If I didn't put a disclaimer here, would that mean you'd all believe I own Kingdom Hearts?
Warnings:
Kairi's not evil! This is no anti-Kairi story!
Author's Ranting:
Tadaaa! And here we go. The next chapter....New trouble!
And Sora's gone to Kairi for advice.
chibi Riku: "Ne, Sora, what's 'advice'?"
Awww. Well, well. See what Kairi can come up with... she is not a bad girl. She's not evil in this story.
Yay for Kairi heh.
~~~~~~~~
The brunette's eyes fluttered open as he heard an annoying ringing sound coming from somewhere outside the room. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes to wake himself. His mind was still hazed and he realized that the high-pitched ringing could only come from the phone. He turned to look at the clock.
6:20 a.m. He groaned. Who would call him this early? Normally, he would have ignored the annoying sound and continued to sleep but the thought of Riku waking up because of this made him reconsider this idea. He looked at the boy who was currently sleeping peacefully, curled into a ball. Sora smiled, seeing that Riku didn't use up any space. First of all, because he was so small and secondly because he was curled up like this. He could have slept in a basket like that.
The ringing seemed to get louder, more urgent, and Sora quickly left the bedroom to answer who ever was bothering him at this hour.
He made his way to the phone, stumbling over one of Riku's toys in the progress. Rubbing his foot, he went to pick up the phone.
"Hello?" His voice sounded sleepy although he wasn't that sleepy anymore, just annoyed.
"Sora? Did I wake you? It's me, mom."
Sora blinked. His mother? Why would she call right now? Weren't his parents away for a while?
"Sora? Are you awake?" the voice on the phone asked.
The boy shook himself and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. Why are you calling? I thought you and dad were away."
A sigh was audible on the other line and eventually his mother spoke. "It's really nice here, the hotel is pretty, you should have come with us." she paused, sighing again.
Sora waited.
"Well, we have to come home earlier, though. Dad got sick after eating that seafood." A short laugh followed and Sora's mother began to tell the tale of how she and Sora's father had gone to the luxurious restaurant, having no idea what to order until they thought they'd just try to seafood at the buffet. Who would have known that it wasn't that fresh anymore?
Sora wasn't listening, though. He wanted to ask his mother when they would back but she wouldn't stop talking. Eventually he decided to just blurt it out even though he knew it was rude.
"When are you going to be here?"
The voice paused. A rustling was audible and then she spoke again. "Tomorrow at noon. We're already packing our stuff now. Unfortunately we can't check out of the hotel until tomorrow."
Sora paled. "Tomorrow already?!" Riku wouldn't be back to normal by that time, would he? Selphie said a week. That would make seven days. And tomorrow would only be the sixth day...would he be back by then?
"Why, yes, honey. Why are you so shocked? Have you done something?" There was a teasing tone in his mother's voice. He could hear it. She would always tease him about doing something for which his father would scold him.
"Uhh...no..." he muttered, already pondering over what he should do with Riku once his parents were back. And how should he explain the loss of his entire pocket money and savings? And the toys. And the clothes.
"Look, whatever you've done, just don't let dad know. Try to fix it till tomorrow, I'll try to distract him if anything goes wrong."
Sora smiled and he knew that his mother was also smiling even though he couldn't see it. She was always like that. Acting more like a good friend than a mother most of the time, making sure his father wasn't too strict with him.
"Thanks, mom. But I really haven't done anything...it's just..." he stopped, hearing the bedroom door open. His eyes darted to the door and came to rest on a sleepy Riku, dragging the pillow with him, holding it at the corner.
"Just...?" the voice on the phone prodded.
Sora shook his head, turning his attention back to the phone call. "Nothing, really. I'm glad you're coming home," he lied. Well, he didn't lie completely. Of course he was glad his parents were back. No more Ramen! But what about Riku? What about this mess?
"Awww, you're too sweet, Sora. Well, well. I'll leave it to you, then. See you tomorrow!" Sora grinned as he heard his mother smooch the phone and thanked God it was only the phone and not he.
"Bye, mom."
He hung up.
Riku yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Why did you go out?" he sleepily asked, yawning again before he let go of the pillow, causing it to slide to the floor. He seemed too sleepy to notice that, though, because the small hand was still in place, as though he was holding the pillow. Sora watched in amusement and walked over to him, patting his head.
"I had to answer the phone."
Then he picked him up and went back to the bedroom, taking the pillow with him. They sat down on the bed and the silver haired boy crawled on to his lap, curling up again. He yawned, closing his eyes.
"Don't do that..." he mumbled, half drifting back to sleep. Sora ran his index finger over Riku's nose.
"Yes sir."
Riku giggled and cracked one eye open before he nuzzled into Sora. "No going away..." he murmured, tiny hands curling into the shirt. Sora nodded and tilted his head up, staring into space while he absently ran his hands over Riku's back.
What should he do? Tell his parents what had happened? He didn't know how they would react, and actually he didn't want to find out. He sighed. What a mess.
And that wasn't all. He still had to figure out with that feeling....those butterflies. He hoped that he had mistaken something and that feeling didn't mean you were in love. He simply couldn't be in love with Riku. It was just...not right. Or was it?
Sora didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore.
~~
The hours passed and Sora didn't sleep. He was too busy thinking and watching Riku in his sleep.
Suddenly, Riku shifted and stirred awake, slowly opening his eyes. Eyes still half-lidded, his hands reached out and his lips moved, seeming as though he was trying to tell Sora to come closer. The brunette obeyed and leaned down expecting him to say something.
Instead, Riku took hold of Sora's cheeks and hooked his thumbs into the corners of Sora's mouth, stretching it. Sora's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Riku giggled.
"You look funny!" he exclaimed, stretching Sora's mouth wider. The brunette had a puzzled look on his face. He suddenly remembered himself doing that to Riku sometimes when they were younger. Hell, he'd even done that two weeks ago. Was Riku adopting his habits or was Sora just acting too much like a kid? Like a three-year-old? He decided to ask Riku about this once he was back to normal.
Eventually the silver haired boy let go and sighed.
"Hungry," he stated, pointing at his stomach. Sora couldn't resist the temptation and started to tickle the little boy mercilessly. Riku squealed loudly and began to laugh, wriggling and squirming, trying to get free.
Sora smirked and tickled him more.
Suddenly, however, Riku stopped squealing and pressed his lips together. Sora stopped, then jabbed his sides once more. Riku twitched slightly but remained still.
"Not ticklish anymore?" Sora playfully asked.
Riku shook his head, remaining still although Sora was jabbing his sides again.
"Hmm...are you sure?" the older boy teased.
Riku bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing again and nodded. Sora grinned and continued tickling him even though it didn't have much effect. Riku was twitching slightly but that was all. He seemed to be totally determined and concentrated not to give in.
However, Sora knew that he wouldn't last much longer and tickled him until Riku lost his composture and let out a squeal.
"SORA!!" He laughed again, twisting and turning until Sora finally showed mercy and stopped. Riku was panting and giggling, rolling around the bed.
Sora was amazed, though. He had shown a good amount of self-control. There weren't many three-year-olds who could take such a tickling attack while remaining perfectly still. He smiled. Riku was Riku, no matter at what age.
After that tickling assault, they went to have breakfast, Sora feeding Riku before the little boy turned the kitchen into a mess. It was funny how he could dress himself, play video games, but not eat properly. But it was cute, Sora thought. He loved feeding Riku because he would be so peaceful and willing to listen to everything Sora said.
And after they were full, Sora took Riku into his arms.
"We gotta go to visit Kairi today. I need to talk to her since I think I could need some advice." He stroked over Riku's hair while he talked.
He had decided to ask Kairi about the problem with his parents and if she could watch over Riku for the last day. Of course he didn't want to let Riku go, and he was sure that Riku wouldn't want to stay at Kairi's place but he had no choice, had he? He knew that his parents would want to have him there the whole afternoon once they were back. That was the disadvantage of his family. The bonds were too strong and his parents always wanted a 'family day' they could spend together. Riku was allowed to be there, too, which made Sora a lot happier than he would have been, but this time, Riku wouldn't be able to be there. Not as a three-year old kid.
Sora sighed. He had to hide Riku somewhere.
"Sora..." Riku began, looking worried, as though he knew what Sora was thinking.
The older boy looked down. "Hm?"
Riku chewed on his bottom lip and frowned. "Ne...what's..what's 'advice'?"
Sora blinked. Then a smile broke over his face and before he knew what he was doing he was cuddling Riku, almost smothering him. Riku laughed and tried to push him away for a bit but he didn't seem to mind Sora cuddling him at all.
And then Sora pulled away. "I need to ask Kairi something and she'll hopefully give me an answer I can use," he explained.
Riku's mouth shaped and O and he nodded.
"So, so, when I ask if you love me and you say you do, then that's advice, too? Because I can use this answer since if you love me I could tell you to be with me allll the time and never go away and you would do it, right?"
Sora was stunned. He hadn't expected that. Even though Riku had said it in such an innocent voice, Sora couldn't help feeling weird about this. He looked at Riku, who was still looking at him expectantly. "Right?" he asked again, big, innocent eyes fixed on him.
Sora didn't know what to answer and simply changed the subject.
"Riku, remember what you promised me about the girls? Don't call them monsters anymore, okay?"
Riku frowned, opening his mouth to deny this promise but then changed his mind. Sora seemed to take this seriously so Riku would do what he wanted.
"Yup, okay."
Sora nodded and got up, blushing as Riku gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
"Let's go, then."
~~
"So basically, that's it. Mom and dad are going to be back tomorrow and I don't know what to do with Riku." Sora had finished telling Kairi about the phone call and his problem with his parents wanting to spend time with him once they were back.
Riku was currently chasing Wakka through Kairi's house. It was pure coincidence but Wakka and Sora had met half way to Kairi's house. He'd been planning to play Blitzball but Sora asked him to play with Riku while he had to talk to Kairi. And being a good friend, Wakka agreed. Riku seemed to like Wakka good enough to let him babysit him and Wakka seemed to like the little Riku, too. Better than the old one, he thought, since the little boy couldn't beat him.
Kairi looked thoughtful. "Well, I would love to take care of Riku that day. But I doubt he will stay with me." She grimaced as she remembered him calling her and Selphie monsters.
Sora grinned sheepishly. "That's because you're smothering him every time you see him."
Kairi shot him an evil glare. "Am not."
Sora grinned. "Are too."
"Am not!"
"Are too!
"Am not! Not not not!"
Sora laughed. "Who's the three-year-old now?"
Kairi blinked, then laughed a bit herself. "Seems like Riku is influencing me. But..." she was serious again, thinking about a solution. Sora really hoped she could help him. There was also another thing he had to talk about with her...although he wasn't too sure how to start.
The girl suddenly smiled, nodding to herself. "You could just stay at Riku's house. His parents are gone for most of the day, they work a lot. And as for your family and that family day stuff... I'll tell them you and Riku are helping me with something, something very important and because you're such a good friend you can't let me down, so you can't be at home when they're at home."
She smiled proudly at her good idea but then she frowned. "No wait a minute, that would be rude. You should at least welcome your parents when they're back."
Sora smiled. She was well mannered, after all.
"Maybe you can let Riku stay somewhere, just for a minute. Like, letting Wakka taking care of him again. And when your parents come, you welcome them but - now here's the clue - I'll call you, asking you to come over to me at once because I have this very important thing only you can help me with. And Riku has to come, too, so you two will be occupied for the rest of the day without anyone worrying about you. And in the evening you tell your mom you're staying at Riku's house. I'm sure she'll allow it. And if not, I'll talk to her. She likes me good enough to believe me."
Actually, this was a good idea and Sora was a little surprised at how easy this all sounded without being stupid at all.
"Wow. That's cool. Thanks for helping, Kairi!" Sora hugged his friend and the girl smiled patting his back.
"No problem, Sora. After all, it's partly my fault you had to go through this all." She gestured to little Riku who had just caught a very surprised Wakka. Here he had thought the little boy couldn't do anything to him, yet Riku had managed to catch Wakka and was looking at him in that 'you're-no-match-for-me' way.
Sora laughed at the sight and turned back to Kairi. "Oh, no, I really loved taking care of him. Riku's really, really sweet." He sighed dreamily, earning a confused look from Kairi.
"You loved it, eh?" Something in her told her that there was something else he loved.
Sora nodded absently, watching Riku wrestle with Wakka. He was surprisingly good with his movements but he lacked strength since a boy of his age could never win against a fifteen-year-old.
Kairi saw that clouded look in his eyes and half smiled and half frowned. She didn't want to make wrong assumptions but to her it seemed Sora was...
"Say, Kairi," Sora suddenly began, looking at her again.
"Yeah?"
Sora blushed, dropping his gaze. "Um...I...I have a question...about...umm..." He looked around nervously, wondering how to start. How should he ask her without telling her what he thought? He wanted to ask her about this feeling without saying that he thought he might be in love with Riku.
"Um...right!" He had an idea.
"You know what I read a few days ago? Someone wrote about a stomachache. But it wasn't really a stomachache, just a strange feeling. They described it as...a strange, dull feeling, as if something's moving or something like that. They thought they might have some kind of sickness and went to the doctor but the doctor didn't find anything. So they wrote to a health magazine to ask for advice. No one knew what the reason for this feeling was, though."
He stopped. He looked at Riku again, smiling slightly as he saw that the silver haired boy was sulking while Wakka ruffled his hair with a smirk. "No match against me, huh?" the redhead teased.
"Well, I thought about this...um, sickness," he continued. Then he looked at Kairi. "What do you think this is? No one figured it out yet."
Kairi laughed softly, covering her mouth. This was her confirmation, though she hadn't thought of Sora actually telling her. "Well, Sora," she began, laughing again. Sora frowned.
"What? Why are you laughing?"
Kairi shook her head in an apologetic way. "Ah, don't worry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that...that the way you said it." Kairi smiled, taking Sora's hand.
Sora blinked. Now what?
"Well, I think you, ah, I mean that person you read about, is in love . That feeling are so called butterflies. You get dizzy from looking at a certain person and you have the feeling of melting when they touch you. It's no sickness at all, you're just experiencing the wonders of love." She emphasized on the last words, intentionally turning to look at Riku.
Then she turned back and smiled brightly at Sora's flushed face. "How...how did you know I was talking about me...and.. Riku?" Sora quietly asked, confirming once again that Kairi was right.
She tapped his forehead. "It was obvious, silly. The way you look at Riku, the way you said you loved taking care of him. It was obvious enough. I'm not blind, you know."
Sora blushed harder, if that was possible. "So...so does that mean you think it's normal?" He frowned, wondering what Riku would say to all this. The older Riku, he meant. The little boy seemed to adore him, but what if that was just because he was a little kid understanding nothing of real love.
Kairi chuckled. "Sora, love's never normal. And you can't help with whom you fall in love, I can tell you that much." She looked a little wistful for a moment, then shook her head.
"I used to love you, you know." Sora looked up at her. "And I loved Riku, too. No, wait. I was in love with both of you." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I thought so. Maybe it was just a crush but you know, those things happen, you can't help it. Sometimes those things fade away after time but you usually know that. I knew that it was just a crush. Now I still love you and Riku but in a different way. I just love you without actually being in love."
Sora understood what she was saying, he felt the same towards her. Then he frowned again.
"What if it's only a crush I have on Riku?" he murmured, feeling uncertain now that she had mentioned that.
"What?!"
Sora jerked at the sudden outburst. Kairi blushed a little and calmed. "Eh, sorry." She smiled.
"Sora, that's stupid. Usually you get a crush on someone because of his looks or something. But you...you know everything about Riku, about his person. You even know now how he behaves when he is a little boy. You've practically spent your entire childhood together and you're still inseparable. I think that says it all. You know all about Riku and you feel that way for him. It can't be just a crush, you know. Besides,"
She giggled slightly, "I wouldn't want any other girl to get you or Riku, that much I can tell you. I'd be completely jealous. But if you are together with Riku, that's perfect."
Sora blinked in surprise at Kairi's behavior. She seemed to know and think a lot. And here he had thought she was just a girl.
Kairi smiled. "I hope I could help you, Sora."
Sora nodded, opening his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Riku running towards him, jumping into his arms.
"Soraaaaaa!" he whined, scampering up his arms. He was grinning, though. Wakka came running after him.
"Ha, now you're hiding, huh?" he teased, crossing his arms. The silver haired boy stuck out his tongue and clutched to Sora.
Wakka laughed, shaking his head. "I guess this means I can go now, right?" He looked over to Sora and the boy nodded.
"Well then, see ya some time around."
Just as Wakka was about to leave, Riku stood up on Sora's lap and waved. "Next time I'll beat you for sure!" he called and Wakka laughed.
Sora smiled as Riku sat back down taking Sora's arms to wrap them around himself.
'You two better get together once Riku's a teenager again,' Kairi thought, watching as Riku tilted his head up to look at Sora. Their eyes were holding so much affection, it could only be love.
~~~~~~~~
Ending notes:
The countdown is running, only a few chapters left. They keep getting longer, though. ^^
I hope I can make the ending as sweet as I planned it...
And I have thought of doing a sequel with Sora turning into a kid some time after Riku gets back. Would you like that?
I wouldn't make more chapters of Strawberry Bubbles with that because I think this story needs an ending for those who don't want to read that long.
And for all those who like to read about chibis, there will be the sequel.
Well, if I can come up with one, that is. ^^
Review, ne?