First off, thanks again for the reviews. ^^ They're what keeps me ticking! I also need to point out that I'm updating every day because I'm currently on winter vacation. In all likelihood, I won't be able to keep this kind of an update schedule once school starts up again next week. *sigh* But in the meantime I'll probably get to one chapter a day, hopefully.
If there's any questions about anything in the story, feel free to email me any time! I've now decided to post my email address in my profile, so it's up there for anyone who needs it.
The beginning-middle of this chapter is almost completely devoted to Sora being in the color guard. I know, I know, where's the Riku/Sora love? It's starting to appear very, verrry slowly. At the end of this chapter, as a matter of fact! Right then, onto the chapter.
....................................
One for the Band - Chapter Five
'Running at Night'
For the most part, the school week went by rather uneventfully. Riku and Sora were back to sitting at the same old lunch table surrounded by the same old people, occasionally with Paine, Rikku, and possibly even Yuffie if the older girls were up to Selphie's continuous stream of babble. Things had started looking much better just as suddenly as they had previously taken a turn for the worst, and Sora would find himself wondering at how weird it all was... but only once or twice. Between Riku's upcoming birthday and approaching color guard tryouts, Sora was at the end of his rope.
No matter what Riku said or how much the silver haired teen insisted that Sora had already given him his birthday present by forgiving him, Sora wanted to give the older boy something else. What kind of gift was forgiveness after all? And though everyone he knew assured him he would have no trouble at all during tryouts, Sora was still nervous about the entire thing, continuing his late-night practice sessions with Paine. Throughout the entire week, Paine nearly had to force Sora to go back in his house, her excuse not only being that school was tomorrow, but they were both flat out exhausted.
Quistis, meanwhile, was avoiding Sora like the plague. After nearly having lost her position as color guard captain, and having had a carton of milk hurled at her face, the blonde had gone from trying to make Sora's life a living hell every chance she got to just steering clear of the younger boy, occasionally throwing him an icy glare just to let him know that no matter how safe he felt, things were still far from over.
Friday afternoon, Paine, Rikku, Sora, and Riku were all sprawled across the grass of Sora's backyard, several color guard flags lying forgotten off to the side. Rikku's head was draped over Paine's stomach as the normally hyper-active girl happily took a moment off of her bouncy nature to admire the fading sun before an idea popped into her mind. Grinning, she sat up, looking at the three teenagers surrounding her.
"Oooh! Idea time! I got it! Why don't we all have a sleepover at my place, huh? We can get as many guard girls together as possible and make it one huge party!" Upon receiving blank looks from Sora and Riku, Rikku giggled before continuing. "You guys could come too! I dunno if my mom would be too happy with you spending the night though... Oh! We can hide you in the closet until she falls asleep! Yay!"
"Or Sora and I could just walk down to my house when your mom says it's time for us to go."
Rikku paused to think a moment before nodding eagerly. "Yeah! That'll work!" Looking over her shoulder at Paine, who had sat up as well, Rikku beamed. "See? This'll totally be a blast!" She hopped to her feet, dragging Paine up behind her and instantly snapped back into her hyperactive mindset. "We'll go round up a horde of girls and meet you guys at my house, at umm.... Eight thirty. Eight thirty's great! Loads and loads of fun! Come on, Paine!"
Sora and Riku stared blankly after the two girls, slightly at a loss for words. Finally Sora blinked and turned to look at Riku. "I wonder if she always does that."
"What, plan random parties and everything?" Riku folded his arms behind his head as he laid back down on the grass to enjoy the last few minutes of daylight, Sora flopping over on the ground next to him as well. "I dunno, really. She was in my ninth grade biology class and seemed to get a kick out of gluing worksheets to Ms. Rubin's desk..." Sora snickered at this, definitely able to picture Rikku as a freshman, laughing her head off as some poor teacher frantically tried to pick up the stray piece of paper. "She's grown up a little though. But yeah, she seems like the kind of person who would throw a random party like that."
Sitting so close to Riku, Sora could even smell the older boy's noticeably gingery scent and his eyes began to droop slowly, the body heat shared by their close proximity slowly lulling him off into--
"Oh shit!"
Or not. Eyes snapping open, Sora realized that Riku was scrambling to his feet and the younger boy stared at him in confusion. "What? What is it?"
Dusting the grass off from his pants, Riku did his best to hurriedly explain. "Mom and Dad are out for the weekend, I dropped Bruno off at the vet this afternoon to get some shots and I completely forgot!"
Sora couldn't decide whether to laugh or feel sorry for his friend. How was it that Riku, of all people, was forgetting to pick up his dog from the vet's when he'd only dropped Bruno off that very afternoon. As it was, most of the older boy's afternoon had been spent doing that very task, the nearest vet being all the way on the other side of the large island. In the late evening, when everyone would be coming home from work, Sora wouldn't be surprised if it took Riku an hour and a half just to get to his dog in the first place.
Knowing that Bruno was in no grave danger, Sora drew his bottom lip out into an unhappy pout. "So you won't be making it to Rikku's then?" Damn. He'd been looking forward to spending the rest of the evening with Riku in that kind of scene. It probably would've been fun...
"Hey, it's not like I won't be back 'til morning! I'll get over there as soon as I get back, okay? I promise, Sora!" Riku was already starting to head around the side of Sora's house towards his car.
"Fine, but if you're not there by the time I'm tired and ready to go to sleep, don't charge me for breaking and entering your house!"
"Got it!" And Riku disappeared, leaving a rather disgruntled Sora alone in his backyard.
~~~~~~~
"Sora, Paine's here! Get a move on!"
A bleary eyed Sora blinked away before realizing what time it was. Shit! Sora lunged out of bed, racing around his room for an extra set of clothes, bag, brush... Brush! Brush the hair, brush the hair... After raking the poor brush through his messy spikes several times, Sora tossed the worn object into the old backpack at the foot of his bed along with everything else. Slipping off the slightly grass-stained white shirt he'd worn to school that afternoon, Sora then began yet another frantic search for a decent t-shirt.
"SORA!"
Having found a simple gray shirt tossed over the back of his chair, Sora hurriedly tried to tug it on over it head, naturally getting stuck. "I'm comi-- OW!" After crashing into both a wall and his closet door, Sora finally managed to navigate his head through the proper hole of the tight shirt, ramming his arms through as well. Okay, so it was a little small and didn't exactly cover all of his midriff. Impatiently tugging the small shirt down as far as he could, Sora swung the backpack over his shoulder and ran out the door, scooping up a toothbrush and toothpaste out of the bathroom during his mad dash. Nearly falling down the last five stairs, Sora skidded to a halt in front of the front door, blinking up innocently at both Bryna and Paine, who stood there smirking at the young boy in amusement.
Patting her son on the head, making Sora feel rather like a puppy, Bryna said her goodbyes, a spatula in her other hand. It was usually a tradition Bryna had of cooking herself an omelet every time she had the house to herself. Sora new quite knew why it was an omelet instead of something more gourmet, but he never bothered to ask. Make his mother just had a secret omelet fetish. That thought alone was enough to make Sora fall over in laughter for quite some time.
"And behave at Riku's house!"
"Yeah, Mom. As opposed to the other times that I don't?" Much to Sora's disappointment, it seemed to him that not much had changed in their relationship since that Monday when Riku walked Sora home from practice and hugged him that way. Sora had gone home and drifted upstairs to his room after that, flopping over on his bed and spending the rest of the evening lost in his own happy daydreams. As much as Sora would like to have their friendship grow into something more, Riku's little escapade with Quistis had only made him even more unsure of exactly which way his friend swung. And not to mention the fact that Sora often reminded himself, he would probably be too chicken to go through with any of his plans anyway.
As Paine pulled out of Sora's driveway several minutes later, Sora was no longer half-asleep, though he realized he hadn't done a very good job of brushing his hair. But it wasn't like it mattered anyway. He was just going to spend the evening in a loud room where he'd be the only boy, way into the late hours of the night. Were he any other boy in his grade, he'd probably have died of happiness by then. But Riku wasn't able to make it, so it just snapped back into being a normal party.
"So you've never been to one of Rikku's parties before, right? There's probably a few things you should know..." Paine said with a small smile as the car turned off Sora's street. Sora, always the one to inspect people's driving skills, noticed that although Paine was an excellent driver, she didn't have the same daring nature Riku did. No, Paine focused on one thing at a time, not taking her eyes off the road, not playing loud music, simply speaking to Sora but looking at the road in front of her. Riku would've been driving with one hand, joking with Sora loudly to be heard over some blaring radio station, and probably drinking a soda all at the same time. Yet another thing I love about that stupid guy.
"She's got some interesting party games..."
"I totally dominate at pin the tail on the donkey, Paine," Sora said with a snicker.
"Oh what, so you want me to just let you find out all for yourself?" Paine raised an eyebrow, a smile creeping across her face.
"Sure! I love surprises."
Once Paine and Sora had gotten to Rikku's house, Rikku's mother (who looked no older then her late thirties) showed them to the basement, loud music greeting their ears as soon as the door was opened. Christmas lights hung around the walls, random pillows and blankets scattered across the floor, a chorus of female voice suddenly squealing over the pulsing music.
"Sora's here!"
"Oooh, Sora's here? That means Paine's here too! Yay, Paine!" That was quite obviously Rikku, Sora figured with a grin as he and Paine made their way into the basement. No sooner had he reached the last step did Yuffie spring out of nowhere and tackle him to the ground.
"Yes! We've got him alone, finally!"
Pure alarm ringing through Sora's brain, he was completely taken aback when the older girl began tickling him mercilessly.
"We've got some queeestions for you, So-ra!" Kairi and Selphie appeared behind Yuffie, grinning wickedly. Paine, he could see, would be of no help to him since she was laughing and joking along with Rikku and Yuna. Though his friend did turn around at one point during Yuffie's brutal tickling attack, Paine just snickered softly.
"Paine! Aren't you going to save me or something?!" Sora barely managed to squeak out between laughter, still all the while trying to get away from Yuffie. Kairi and Selphie got behind him and dragged their friend back to his feet, each of them pulling him up by one arm. Sora was still laughing and having a good time, though the back of his mind wondered how much more fun it would be if Riku were there with him.
"Sora, have you ever played Mau?" Yuna waved over at him as several of the girls looked up and ran over to her, a thick deck of cards cradled between her hands. All three sophomores including Sora exchanged looks of confusion before shaking their heads. As they moved over to sit in the rapidly forming circle of girls, Yuna explained while dealing out cards from the huge pile. "No one can tell you the rules until after you win the game, got it?"
Yuna split the remaining cards and placed them in the center of the circle. Selphie beamed, always excited to learn more new games. "Ooh! That sounds fun!" Reaching for the small pile of cards in front of her, Selphie soon discovered Rule #1 of Mau.
"No touching the cards before the game begins!" Rikku squealed delightedly as Yuna added another card to Selphie's pile.
"Whaaat? Hey! No fair!"
"That's the rules of Mau, Selphie! Tough luck!" Rikku shot back with a wicked grin.
"Okay, Mau has begun, you can now pick up your hand." Everyone in the circle did so and Sora blinked at his cards. Never had felt more confused at something as simple as a card game. Perhaps it would be easier if he knew exactly what it was he was trying to do... Not having much time to dwindle on his thoughts, Sora began to discover that one hesitation in Mau was another penalty.
"Failure to play!" Rikku would shout as Kairi would stare blankly at the cards in front of her. Bing, another card was added to her hand.
"Failure to knock!" Yuffie handed Selphie another card, causing the younger girl to whine in distress at her ridiculously large hand of cards.
"Failure to name a Beetle, Sora." Paine reminded the boy as he set a ten of spades on top of the stack of cards in the middle of the circle. One of the most memorable Mau moments must have been Sora's poor attempt at naming a 'beetle' as he played a ten of diamonds card and grinned, triumphantly saying, "Dung Beetle!" Too bad Sora didn't quite realize that a dung beetle wasn't exactly Paul McCartney as the girls around him burst into laughter. After nearly an hour of Mau-goodness, Sora was pleasantly surprised to find that he was actually beginning to understand the twisted card game. All he had to remember was to knock on the floor after playing a card of hearts, don't do anything when playing a card of diamonds or clubs, announce the name of the card if it was a spade, and name a member from the Beetles when playing a ten. But there was no amount of knowledge that could save poor Sora from being slaughtered in the game, Yuna being named the twelve-time Mau Queen.
Once the cards were put away, Yuffie finally got her moment. Crawling over to sit next to Sora, a soda in one hand, Yuffie grinned at the younger boy. "Okay! So now we get to play traditional old truth or dare!" Sora had a very bad feeling about this.
"I say Sora's first! Sora first!" Rikku bounced up and down on the basement sofa, Paine giving Sora a smug look which blatantly said, 'I tried to warn you, but you just wouldn't listen.' Obviously, there was something here that was completely over Sora's head, though he was about to find out just what it was.
"Okay, Sora, truth or dare?" Yuffie smirked as she sat back, resting her elbows on the coffee table behind her. Not doubting for a moment that the dark haired girl had something planned no matter which one he chose, Sora picked truth. He was quite content sprawled across a large pillow and didn't feel like getting up to perform a dare in the first place. The room went ominously quiet with the exception of a giggle from Selphie (who was quickly shut up by Kairi, of course) and Sora wondered if he'd picked the wrong category. Trying not to let his nervousness show, the coppery haired boy took a deep drink from his soda as Yuffie finally popped the truth question.
"Do you like, Riku, Sora?"
Poor Sora nearly choked on the drink which was already halfway down his throat, coughing several times before being able to speak at all. And even then, he shot Paine a hurt look, though was quickly corrected.
"Oh, honestly, Sora, I haven't told them anything." Paine rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, Sora, hate to tell ya, but you're not exactly the most discreet person in the world," Yuffie chimed in. "We were all wondering for a really long time, actually. I mean, you're always looking at him in that really cute way you do and you were so mad about the whole Quistis thing... And he's so protective of you and all..." Yuffie giggled and adhered herself to Sora's side in a near bone-crushing hug. "Aww! That's so cute!"
Selphie spoke up next, though Sora was having slight trouble breathing, so he wasn't exactly focusing on what the girl was saying. "Yep, yep! Even Kairi and I were wonderin' about it, so when Rikku said both you and Rikku were coming, we were trying to figure out a way we could... well, ya know, hook you guys up!"
Sora did however, manage to catch those last few words and as Yuffie finally let go, his eyes widened. "You were going to what??"
"But then when we found out that Riku couldn't make it, we came up with a little different plan!" Selphie continued cheerily, completely unabashed by Sora's stunned reaction. Rikku, meanwhile, had hopped up from the couch and moved over to a small closet the basement had. After several moments of scrambling around, Rikku finally emerged, cradling a cardboard box in her arms triumphantly.
Sora blinked, continuing to be stunned, though part of him couldn't help but wonder if this would be the worst thing that ever happened to him, or if this just might be the trick he'd been looking for all along. Obviously, the color guard had been planning this for quite some time, and just that thought alone was enough to give Sora hope that perhaps the girls knew what they were doing. Most of them were older then him after all, so why not trust them, right?
~~~~~~~
Twelve thirty had been the time limit Rikku's mother had set for Sora. At twelve thirty-seven, Rikku was frantically fanning Sora's... hip.
"Rikkuuu... Cut it out! This is embarrassing!" Sora whined.
"Oh, hush! There's no one here to be embarrassed in front of! Besides, this needs to dry!" Rikku frowned at the loopy henna design Yuna had artfully planted on the boy's hip. The horde of color guard girls never seemed to grow tired of "brushing up Sora", as they had so lovingly come to calling it. In two hours, Sora had been forced to change his thick normal socks for low cut girl's socks ("Sora, show off your sexy ankles!" "I don't have sexy ankles, Rikku!" "Don't be modest!"), had a very small amount of eyeliner applied (compliments of Paine), and had a new wardrobe selected. Almost everyone took the art of selecting the outfit very seriously.
Some time after being assured that he would not be forced to wear girl's panties, Sora found himself blinking at his reflection in the mirror, decked out in the standard attire of a teenage girl.
A small black t-shirt with white stitching felt like it barely covered his torso, though it really wasn't all that much smaller then the gray shirt he'd worn over to Rikku's in the first place. The ornate flowery henna design was clearly visible between the thin fabric of his shirt and the waistband of his pants, which also seemed to cling to him like a second skin. Not to mention the rather humiliating fact that the girls had selected a pair of pants that laced up the sides ("See, Sora? Now you can see your ankles through the sides of the pants!" "Shut up about my stupid ankles!"). Other then his boxers, the only thing Sora had been allowed to continue wearing were his yellow sneakers, and that was only because he couldn't fit into the pair of black sneakers Rikku had offered to supply.
As Sora gaped at his reflection, Rikku squealed and pranced up behind him, fastening a small, thin silver choker (sporting a little matching silver crown pendant, of course) around Sora's slim neck. She grinned at her fine work, the rest of the girls cheering for themselves for the job well done. Even Sora had to admit... It was definitely a big change from the less sexy innocent little Sora. Though it wasn't like his personality would drastically change with a simple switch of clothes.
As quietly as they could, the group of girls accompanied Sora up the stairs and towards the front door, not wanting to let Rikku's mother know of the slight run over their little time limit. Thankfully, it didn't look as though Sora would going to turn into a pumpkin or anything just after staying a few extra minutes, Rikku's mom fast asleep on the second floor of the house. Before she would let Sora go, Rikku insisted that each member of the color guard give the boy a word of advice. More utter humiliation for Sora, but all the same it was still quite amusing.
Several lewd comments and jeering suggestions later, Rikku supplied Sora with what she deemed the most important sexual advice he would ever learn.
"What, always use protection?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No! Jeeze, you dummy." Rikku rolled her eyes at the younger boy's apparent stupidity. "Three words. Suck. Your. Fingers." Sora's cheeked turned a beet red color as Rikku continued happily. "I don't care how you do it, just eat something and suck the remaining stuff off your fingers! Or suck a lollipop, I don't care, but don't forget about it, okay?"
"Ehehe... I'll... try not to... Rikku..." he mumbled as he struggled to banish certain images from his mind. Thankfully, Paine was the last one to wish him 'good luck' and she made it short and simple, just like always.
"Don't freeze." Paine smiled at Sora, crossing her arms. Expecting something more from his close friend, Sora blinked up at her for a moment before she finally rolled her eyes and practically shoved the younger boy out the front door--
Onto Riku, who had just been about to ring the doorbell. The weather outside had taken a slight turn for the worst, a thin drizzle coming from the sky. Oddly enough, Sora found himself thanking the face that the eyeliner Paine used was waterproof... And then found himself wondering why he really cared all that much in the first place. Quickly skittering off to the side, surprised by Riku's sudden presence, Sora looked back at the still open door.
Rikku grinned. "Huh, looks like rain. Guess you better run, boys! Have fun!" Click. The front door was closed, a rapid scuffling sound heard behind it. Sora had very little doubt in his mind that all of the girls were trying to find a decent window to look out of so they could spy on Riku and Sora as they left Rikku's house.
Riku shook his head in surprise before turning to Sora, grateful for the temporary shelter the roof jutting out slightly past the house provided. "Sorry I couldn't come sooner, Sora. Bruno wouldn't exactly get in and out of the car easily," Riku said, laughing slightly. Sora chuckled as well, knowing just how lazy Riku's enormous basset hound could be. Both teens stood there for a moment on Rikku's doorstep, looking out at the rain, aware of the fact that it was slowly becoming more then just a mere drizzle. Finally Riku grinned and spoke up.
"Well, looks like we have to run after all."
No sooner had both of them stepped off the stoop of Rikku's house did the sky really break open, sending torrents of cool water pouring down on them both as their sneakers pounded across the sidewalk, across the street, occasionally slipping into muddy grass as they made the frantic dash towards Riku's house. Sora yelped as he nearly lost his balance which would have sent him tumbling into a growing puddle (and no doubt having earned Rikku's wrath for the wreck of her clothes later on), only to have Riku grab his wrist at the last second, pulling the smaller boy back to his feet with ease. Laughing, Riku didn't seem to bother letting go of Sora's wrist as they continued running, neither of them caring that their legs were tired, their bodies soaked and gasping for air. I need to remember to go running like this every night... Sora looked over at Riku to find his older friend's platinum hair plastered against his skin from the torrents of rainwater coming down on them both, all of his clothes clinging to his well toned body. Sora grinned, quickly averting his glace before Riku could catch him staring, although his speech dealt out to him by the color guard told him to keep looking, keep checking out his best friend. Yep, I'll definitely need to do this again.
"What? Hey! They're gone, I can't see 'em anymore!" Rikku complained as she pressed her face against the glass of the window. Paine elbowed the girl in her ribs, laughing.
"Of course they're gone, Rikku. They're sleeping at Riku's house, remember?"
"Well, yeah, but I was hoping to see some action or something! I mean, we put so much work into that kid!" Rikku pouted, leaning against the wall of her bedroom.
Yuffie swung her feet back and forth above the ground, perched on Rikku's bed, Selphie and Kairi giggling next to her. Grinning, Yuffie crossed her legs, a smug look on her face. "Don't worry, Rikku! I've got a pretty good feeling about this..."
....................................................
And that wraps up this chapter! Finally, I'm going to get to write an entire chapter of happy Riku/Sora fun! ...Not that kind of fun. T__T I still plan on keeping this fic with it's PG-13 rating and all. Not to mention the fact that I simply can't write a lemon. I don't know how to nor do I have to guts to. Ahem. Anyway, I think this was a pretty nice long chapter. You're not supposed to understand the rules of Mau, in case you were wondering. I just added that in there because I learned to play the game at a sleepover much like this one (minus cross-dressing boys, sadly) and I just think it helps add a little bit of mad confusion humor to the story.
^^; I was planning on taking the rest of the year off of writing, but I had so much extra time today I figured I might as well just type this up! But before I forget, I just feel I need to point out the other reasons I made Paine have an interest in girls. I realized it this afternoon while eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, oddly enough. When I first decided to put her in the story, she wasn't going to be paired with Rikku. I mean, I didn't want everyone in the story to be gay, after all. But once I finally got around to figuring out some of the plot in my mind, I decided to change her sexual orientation for many reasons.
One of them, as several people have noticed, is because I wanted her relationship to sort of be like Riku's and Sora's. Another reason is because I figured it would easier for Sora to build a really trustworthy friendship with her if both of them had that in common. Not to mention it would be easier for Paine to carry out the supportive/advice-giving duties I made her have. o.o; And last but not least, the important factor I realized while eating my sandwich. I didn't want to start hating Paine! I knew that if I made her the way she is, minus her sexual orientation, even I would start wondering if she was interested in Sora and that wouldn't go over so well at all. XD So now the in-depth reasons behind Paine being the way she is have been revealed and I would like to wish you all a very happy new year!
In the next chapter, I get to have absurd amounts of fun writing about a hormone-crazed sleepover. *laughs wickedly*
~Ori