Disclaimer: Nope, Sorry folks, I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. When (read: if) I take over the Disney (and/or Square), you people will be the first to know!
Rating: pg-13… still. For now.
Author's Note: Woo. Chapter Three already? How did I manage that? I dunno. Conflicts! Conflicts! Let's see today we have a confused Sora, a grumpy Riku, a love struck Kairi and Sora's mom! I like this chapter, though it's not very fluffy, actually… I'm forgetting if Riku and Sora even meet in this chapter… Oh well… Oops, I was so excited to post chapter two I forgot the review responses… … they're here instead okies? I think this was why Riku was yelling at me ::sweatdrop:: Oh dear, Somehow country music found its way into my play-list!!! ::dies:: darn you George Strait! Write this Down!
Response to Reviews:Slashapalooza- I am writing! Ah! Not the look!! ::runs and cowers from Slashapalooza's omniscience:: Chapter 3 & 4 coming up soon I promise (wait, this is chapter 3… 0.o)
LiLi-sama – I am glad you like it, I will keep writing!
Alazzerath – You have a cool name by the way, I hope you will continue to read it!
Inuyasha999- Sora will get over it, I'm sure.
Ink2 – Did I make you sad? I'm sorry! Hee hee, I like the fish scene too! Muwa hahahahahaha cute! ::pinches Riku's cheeks:: your actions, and therefore you are cute! (Riku: Do you want to die a horrible death?)
Will's Girl – I'm glad you like it! I hope more is better because there is a lot more coming!Twilight-archer – Well, really it was only on the forehead. Maybe Sora will get a proper kiss later. Kairi? Don't worry about her! ::wink:: I'm actually glad someone out there is thinking of Kairi! you are now my friend. lol (Riku is saying "poor you,")
Evil-Kirie – How did I miss you? 0.o Oh well out of order is fun! I am writing more as I type.. well almost.
Chapter 3: Hold SteadySora pushed his face into his pillow, his cheeks burning. He held his breath as long as he could before raising his head to make sure his mother hadn't walked in or anything. He hadn't slept a wink that night; all he could think about was Riku. Sora had been so stunned that he hadn't even gone down to say goodbye. He looked over to his alarm clock; it glowed half past three in the morning.
Figures, he thought. No wonder there was no chance for his mother to walk in. He groaned as he rolled over to stare at the ceiling, what was he going to do? One of his new friends had just kissed him. Albeit, on the forehead, but Sora wasn't that dense, he could feel the restrained feeling behind it. He couldn't even sort things out in his head.
"Isn't he going out with Kairi?" Sora asked himself quietly. He narrowed his blue eyes; Riku's actions were making less and less sense. Why would he do such a thing? Although, Sora reasoned, he hadn't actually asked if the two were together, but he was very sure they were. The way they acted, it seemed only natural. When he had dated Ayame, none of his friends had to be up front and ask; it just got around they were. He wouldn't feel right going up to either Riku or Kairi to ask if they were going out.
He rolled over, staring at the wall, resting his chin on his pillow. How could he handle this? Sora sighed, deciding to try and forget what he felt when Riku had touched him and make himself believe Riku was just acting like from the story. He groaned, knowing it wouldn't work.
Sora wasn't expecting to sleep at all the rest of the weekend.
By the time breakfast finally rolled around, Sora was not only exhausted but grumpy as well. He wasn't one to stay up all night. He had never done it before, and he found, as he sat down for breakfast, he didn't like it. He rubbed his face frantically, trying to stay awake. His mother looked at him strangely. Was it possible that Sora had even worse bed head than usual?
"Are you alright honey?" she asked, putting a plate of waffles in front of Sora. Sora's mother gave a hesitant smile.
"I'll be fine, I just didn't sleep well, that's all," Sora said, picking at his waffles, as if unsure he really wanted them or not.
"Well, I hope you'll feel better soon," his mother sounded like she had a plan in mind. Sora glanced up, still poking his breakfast.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh Sora, you never listen! I told you yesterday we were going to have a picnic today,"Sora, though wanting to go on the defensive about the remark, did not want to tell his mother why he was having trouble remembering anything about yesterday, except Riku. He flushed slightly at the thought and then forced himself to eat two of his waffles, so his mother wouldn't worry. He watched her for most of the morning, helping her getting ready for the picnic. It was around noon when they finally left the house, heading to a small peninsula away from the now busy town.
They finally settled on the grass under the shade of a paopu tree, its trunk leaning out over the aqua water. The picnic was set up close enough to enjoy the shore, without the messiness of the sand dunes. Sora laid out the food and juice, watching his mother grow more and more distracted. After she accidentally tipped over a glass of juice, Sora had to ask.
"See? Now you're the one acting strangely," he said, raising an eyebrow when his mother turned to him, acting like it was the first time she had noticed her son's presence. He cleaned up the spill before any insects noticed it.
"Sorry dear, I'm just… This place… Do you know the last time I had a picnic here?" she finally said, laughing a softly at Sora's small pout. Even she knew it wasn't good when mothers' spoke like this. They were supposed to be articulate and know exactly what to say. A stuttering mother? That was dangerous.
Sora shook his head. He didn't remember anything about the islands, or was she forgetting that too? He didn't think he was the best person to reminiscence with about the past. He had been very small when they left. His mother gave a small smile.
"Of course you don't, and heavens' know I hadn't even thought about it until now. The last time I had a picnic in the islands it was with your father. It was my favourite kind of date, do you know that?" she paused, remembering something, her eyes dancing happily before dimming a bit with another memory, "I liked spending time with your father in the sunlight. It seemed warmer than the usual evening get-togethers,"
"Maybe because it was the daytime?" Sora asked, getting frustrated with his mother. Was she going to come to a point? More importantly, did Sora even want to know what her point was? He didn't like the shadow in her eyes; he had fought long enough to be rid of it. Sora didn't want it creeping back again.
"Now, now," his mother chided, continuing with her story as if he hadn't said anything, "I liked them because it didn't seem like we were hiding or anything. Night-time, it just seems so secretive. Besides this, the last time I was here with your father, he…" Sora's mother touched her cheek lightly, as if trying to hold on to a memory of a touch that was slipping away.
"He asked me to marry him. Everything was so sweet; all the dishes he had made had paopu fruit in them. So adamant in his desire to have me by his side," she said after a moment, smiling sadly. Though the memory had been sweet, it was now tainted.
Sora frowned, leaning over to grasp his mother's hand. He didn't need her to speak to know how it ended. That was something etched clearly in his mind. Sora didn't need a story to know about the shouting, about the one-sided arguments, about the late night tears.
"He was the sweetest boy I had ever known that day," she said, squeezing Sora's hand, knowing her son had packed all his fond memories of his father up and hid them from himself, to try and protect his heart, to forget he loved him.
Sora looked up meeting her eyes, a mirror image of his own, wondering how she could say such a thing. He didn't think he could picture his father in such a way. His mother smiled knowing he was trying to reconcile things in his head. Maybe later, she thought. It was a story for later.
"Aren't you going to eat something? You need your strength if you're going to try and stay awake all night again," she said, pleasantly satisfied with Sora's gaping mouth, which was soon filled with a sandwich to hide the muttering; though it was hard for her son to hide the red cheeks.
Munching on the sandwich, Sora refrained himself from asking questions, wondering how exactly she knew he had been up. It worried him that she knew; it meant she had been up all night too. He wondered if he had been that loud. Sora didn't think he had been talking to himself out loud, though sometimes he got confused on exactly what things he had said out loud and what he had just thought to himself in the eternal commentary in his mind about the world.
.:---:.
"You have yet to even begin to fix things between us, Riku," Kairi said, tossing her short red hair from her face, coming out of the fourth store that afternoon. Riku, the penitent followed behind, adding another shopping bag to his collection. Every store Kairi had led him into turned into another bill. Even the thought of how much work he would have to do to return his bank account to normal after this was mind blowing and Riku didn't want to think about it.
"Well then, how many accessories and outfits is it going to take?" he said, lifting the bags up in example. Riku wasn't thrilled when Kairi laughed in response. She led the way up the main street of the shopping district.
"I think I will forgive you when that's doubled," she said, pretending to think about it. Kairi grinned at Riku's hopeless expression and walked into another store that had silver and gold accessories in its window. Riku sighed and followed in, quite resigned to his fate.
"I'm just afraid of the penalty when it's actually my fault," he said, as Kairi inspected some necklaces. Riku had stopped paying attention to the prices two stores before.
"Oh you'll pay with a pound of flesh, including the blood," she said sweetly, ignoring Riku's distaste for Shakespeare. She held up a delicate silver chain with a clear crystal orchid in bloom as its pendant.
"What do you think?" she asked, deciding if she wanted it while Riku was allowed to put in his two cents.
"I swear I already bought you one like that," Riku muttered, knowing it was already a done deal. He just wondered how many more things Kairi would want from this store. He shifted the shopping bags around, knowing it was another punishment for canceling their movie night yesterday. Usually Kairi liked carrying shopping bags. Riku figured it was her inner proud hunter shining through, wanting to show off her catches.
"So what was so important last night that you had to ditch me?" Kairi asked, choosing some dangly pretty earrings.
"My mom dragged me over to an old friend's house for dinner. It actually turned out to be not that bad," Riku said calmly, hoping Kairi wouldn't go from idle conversation to intense interrogation.
"Really? Why was that? Usually those things are so boring, parents babbling on about things they think are important. I always try to get out of them. It's like the only time my brothers and I work together," she said, thinking of her two brothers, wondering just how they were related. They were savages to her. Kairi studied a package of earrings, smaller ones than the other pair she had already decided on.
"I wasn't alone in my generation at the dinner," Riku explained, knowing Kairi wasn't really listening. She seemed too busy spending his money. "Sora was there. Supposedly our mom's were friends."
That caught Kairi's attention, who turned from a silver and blue skirt. She raised an eyebrow, having to make a quick decision in her mind.
If Riku had known Sora was going to be there when he cancelled with her, this was a big problem, to lie and ditch his best friend without an apology. Then she would have to be angry with him, not just annoyed, and it would demand a lot more from Riku than just a shopping trip. If Riku knew he was going to Sora's house and hid it from Kairi, then that would be an argument at least, maybe with some time of not talking to him.
However, if Riku hadn't known and Sora was a surprise to him that he was casually hiding from Kairi, then she felt it was okay and she wouldn't have to fight with the silver haired boy anymore. Glancing into his eyes, Kairi decided this was the case, though she did wonder why Riku was acting so guarded about the night.
That was how Riku acted when he was guarded: Being casual and mentioning things when he knew she wasn't paying attention. Kairi sighed and went over to the cashier, earrings and skirt in hand. Riku was going to pay for not telling her the whole truth right away. Literally.
"Are you finished yet?" Riku asked, punching in his pin number as his bank account was draining. He now understood why girls needed boyfriends. Going shopping was very expensive.
"You asked that when we came in, silly," Kairi teased, heading off to the next store on the street, which happened to be a very trendy café. She paused only for moment to let Riku open the door for her, struggling with the many bags.
"Can't I at least combine some of these?" Riku asked, standing in line, waiting for Kairi to decide on what she wanted. He had already decided on a cup of coffee, something normal and with caffeine.
"That would make things easier, like, if you told me what was going on and sounded at least a bit disappointed that you couldn't spend time with me," she answered, smiling slightly at the exhausted groan. Kairi smiled and ordered a 'strawberries and crème' cream frappachino and a piece of vanilla cake for herself when she got to the cashier. Riku ordered his cup of coffee and paid for it. This was one of the cheaper stops on the shopping spree, costing just over ten dollars.
They sat down outside under a white umbrella, Riku settling himself down surrounded by all of Kairi's purchases. He sipped his coffee, glad she was enjoying herself. He just hoped she'd offer to share the cake. It looked good but he didn't want to spend even more money on his own piece.
"Two more shops and your apology will be accepted," Kairi said, sipping her drink and looking around.
Riku rolled his eyes, pretty sure he hadn't even said he was sorry for missing her movie night, though he was. Movie night at Kairi's house was, in the least, an adventure. He grabbed her fork while she wasn't watching and took a chunk of her cake. Riku glanced up when he didn't hear the squeal.
Kairi looked spaced out, looking over at something. Riku turned in his chair to follow her gaze and his eyes landed on a tall young man, looking a little out of place with his dark suit. Riku raised an eyebrow. Dark hair, barely shorter than his own. He assessed him as a minor threat to his own attractiveness. He looked too old to be in the café. This was a popular spot for students in the town.
"Like his tight butt or is it his hair, Kairi?" he asked, shaking the red haired girl out of her daze. She frowned.
"Yes and yes, I think he's hot," She admitted readily, Kairi was always checking out guys with Riku. With Riku, scoping out guys was like spending a day with a kid infected with a strange kind of ADD. Riku was always jumping from guys to girls, not being able to make up his mind which person he wanted more.
"Come on, he's wearing a suit!" Riku protested, not seeing what Kairi saw.
"You're just jealous because you couldn't pull that look off," she snapped, knowing the man was hot and Riku was just in denial. She pouted; maybe it was because he had someone else on his mind.
"Ha! It's the look that's off,""Would it be better if he spiked his hair up and wore clothes more like Sora?" Kairi asked, knowing Riku was too busy defending his position to notice what she said.
"Of course, he'd look ten times hotter if he dressed like Sor… Kairi!" Riku stopped himself and glared at her, willing the light blush away from his cheeks.
Kairi gave a rather sinister giggle, "I thought your guy scoping mind was elsewhere," she said simply, ignoring the incoherent arguments from Riku. Kairi finished off her cake. She stood up, ready to go shop again.
"And just for not telling me about Sora, you're going to buy me a nice silver ring," she said, opening the door to the jewelry store on the corner.
"There is nothing to say, you tricked me," Riku complained. However, he accepted the penalty for letting her trap him like that without argument. He swallowed nervously when Kairi starting looking at some of the trendy rings. Riku was sure the cheapest there was around twenty dollars. He feared for the safety of his financial future.
"I find that hard to believe. I saw that look when you tackled him the other day," Kairi commented, trying on a ring with intertwined swirls making an almost heart shape when they met. She liked it; the swirls looked like waves. With things going like this, Riku might have some of his afternoon free.
"What look? I tackled him because he ate all the dumplings," Riku defended, handing his debit card over to the cashier. Kairi had decided on the ring. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
"Then you didn't even notice it. You want him though, don't you?" Kairi asked smiling, happy at the purchase and ignoring Riku's less than subtle twitching.
"No, I…" Riku thought about it for a moment, "I don't know," he said after searching his feelings for Sora. He really couldn't tell. Riku knew the first day at lunch he was being friendly and feeling a lot of pity for the new-kid, but he would have done that for anyone; Especially after Sora's display in homeroom. Though, now, after the dinner, after Sora's story about his fish, and the kiss, he wasn't so sure. Riku decided, without telling Kairi, that he was on the edge from friendship and the great unknown.
"Sora's a lot more open when you're not around. Maybe he has a crush on you," Kairi said, thinking about how friendly Sora was when Riku wasn't around. When Riku came into a scene, Sora always seemed to be looking at the ground. She was surprised when Riku shook his head.
"No, that was something else," Riku commented, holding the door open for Kairi, glad, at least, that the bag was small.
"How do you know?" Kairi asked.
"I think I fixed that little problem last night," he said, regaining his cool smirk. Kairi gave a laugh.
"There's my Riku!" she said, hugging him. It was the first time all day that Riku had acted like his normal self. Kairi was glad to have him back. He laughed at her hug and then hefted the bags up.
"Let's go see a movie to make up for last night," Riku suggested, gesturing to the movie theatre on the next block.
"Your treat?" Kairi asked hopefully.
"The last one of the day for you."
"Yay!" Kairi jumped in a fit of joy and raced the silver haired boy to the box office. Riku following, shaking his head at her juvenile behaviour.
.:---:.
"Are you sure you'll be okay going home?" Sora asked his mother, who waved him off again. She had finished picking up the picnic and was ready to walk home. She smiled and pointed towards downtown.
"I thought there was a movie you wanted to see. Go see it now, I'm horrible company for a teenaged boy," she said, giving Sora a wink and pushed him in the right direction.
"Are you sure? You're wonderful company, mom!" Sora said adamantly, hoping she really didn't think she was boring or depressing or, worse, old.
"Go Sora, I'll get home fine," she said, making sure Sora had started walking to the movie theatre before heading the opposite way, to their house. She sighed, hoping the movie would take Sora's mind off his father and the past. Since that was just what it was, the past, she didn't think Sora should still have to dwell on it.
Sora paid for his ticket, still a little upset that his mother had pretty much forced him to go to the movie. He was worried about her; she hadn't acted like that in a long time. He absent mindedly found his way to the theatre, wondering idly if there was something wrong with the island's water supply that made people act strangely. First Riku the night before and now his mother. Sora sighed; he didn't understand.
He was beginning to plan his escape from society and his future as a hermit in the mountains with his fish when Sora entered the theatre and started to look for a seat. Sora glanced around and thought he had found a free seat a few rows down when a pile of bags were plopped down in it. Sora glanced up at the taker of his seat and almost fell back into an elderly woman.
Riku. With Kairi.
Sora swallowed. This clinched it, the two were going out, he decided, watching the two flirt while taking their seats. He found a seat a few rows above them and sat down quickly, finding himself spying on them.
He had never spied on anyone before.
Well, okay, so Saki had dragged him to a festival and the movies and then to the mall to follow Ayame and her new boyfriend that one time. Oh and then there was that other time when Saki dragged him to go spy on a boy she liked for a whole day. And he was pretty sure that when Saki asked him to be his partner for a class hike in the woods, they had been spying on Ayame and her boyfriend at the time. That time was Sora's fault because he had mentioned to Saki about his crush on Ayame and Saki was then even more determined to break them up.
Sora reasoned that Saki seemed to bring him along a lot for spying. But this happened to be the first time he had spied on his own. He shook his head mentally; he was sure Saki would be very proud of him. This disturbed Sora and confirmed that what he was doing was very wrong.
He barely watched the movie, glancing down at the flash of movement from his friends below. Sora's vivid imagination was telling him that Riku was probably being all smooth and suggestive to Kairi who was probably giggling and blushing like mad. He even missed the climax of the movie when he thought he had seen the two kiss.
'How could they just kiss like that in the middle of a public place?' Sora thought indignant, and then reasoned that 'a', they were going out, 'b' it was a dark public place and 'c' lots of people made out during movies.
By the end of the movie, Sora was almost paranoid in his watching of Riku and Kairi, trying to analyze everything they were doing, every gesture Riku made when he talked, the way Kairi drank her soda. They were all clues. All clues to the simple fact that the two were a couple and led to further confusion in Sora's mind on why exactly he cared so much that the two were going out, and exactly why he thought it hurt him to know that.
The credits ran and Riku and Kairi got up to leave, Kairi taking some of the bags from the shopping spree. Sora looked around, panicking slightly, not wanting the two to see him. Sora ducked down, falling to the sticky floor, crouching so that the couple didn't see him as they walked out of the movie, laughing to themselves.
"What are you doing ya' hooligan?" the grumpy older woman standing beside Sora complained. He was blocking the way. Was it enough he almost crashed into her at the beginning of the film but now he was investigating the floor?
"S-Sorry!" Sora squealed, running off into the crowd, still nervous.
"Kids these days…"Sora calmed his beating heart while sneaking his way out of the theatre without Riku or Kairi seeing him, or so he hoped. He hadn't felt a pair of aqua eyes on him as he dashed out of the theatre and quickly to his house.
"I wonder why he didn't say 'hi'," Riku mumbled to himself, getting a look from Kairi, who hadn't seen Sora.
"What did you say?" Kairi asked, looking intently up at Riku for an answer.
"Nothing," He slid by with a cocky grin, leading her out of the lobby.
"A pretty disappointing 'nothing', Riku," Kairi said, annoyed, folding her arms across her chest. There he went again, hiding things from her.
"Remember what happened last time when you didn't tell me the whole truth?" she threatened, holding up the shopping bags.
Riku rolled his eyes slightly but decided, for the safety of his wallet, to tell her the truth.
"I thought I saw Sora coming out of our theatre," he commented smoothly, turning the corner towards Kairi's house.
"Really? Too bad he didn't sit with us; he would have made that horrible movie bearable!" Kairi grinned, acting out a very melodramatic scene in the movie, with a chuckling Riku joining in.
Even the most boring movies were better with friends. At least then you could have a running commentary how just how horrible and corny the movie was. Riku grabbed Kairi by the waist and twirled her around, enacting the scene where the heroine and her prince danced and fell in love under the watch of her controlling uncle. It was the cheesiest scene in the movie, except perhaps the ending. Kairi laughed and opened the door to her house, ignoring the screams of her brothers upstairs.
"Yeah too bad he didn't sit with us. With him we could have parodied most of the scenes," she said, leading the way to her bedroom to stash her shopping bags before they were taken hostage by her brothers.
"Oh well. Maybe he didn't see us," Riku suggested, figuring that statement was far from the truth. Kairi smiled and started putting her purchases away, reminding Riku of his light wallet.
"I can't believe you spent all my money!" Riku complained, flopping back on her bed and glaring at a poster of a band.
"What are friends for?" Kairi grinned, throwing a pillow at Riku.
.:---:.
His hair pushed back with deft and slender fingers, the scent of the ocean from the open window, the scent of the person over him. A slight pressure on his forehead, soft, the feeling of his breath on his skin. The heat rising to his cheeks, the heat of his lips leaving the spot on his forehead and it was gone.
Sora blushed and felt his forehead. Did he really care that much about some stupid kiss? He shook his head. Of course not; he was just being silly. Sora was told by many that he let his imagination run away far too often. However, when the pit of his stomach dropped and his chest tightened when he thought of Riku, Sora knew he was firmly standing on the ground.
But still.
He shook his head, trying to forget it. Riku was going out with Kairi. Sora ran the rest of the way home and stayed in his bed the rest of the afternoon and through the evening. He wished he could stay there forever.
.:---:.
Kari: Yay! Chapter three is done!
Riku: That was like the crappiest ending…
Kari: Whatever. I like it.
Riku: …Kari: I'll start chapter 4 for you!
Riku: fine, I'll forgive you.
Kari: really?
Riku: no.