I do not own a brain or sanity or intelligence!
..oh, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts either...
Warning:
mmm....kawaii Riku?
Author's Ranting:
Ok now for something no one is interested in but I feel like telling you anyway. I'm pissed. Oh so very pissed off and I feel like going berserk if things keep going that bad.
BUT, since I feel so bad, I decided to make my life more livable and wrote the next chapter full of fluffy kawaiiness!
So I hope you enjoy it, have fun with chibi Riku, our kawaii monster ^__^
Also, this chapter is a bit longer than I usually write…
~~~~~~~~
Afternoon came and Sora watched Riku sleep peacefully on the couch. They had gone to Riku's house now and Sora hadn't been surprised to see that little note on the kitchen table saying 'Riku honey, be an angel and make yourself dinner, we're not coming home until after midnight. Love, mom and dad.'
Sora had shaken his head and rolled his eyes although he couldn't say he didn't like it the way it was. If his parents weren't so careless the whole turning into a kid thing would have been a disaster. Riku was glad about their nonchalance, too, at least when he was a teenager. His parents gave him much more freedom than Sora's and so the two boys could always escape to this place when they needed to get away from the nosy family.
It must have been hard for a little kid, though, Sora thought. He remembered when he had asked the three-year old boy about his parents, if he remembered them. He had answered that they were mean because they were never at home. It must have felt like that for a child.
"Poor Riku…" he murmured, gently stroking over the silver hair. The boy didn't seem to notice and remained in his slumber since the fight with Wakka had obviously exhausted him.
Being at Riku's house brought back a row of things Sora always liked to remember. There was this one time when they were about eight years old and they had spent the night alone since Riku's parents were away, again for some business. They had been doing all those forbidden things like jumping around on the bed or rummaging through cupboards and desks to finally see what those grown ups had to hide. They had eaten sweets in the middle of the night until they had to throw up and they climbed out of the window only to come back through the front door again.
These things had kept them entertained when they were young.
But things were different now.
Of course, everything was still just as good as before because Sora loved every second he spent with Riku. Things were just different. They didn't run around as much. They didn't find it interesting to rummage through other people's desks. They were less mischievous. They didn't eat sweets in the middle of the night. In fact, they rarely had those sleepovers nowadays. Sora wondered what it would be like to sleep at Riku's house or have him stay over the night. It was natural with the little boy but what would be once he was older again? It would feel awkward, even though they were both boys…or maybe it was because they were both boys. Boys just didn't do this stuff. Sleepovers were for girls. But so were crushes and butterflies, Sora thought. And still, here he was sitting, watching his crush – or was it love? – in his sleep with a serene expression.
He sighed. Smiling a bit, he decided to take the silver haired boy into his arms. Watching him curled up like that was just too tempting. Sora chuckled as he felt the little boy struggle a bit, just for the sake of it, since Riku never liked to be overpowered, even in his sleep. Eventually, however, the boy gave in and snuggled closer as though he had felt that it was Sora. The idyll didn't last long, though.
As soon as Sora had his arms securely wrapped around him, the boy stifled a yawn and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and proceeded to rub the sleep out of his eyes. It seemed he didn't even realize he was in Sora's arms. Or maybe he did but didn't care much about it since for him, it was the most natural thing.
Eventually, Riku yawned again, stretching his mouth wider and wider until Sora had to chuckle. Riku's mouth dropped shut and he grinned, looking up at the brunet with his big, innocent eyes. Sora melted.
"Hey, Sora!" he suddenly exclaimed with urgency.
Riku disentangled himself from the protective arms and stood up on Sora's lap, coming face to face with the boy. He smiled brightly and spread his arms. Sora smiled back and raised his eyebrows, wondering what Riku was planning to do. He didn't have much time, though, because the next moment Riku let himself fall forward, into Sora's arms. His own little hands grasped the older boy's shoulders and his face bumped into Sora's, causing him to giggle happily at Sora's slightly annoyed expression.
"What are you doing?"
Riku giggled some more and placed a kiss on Sora's nose.
"Kissing you, silly. What does it look like?" The silver haired boy pulled away but only for a few inches, locking eyes with the other boy. He seemed serious.
Sora stared. He wasn't sure if he was imagining things but it almost seemed as though Riku was already himself. Or at least his true self was showing slowly now. Still, Sora was surprised at the amazingly mature tone in Riku's voice. That remark certainly did not sound like the words of a three year old boy. Was that a sign for Riku's transformation? Was he going to be normal soon now?
"Where are we?"
Sora blinked as Riku's childish voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked around and then his eyes came to rest on Riku, who was looking around as well. Didn't Riku recognize his home?
"We're in your house. You live here," Sora casually answered, trying to decipher the strange expression on Riku's face. The little boy drew his brows together into a frown as he carefully examined the room. Slowly, he turned back to Sora, looking at him with his aqua eyes.
"I thought I live with you…" he murmured in confusion, screwing up his little face to a frown. He almost looked like he was going to cry. Sora shook his head, then realized that that wasn't what he meant and opened his mouth to explain.
"Well, you do live with me. Or at least I live with you, here. We were at my house for this week because my parents were away but now we ha---" He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw that the little boy had a short attention span and was already trying to get off his lap. Obviously, curiosity took over, something Riku had always had, and the silver haired boy started rummaging through everything in the room. Sora just watched him, slightly torn inside. Should he stop Riku from turning the room into a mess? After all, it was his house, so he was allowed to do whatever he wanted.
Sora mentally kicked himself. What a lame excuse. He was just too lazy to get up and stop Riku from throwing all the stuff off the cupboards and that was his only excuse. It was Riku's house. Yeah right.
Sighing, Sora noticed that Riku wasn't just turning the room into a mess for the sake of it. He was searching for something. He watched as the boy sat on the floor, digging through another cupboard. At some point he even crawled in to get better access and Sora would have laughed if it weren't for the sudden cry of protest from the inside.
He quickly got up to look what Riku had done now and found the boy stuck in the small space. Riku was twisting and growling but instead of trying to get out he was still looking for something.
Eventually, Sora poked him to get his attention.
"Shouldn't you try to get out? I'll help you, come on."
He was surprised to hear Riku snap at him. "Don't touch me! I'm fine! I can do it!" His voice was extremely pouty by then and he was whining about something he couldn't reach. Damn those big cupboards.
Sora rolled his eyes and decided to pull him out anyway. Riku squealed and started kicking but Sora was stronger and pulled him out with a grin. The silver haired boy stuck out his tongue and scowled.
"I told you to leave me alone! I could have done it by myself…" he muttered, refusing to look up at the other boy.
Sora chuckled and shook his head. He then noticed the thing Riku was holding.
"Riku…what's that?" He tried to take it but Riku glared at him and clutched to it as though his life depended on it.
"That's mine! Tao Tao's mine!" He tightened his grip on the stuffed panda bear and Sora scratched his head.
"Tao Tao?" he asked in disbelief. He remembered the name but he didn't know Riku still had this thing. He also couldn't quite believe that Riku would remember where it was since he had never taken it out in all these years. Sora thought he had lost it.
"My Tao Tao," Riku insisted, eyeing Sora suspiciously. He wouldn't let anyone take away that panda.
Sora suddenly grinned and reached out to pat the little kid's head. "Right. Your Tao Tao." He remembered now. This Tao Tao had been his favorite toy when they were little. He would drag it with him all the time and Sora often wanted to hold it too but Riku wouldn't let him. Only one time, Sora remembered, Riku said he could have it but only if he promised to not run away with it. Sora had taken it very seriously back then, since he was only four or five years old and he had vowed to Riku to never run off with the panda and Riku had him take an oath on it and all that stuff.
All in all, Riku loved that thing, always had. But then one day it was gone and Riku didn't seem to know where it was. And it became another forgotten thing of their past as they grew up. Sora never thought about the panda anymore and Riku probably forgot about it, too. The funny thing now was that it was here. After all this time it had been hiding in a cupboard? And Riku remembered it?
"You can have it if you promise me…"
"…not to run off with it, I know," Sora finished, smiling at the memory.
Riku, however, shook his head. "No. You can have it if you promise me to never leave me."
This caught Sora off guard and he stared at the boy, baffled.
"…what?"
Did Riku know what he was talking about? What in the world did he mean by that? But Sora had no time to think about that, for the silver haired boy shoved the panda into his face.
"Take it – but as long as you have it, you have to be with me."
His lips were drawn to a pout and he lowered his head before he shyly looked up again, eyes half covered by his hair.
"…please?" he added, thrusting the stuffed toy forward once more.
Sora was sure his heart was pounding about a thousand times faster than usually and he was also sure that it was not good. If it kept on beating like that, it would probably burst. Hesitantly, he lifted his hands to take the toy but he stopped right before he actually held it. He looked at Riku again and saw that the boy was still looking at him with an almost pleading expression. If Sora only knew what this meant.
Without thinking any longer, Sora gently grabbed the panda and Riku let go. He watched as Riku's pout turned into a smile. The smile on his face broadened as Sora patted the toy and then Riku launched himself towards Sora, jumping right into his arms.
"My Sora!" he giggled, hugging his new toy.
Sora laughed and ruffled Riku's hair.
"But my Tao Tao, right?"
Riku nodded eagerly and then resumed digging his face into Sora's shirt.
"Your Tao Tao and my Sora…" he happily mumbled, causing Sora to blush a little at the feeling. Riku's moving lips over his stomach tickled him somewhat and it made him feel extremely weird. And worst of all, he couldn't help imagining the grown Riku doing that to him. That and a few other things which got him feeling even weirder. The thought of Riku kissing him was maddening and the fact that the little boy was doing it constantly, taking it as the most common thing was slowly driving him crazy.
"Let's stop that now…" he muttered, more to himself than to Riku but gently pushed the boy away to get up.
Riku watched him with a bit of disappointment but dropped the sad expression as Sora gestured him to follow. He bounced up and was soon beside his friend, tugging on his hand.
"What are we doing now?" he curiously inquired at the other boy's smiling face.
"First, we'll get something to eat. I'm sure you're getting hungry soon and I'm hungry as well."
Riku nodded and then grinned. "Ice cream!" he squealed, bouncing up and down while he pulled on Sora's hand.
The older boy smiled but shook his head. "Not for dinner, Riku. But we'll find something good, I promise."
Riku shrugged and walked beside Sora, following him into the kitchen.
"And what do we do after that?" The silver haired boy asked, climbing onto one of the chairs. Sora paused and put a finger to his chin, thinking.
"I don't know…we'll watch TV or do something. Whatever you want." He then proceeded to look through the fridge and the cupboards. He was sure they had something edible in there since Riku always had to make himself dinner when his parents weren't there. Of course, they could also eat some take out stuff but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Firstly, he knew no numbers and secondly, he doubted Riku would like eating that stuff. All he wanted was ice cream. Sora chuckled and rolled his eyes.
In the meantime Riku was standing on the chair, looking at the funny things on the table. There was a salt shaker standing in the middle and the little boy smiled cheekily at his ingenious idea. Taking a short glance at Sora, he made sure the boy was still searching for food. Nodding in approval, Riku turned back to the salt shaker, taking it into his hand. He opened the cap and began to scatter the salt over the table.
Sora suddenly looked up, just as though he had sensed something was going on and he snapped his head to the boy at the table.
His eyes widened and he lunged towards the salt shaker, grabbing it from the boy's hands.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he scolded, staring at the mess Riku had made.
But then he blinked, frowned, and blinked again. There was no mess.
"I just…" Riku mumbled something unintelligible and then heaved a sigh, pouting once more. Sora looked down at the table and stared in wonder and amazement. There was a name written with salt.
"How…how did you do that?" Sora asked in pure amazement. The little boy looked up and shrugged, pointing at the salt shaker.
"I used that?" he offered, shrugging again.
Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Ehm, I know you used that. But I mean…you can write?" Once again he was confused about this boy.
Riku shook his head. Sora frowned.
"And what's that?"
Riku looked at what he had done with the salt. He cocked his head and studied his work. Then he nodded to himself and looked up at Sora again.
"It's your name," he answered.
The brunet nodded. Okay, this made no sense. Riku was three years old and could not write. He just said so. And still he'd been able to write Sora's name. And he knew he was doing it. Sora sighed. No use in trying to analyze what was happening. Things hadn't been normal to begin with so why bother to explain things that didn't even matter?
But for some part of Sora it did matter. It mattered to him because this was another of those little incidents that gave him the impression Riku had feelings for him. And it drove him mad because what if all of this would vanish once the week was over? And there were only this night and the next day left!
"Can we eat now?" Riku suddenly whined, causing Sora to snap out of thoughts.
"Uh…sure. As soon as I find something…" He went back to search for something appropriate while Riku sat on the chair to watch him. It seemed another idea struck him and he started to grin again. Carefully, he slid off the chair and tiptoed towards Sora, who had his back turned to him. He was muttering something, searching through the cupboard on the left side.
Riku grinned and jumped, wrapping his arms around Sora's waist. He nuzzled into the other boy's back, making Sora squeak involuntarily.
Sora tried to tilt his head back so he could see what Riku was doing but it was no use. Riku giggled and started tickling Sora with his tiny hands.
"S-Stop!" Sora demanded, unable to sound angry when the adorable boy was tickling him mercilessly. He couldn't help laughing and tried to grab Riku behind him. It turned into a tickling match, Riku tickling Sora's stomach while Sora jabbed the kid's sides.
"Not fair!" Riku exclaimed, eventually breaking down into a fit of laughter. Sora was equally exhausted by the tickling assault and dropped down to sit on the floor, watching Riku lie there eagle spread.
The boy heaved a content sigh and closed his eyes. Sora smiled at that and leaned down to kiss his forehead but was surprised as Riku lifted his arms to wrap them around his neck. He was pulled down and their lips met, even if it was just a clumsy little kiss. Sora felt like burning up and quickly pulled away to stare down at the boy.
He was having a strangely sober expression – definitely not the expression of a three year old boy. His eyes were deep and serious. Or was Sora seeing things?
Riku smiled. And then he rolled over, curling up on the kitchen floor.
"Get something to eat. I'll wait here," he mumbled, closing his eyes tightly.
Sora didn't know what to make of that. All he knew was that Riku was the most adorable being of the universe and that he wanted to hold him right now. He smiled and picked him up, earning a surprised squeak from the child.
"Hey–" Riku protested but then stopped. Sora held him close, tugging his head under his chin.
'Just for a while…' Sora thought, 'Just for a while I want to hold him…'
Riku hugged him back, as though he knew what the other boy was thinking.
***
After they had finally found something to eat, namely cheeseburgers made in the microwave, Riku had decided he needed more sleep.
Obviously the day had been too tiring for him and his eyes were already dropping shut every other second although he was struggling to stay awake to watch Sora tidy up the room he had messed up before.
Eventually he gave in and lay down, starting to drift off into sleep.
Sora noticed, maybe due to some kind of mother instincts, and decided to brush Riku's teeth before taking the boy into his room. It was still early but Riku wanted to sleep, so Sora had to stay with him. He didn't mind at all.
"The bed's smaller than the one we used to occupy…but it's ok, right?" Sora asked, pulling the comforter over the little body.
"Mmm…." Came the muffled reply and Sora realized Riku was already too far gone to even notice anything. He smiled and ran his hand through the hair, earning a pleased sigh. He lay down with him and it was no problem since Riku was small enough to not use much space.
Sora stayed awake for a few more hours while Riku slept peacefully. It was about midnight when he heard noise coming from outside the room and he decided to check it out. A wave of realization hit him when he heard the muffled voices.
"He's probably sleeping already, like always. Don't wake him."
Sora stepped outside to see a woman rummaging through the fridge. Then a man came from the bathroom and rubbed his eyes.
"Let's follow his example and go to sleep, too."
They turned and both came to see Sora standing in the doorway to Riku's room.
They raised their eyebrows in unison and both opened their mouths to speak.
"Hello, Sora," they greeted him simultaneously.
"Um, hello…" he answered, not quite sure what to do.
However, he didn't have to do anything because Riku's parents waved at him and walked towards their bedroom.
"Go to sleep. Riku's going to get up earlier than you and he'll probably wake you then so you better get some sleep."
They wandered off and shut the door to their room.
Sora blinked.
Living with them was easier than he thought. He was even sure they could have stayed here the whole week without having them notice. Too bad the week was almost over… Sora frowned and walked back into Riku's room. When he came back in he saw that the little boy was sitting on the bed.
"You liar," he sulked, crossing his arms.
Sora blinked and quickly went to sit down on the bed. "What? What did I do?"
Riku continued to sulk.
Sora sighed and gently pushed him to lie down again. He lay beside him and stroked his cheek.
"I didn't leave, if that's what you think. I just went to see what the noise was about."
After not getting any response, he assumed Riku had fallen asleep again so he closed his eyes and relaxed. 'Might as well go to sleep,' he thought.
"My Sora…" he heard a soft muttering and then felt Riku wrap his arms around him as well as he could. "Mine…"
Sora smiled sleepily but didn't open his eyes. He mimicked the boy's ministrations and took him into his arms.
"Yours…"
~~~~~~~~
Ending notes:
Whooo that was long. And wasn't it sweet? I thought it was sweet. Makes me feel a little better now… But then again the next chapter's the last one with Chibi Riku! Pity it has to end…but still. The story will keep going for a while because it's inevitable for those two to come together. Since everyone who reviewed wanted a happy ending for them , I'll write it!
Oh and about that panda… does anyone know Tao Tao? There was a cartoon…actually an anime, when I was about chibi Riku's age. I loved this panda. And last week I saw my little cousin have this stuffed panda and I just had to write that ^^
Okay, that's all for this time. Review and stay tuned!