. She sobbed hysterically and then wrapped her arms around Riku's waist tightly and buried her face in his chest as she cried. Riku was shocked. At first he raised his arms up to push her off of him, but then he paused as he watched Kairi cry a river into his chest. She looked so helpless. Then Riku felt tears come in his own eyes. As he thought about what Faye had told him.

"I don't want you to see Kairi anymore." A tear fell down Riku's cheek and then he wrapped his arms around her. The two embraced through their heavy and haunting emotions as Kairi cried loudly and Riku held her tightly. Riku shed more tears. She kissed the top of Kairi's head and embraced her tighter thinking about what he would be losing.

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That's all! If y'all have any ideas just send 'em in. By the way, if y'all are bored and you want to read another story written by yours truly it's called Blow Me Over. Well that's all! Please R/R!

Peace Out,

Kia Saphia