Chapter Two
I took out my guns and started shooting at the shadows. "Ignore those!" Riku shouted at me. I turned around and started running like hell.
He jumped over a chain fence and ran towards the white Heartless. He took his dragon-winged sword out of the air and starting slashing at it.
I began shooting at it. Obviously gun shots had no effect on it, so I put them back into the holster. And I didn't have a sword with me. How long has it been since I fought with someone?
Suddenly, a brown-haired boy ran by me and hacked the Heartless in half. Riku and I stared. I wasn't able to get a good look at his face, but I knew who he was. He ran off, apparently in a hurry.
I walked up to Riku. "The Keyblade. If I only had it..." He said to himself. I sighed. I was supposed to get it. Supposed to. But of course, I let myself go into oblivion.
"You were supposed to have it too, weren't you Riku?" He snapped out of his daze and looked at me. "I thought you didn't know my name."
I shouldn't have said that. I turned around and faced the direction of the school. The great mass of darkness was only bigger, and everyone kept running.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Riku asked.
"Forget it." I said. "We gotta stop those Heartless before anything else happens."
"Right then. Let's go kick some Heartless ass!"
"Hell yeah, now that's what I'm talking about boy!" We slapped a high five and ran off in opposite directions.
I took out my silver guns and shoot all the Heartless within my range. Riku cut their heads off almost simultaneously. After about a good five minutes, the vortex disappeared.
I was exhausted out of my mind. "How many did you kill, Mika?" Riku asked me while catching his breath.
"135. You?"
"140."
"Damn you."
"I know." He took some keys out of his pocket. "You wanna leave or..."
I took the keys from him. "I really don't want to do anything." He nodded.
"Good. 'Cause I got myself a real bad cut and I don't want these people to ask me how I got it." He pointed to his chest. The shirt was torn and dripping with blood.
"Jesus Christ, how the hell did that happen?"
"Did you not hear what I just said?"
I rolled my eyes. "Let's just go and get that thing cleaned off." He zipped up his jacket and walked after me very casually.
I unlocked the door and got inside while he got into the passenger seat. We both put on our seat belts and I turned on the car. He sighed deeply.
"Were you supposed to be a Keyblade wielder?" Riku asked me with an awkwardly deep interest.
"Yes. But that was then. I would like to forget about that," I replied.
He pondered for a bit. "Interesting. We know almost nothing about each other except our names and we already have about two things in common."
"And what is that?" I asked him while I turned a corner.
"We both were supposed to get Keyblades and we both decided not to, and it got us here. But is it possible to have two Keyblade masters?"
"Looks like it. I think they were different though. Yours was that brown-haired kid's, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Mine was different. Mine was supposed to be one that held the power of resurrection and destruction. Letha, it was called."
"I see." Riku looked out of the window. I slowed down the car and opened the garage from the control inside it. "C'mon, let's get that wound cleaned up."
I unlocked the doors and closed the garage while he got out of the car. I walked over to a door that led to the kitchen and unlocked that door.
We walked inside. Riku took off his jacket and threw it onto a chair. "I'll go look for the rubbing alcohol. Meanwhile, make yourself at home..." It sounded weird coming from me. I rarely ever said that to anyone. It was usually told to me.
I walked up a flight of stairs and went into my room. I opened several cabinets before I actually found it. I kept it in my room because I usually got a lot of cuts from getting into fights. No, not school playground fights. Real fights. Then kind with guys double your size and with knives. I took it out along with some cotton wads and left the room.
"I warn you, it's gonna..." My voice trailed off. Riku wasn't wearing his shirt. Oh my God. Some other mystical force must have put him onto this earth to make him look like that. If it weren't for the cut, he'd look like a Greek God or something. Wait, what am I thinking?!?
He looked at me with a strange stare. "Well, how else is this thing gonna get cleaned off, with my shirt on or something?"
I walked down the stairs, trying not to look at him. "Are you okay or something?" He questioned me.
I sat down on the floor while I opened the bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Yeah, I'm fine. Lay down so I can clean it off."
I sensed that he was grinning at me. "You have never seen a guy without a shirt, have you?" I looked up at him since he was still standing. "That isn't true!" I protested.
"Then why are you all red?" He replied while he kneeled down next to me.
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! "Cause it's too hot in here, that's why," I lied. The truth was, I had never, ever seen a guy friend who look this good without a shirt on.
"Should I just leave?"
I punched his arm. He laughed. "That was a lame pickup line!"
He shook his head while he bit his bottom lip. "Just do what you gotta do, but I don't wanna look like this forever."
"Actually, it would be a pretty neat scar."
"I don't want no damn scar."
"Fine, fine. Have it your way. Lay down."
He laid down on one of the couches as I poured some rubbing alcohol onto a small cotton ball. "It's gonna sting."
He stared at me. "It's not like I can't handle it." I knelled down onto the floor and patted the cut with the cotton several times before the blood came off. God, it was some sort of pleasurable torture I was going through. "Stay like that while I go get a cloth."
He looked down at his chest to see what was left of the cut. He raised an eyebrow. "Not bad."
"You are so vain," I said sarcastically to him while I walked off to the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. I found the cloth, the special tape, and a pair of scissors. I took it out and walked back to the living room.
I cut off a piece of the cloth and placed over the cut. It absorbed the little blood that had come out of the cut. I cut off pieces of tape and put those across the cloth. "Done."
I got out of the way while he got up from the couch. "Thanks," said Riku while he got up and put his blood stained shirt back on.
"Yeah, no problem." I looked down at my watch. "Well, there's no point going back. School's over."
Riku looked down at his brown leather watch. "You guys leave at one? Lucky you."
I shrugged. "I guess so. You want anything to eat?" He began raiding the cabinets. "It's not like you have much or anything," he said disappointed.
I looked at the refrigerator door and saw a slip of paper with a phone number.
"Hey Riku, you want sushi?" I called to him across the hall.
"Sure, what the hell." He was looking at the picture again. I picked up the phone and dialed the number.
"What kind do you want?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter," he said. "I like most of them."
A man picked up. I asked for an order of two Salmon rolls. "Two?" the man questioned. "I've got a guest." I replied
"All right then, it'll be ready in about fifteen."
"Thanks." I hung up.
I looked across the hall. I realized that he didn't remember much before he became Heartless. It must be hard to live a life through pictures.
"Don't remember, do you?" I asked him, practically knowing the answer.
Riku shook his head. "Not really. What tournament was this?"
"A Gunning Tournament. It was in pairs and we were the youngest team to win in about ten years. We were good."
"Were?" he mocked me. "Watcha talking 'bout, girl, I still am good." He made a Brooklyn accent and snapped his fingers at me. I couldn't help laughing. He put the picture back onto the table.
"You've changed a lot," he said.
I shrugged. "Everyone has to go through change. And change is good, right?"
"Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't," he replied while looking out the window. "Sometimes it's easier to not face the pain by yourself than to numb it out with change."
I stared. Those were words that would crack your skull right open and make you realize that it's all true. But, where does he learn those kinds of things? It takes more than mere experience to know. "You are probably the most confusing person I have ever known." He turned around and looked at me with a slightly amused face. "But I guess it suits you."
He smiled. He smiled...! It wasn't a crazy grin or a mischievous smirk. It was a real smile, the kind that was so rare but it was enough to make you feel good for the rest of your life. I hadn't seen one of those in a long time.
The door bell rang. "I'm coming!"
I skidded to the door and opened it. I took the food and paid the guy who brought it over. "Since when do you have guests?"
"Since today." I closed the door behind me while I had the box in my hands. Riku was already busy raiding the refrigerator.
"Could you possibly not have anything other than energy drinks and coke?" Riku moaned.
"Yes, but I choose not to. There's water way in the back."
"I guess that'll work."
We didn't talk much while I was setting the table. I still don't get why Riku joined their side. It's not like he had a real reason like I did. But, then again, they convinced me very well, although it was a lie that they could bring me back my parents. Maybe I should ask him...?
"Hey, Mika," Riku said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, what's up?" I replied as I sat myself down.
"Well," he pondered. "I don't know if I'm being rude or nosy or anything, but how did you join us?"
Us? What did he mean "us?" Was he still with them?
"Well," I replied, "it's not how, but rather why." Please, by God, don't ask why.
"Why, then?" Crap, I thought to myself.
"Can we just change the subject, please?" I asked him.
"All right. You don't have to get all sensitive about it, though." I slit my eyes at him.
"I protest that I am not sensitive."
"Really?"
"Yes, Riku, really."
"Interesting concept of a girl you are... Hey, why are you so violent? I mean, why a bounty hunter?"
I looked at him. "How... did you know?" It looked like he didn't mean to say that I was a bounty hunter. At least he didn't know I was an ex-con.

"Well.....," he said while taking a bite out of the sushi. "A little birdie told me, let's just say."
"And what is the name of this little birdie, if I may ask?"
He swallowed. "Now that is confidential, my dear friend."
"Fine, don't tell me. Now, to change the subject once and for all, how long has it been since we hadn't seen each other?"
Riku sighed and took a drink of his water bottle. "A little too long, maybe? I wouldn't know. I've lost track of all time. Speaking of which, did you ever live on Destiny Islands?"
It sounded familiar. For all I knew, I could have been born there and then moved here to Twilight Town. "I don't really know. I first landed on an island when this whole mess began. It was real pretty though. To tell you the truth, I don't even know where I'm from anymore."
He gave me a very vague look. "It's 'cause you look familiar. Well, I mean, besides that we met a little over a year ago. I think I've seen you when you were younger, like about nine or ten."
How was that humanly possible? Was it that long ago that the Heartless invaded? Maybe I had seen him when he was younger, too. So full of doubt, so little to trust.
"Hello...?" He waved his hand across my eyes. I was jerked back to reality as quickly as I was jerked away from it.
"Sorry. Must've zoned out. You say that you've seen me when I was younger?"
"I'm pretty sure," he replied while trying to pick a sushi roll with the chop sticks. "Damn chop sticks." He ended up stabbing the roll.
".... But how? I mean, I've never lived on an island." Suddenly, I lost my appetite.
"That's weird," he replied "I remember seeing this little girl. I never knew her name, but we must've been the same age. She had long, dark brown hair and light green eyes, just like yours. She was dressed very differently from the rest of us, color-wise at least. She always wore dark, dark colors, like reds and blacks. She was almost punk at that.
"Anyway, she always wore a red-and-black plaid bucket hat. That was the closest thing to wear on the beach during the summer. She also wore a red shirt, a red-and-black plaid skirt, and knee-high boots. The bucket hat had earrings on the sides, no clue why though. She always carried this toy cat with one eye missing... That's about all I remember. If you had long hair and lost the red highlights, you would look like her."
I sat there, imagining how I supposedly looked. I did have a toy cat like that, though. "What else do you remember that was different about me, or her?" It sounded a lot like me when I was about nine or ten, but still, I wasn't quite sure. I needed something else to reassure me.
"Well," he said while he leaned back on the chair. "She was quite the loner. Most of us would stay away from her, afraid she might pull out a knife or something. But there was this one time..." His voice trailed off into the distance.
"This one time what?" I was at the edge of my seat, or at least in my mind I was because I certainly wasn't falling off of my chair.
He shook his head. "Forget it."
"You've gotten this far. I can't forget it now."
"There was this one time when she was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt and regular tennis shoes. That hit us all. But the one thing that really caught us off-guard was that she had a wooden toy sword. None of the girls used swords at the time. Selphie used nunchuks and Kairi, well, she didn't use a weapon. It was like some sort of hybrid miracle.
"All the guys couldn't believe it, and they all wanted to see how good she was. They all dared me to challenge her, and so I did. She whipped my ass big time. She said to me, '...And I thought you were a worthy opponent.'
"From that day on, I said to myself, 'I am not going to let another girl kick my ass as badly as she did.' And so I am here, one of the best swordsmen to be known."
Wait, I remember that! That was too much fun. But of course, I'm not going to tell him that, though. "I'm sure you are," I finally said to him.
"Wanna bet?"
"Sure as hell I wanna bet."
He stood up and took out his sword. "Right here, right now."
I drew out my sword and pointed it at him while I also stood up. "You'd best know how to swordplay."
He grinned. "I always have. I always will." And with that, the sword fight began.
Both of our swords clanked with each other. Right lunge, right defend. Left lunge, left defend. It was impossible to tell who was winning.

"You're pretty good at it," I said to him while trying not to get my head slashed in half.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He replied with a twinge of vanity in his voice. I finally threw his sword off of mine. I drew back a bit to catch my breath. I looked around to realize my other sword was on the floor, waiting to be used. I picked it up.
"Let's see how well you can do with two."
He had a stark raving mad look. "You cheater!" he protested.
"There were no rules, remember?" I started lunging at him with both swords. Wait, was I really trying to kill him or was I just trying to prove him wrong? If I did want to kill him, why would I want to? Something was taking over, something that made me want to kill.
I lunged at his face. I couldn't control myself. Luckily, he dodged. "What are trying to do, kill me or something?" Riku said madly. He kept fighting, though he knew it would probably end up him being dead or something similar.
I crossed my swords and set them down. I sat down on the floor. "Fine you win," I said gasping.
"What the hell was that back there? Do you want me dead?" He was catching his breath also.
I looked up at him. His face and his sunglasses were blood-stricken. I touched my face and looked at my hand. It was tainted with blood. My blood. I picked up my sword and spots of blood were all over it. I looked all around the once white room. Specks of blood were on the couches and carpet. And nothing was orderly. Some pillows were slashed in half and some tables were turned over.
"Holy crap," I finally said. "Did we make this mess?"
"Don't include me in it. Most of it was you," he said harshly.
All those years at the Academy had finally caught up with me. They told me to not care who I killed, as long as I did kill. If I put some innocent person to the sword, they would cover up for me. And I have done that several times by accident. But today was no accident. I honestly wanted him dead for no reason. Or maybe, I did have a reason but I just hadn't come up with one yet.
"I'm so stupid," I said to myself. "I should have known by now..."
"Known what by now?" Riku asked me with an intense tone of voice.
I shook my head. I was an ex-con for being a murder, and now I'm a bounty hunter. You'd think I would realize some sort of connection between the two. I didn't want to tell him I was arrested for the murder of three people on the second degree. Then again, I was forced to do that. I was a violent monster then. I am a violent monster now. I can't change myself.
"Killing is a habit of mine, Riku. You'd best leave before you really do end up dead in this house."
He crossed his arms. "They made you murder. You had the option to kill or not to kill. And you chose to." He sat down next to me. "Either we can try to fix it, or put it to good use."
We? He wanted to help me? How strange yet how relieving. "How can you put killing to good use? Kill all the Heartless or something," I said sarcastically.
"We could do that. What do you say?"
I really didn't know what to say. He was willing to help me for no real reason. He put his arm around me and held out his hand.
"Deal?" He asked.
I shook his hand. "Deal," I replied. "So... Why do you want to help me? Do you expect something in return?"
He thought about it for a bit. "I'm helping you because you're my friend, and friends help each other, right?"
I couldn't help but hugging him. He was probably the only person who could possibly understand what I went through and what I'm going through now. "I thought you would hate me after this."
"Nah," he said casually. "I have repay you for helping me out. Sooner or later, I would have to do it."
"When... did I help you?"
"You wouldn't understand at this moment," he said to me. "You'll eventually know."
I was completely lost. Was this "helping" implied? Or did I really help him and I didn't realize it? Someone tell me.
"But I do expect something in return," he replied with a slight grin.
That just crapped up the moment. "What?" I snapped back.
"A bike."
"A bike?" Did he mean a little kid bike?
"Yeah, a Ducati. Or a BMW. Either one."
"Whoa, whoa, wait, back up. Look, I didn't even have a BMW bike, you expect me to buy you one? Go find yourself another billionaire that will buy one for you."
He snapped his fingers. "Rats. Worth a try, though."
I shook my head. "You know, it's not always about the material things in this world."
"I know. I know. You're just like my mother but even worse because you have a gun. Or two. Or three... Okay, you've got a lot of guns."
"Meaning......?"
"That you can shoot my head off if I'm annoying you."
I just grinned at him. "So you're saying, I have more authority to kill you now that you're being annoying?"
He glanced down and played with his fingers. "Well... Spare me this time, okay?"
I hugged him again. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you anytime soon."
He rolled his eyes. "Well, that's reassuring. I feel loved."
I smiled at him. "Now that you've seen what I really am, you're going to have to live with it." We were both in an awkward silence. "I think I've seen you while you were possessed."
Riku looked down at me. "Just forget about that. It's hard enough as is for me to forget. If I hurt you, I'm sorry." He turned away.
Forget is such a weak word once you think about it. When something happens to you, you just don't forget. And when you do try to forget, the memories inside your head just keep playing over and over, like a broken record player. He didn't hurt me directly or anything, it was just that... That he did all of that destruction and chaos simply out of the ironic goodness of what was left of his untouched heart. He did all the dirty work, he got his hands soiled so that someone else would be left without a trace of grime.
"Why are your eyes yellow? Why do they glow?" I asked Riku.
He didn't answer. I was so stupid to ask. Not that my eyes weren't like that though. Why am I asking? I wasn't just curiosity anymore. It was almost as if I actually felt sympathetic towards him, almost wanting to help him, almost wanting to take all of his pain away. But I had enough pain as is.
"If you don't want to tell me, I understand why," I said to him. "Just who talked you into doing all that you did?"
"Ansem," he replied quietly. "His name was Ansem. And Maleficent too. They both told me that I had no friends and that they could give me Kairi back by doing everything they asked of me."
Kairi. She was the most annoying, conniving little goody-two shoes that I had ever heard of. She was the "Last Heart" to be able to open the ultimate Keyhole. That little red-haired ditz kept me from doing everything I could to get my parents back.
Why, you ask? Riku kept doing everything and anything for her, just as he said. I never got the chance to prove myself. It was always "Riku this" and "Riku that" and "You'll never be as good as Riku." He was, according to them, one of the Greatest Dark Fighters to ever live. But of course, he was only human, just as I was. A mere human who couldn't resist power.

"Why am I dreaming of you, Riku?" I asked him. He passed by me and turned around to look at me.
"Think about it. I'm here with you. Don't you see?" He walked up to me and put his arms around me. It was... nice to be held by someone. His face was less than inch away from mine. We.... we were about to.... to....
GAH! I snapped out of my dream, sitting up, breathing in and out heavily. My heart was racing more than ever. I plunged back into my pillow.

Oh, God help me, I thought to myself. Why was I thinking, why was I dreaming, why was I fantasizing about him? Out of all the people, why Riku? Why here? Why now? Why not later?
"Oh God, I can't believe this!" I said to myself again. It was only eight in the morning and it was already not just another weekend.
"Can't believe what?" A voice appeared out of nowhere. I took out the gun and pointed it to the bedroom entrance. Somehow, Riku always had "perfect" timing. He was wearing a black leather trench coat, his now signature sunglasses, and a white T-shirt with black jeans.
"Do you take some sort of pleasure picking into my room or something? God, people these days..."
Riku laughed. "I don't think we're civilized anymore, if that's what you mean."
"Riku," I groaned, "Why so early? Why not later in the day like everyone does?"
"Well, I'm not everyone, now am I? Besides, I've got something to tell you."
Oh, God, what could he possibly tell me? I didn't even want to look at him right now. I just realized I was still in pajamas. "Can you like, turn around or something while I get a change of clothes?"
I could tell he rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to rape you or anything."
I put down my index finger in midair and circled my wrist. "Turn around or I will seriously hurt you."
"No shit, you haven't done anything to me."
"Just do as I asked you, dammit." He finally turned around. I got some clothes and got into the bathroom to change. I got out after I fixed myself up a bit.
"Whoa," he said, stunned.