Dive into the Horizon
Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts this wouldn't be a fan fic would it? And I would be rich, wouldn't I? I'd be publishing this and making you good folks pay! BUT! I do not own kingdom hearts and therefore, I am not making money off this; I'm in it for the love!
Rating: PG-13… still. Darn, eh?
Author's Note: Thanks to Slashy-chan for beta-ing chapter three for me, I am beta-less and she is being a super pal to do that! You rock! Weee! Chapter Four, in which a lot happens! And we see the slight threat to Riku's attractiveness again! (Of course you knew he had a purpose right?) Riku also starts paying attention in biology class.Slashy-chan said she was going to be my beta. ::worships her:: Everyone join in with me. She rocks, so nice and understanding….On that note, has anyone caught the trend with the titles of the chapters? I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!
((Edit: Did it work???? Stupid crap... this is my... eighth time uploading it. It's allll correct everywhere else, in Word, in Netscape, in the PREVIEW section here... ::sweatdrop:: I'll have to kill soon....))
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Response to Reviews:
Fallen Angel0104- My first demand to update! Woo! Yay!
Chibi-Neko-Sora- ::thinks your name is delicious:: Never fear, there are many more chapters! lol yup yup yup. I'm glad you like it, or at least think it's cute!
Slashy-chan- Yay! You beta-ed this chapter too! Unless as I send this to you and you get like totally mad at me or something and then you like throw it in the garbage and finally yell at me for being crazy and… ::cries:: don't hate me!!! The titles have lots to do with boats and crap and maybe even the story line. Maybe.
Rogue Solus- I just updated! But I shall update it another… 20 something times or so. Yup. I am glad you like it!
Ink2- Riku is… a sucker. He's a softy deep down and believe me; his bank account suffers when Kairi gets mad at him. She plans for when they get in a fight, finding things she wants to buy ahead of time…::sweatdrop::
Twilight-archer- Heh. Kairi's beau has already been introduced but no one noticed. He's in this chapter, too. Mwa hahaha. It is Riku's fault. It's Kairi's duty to make him owe up for ditching her.
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Chapter 4: Check the Bearings
"Oh right, and tomorrow we're getting a new student teacher, isn't that quaint?" Riku drawled. The announcements had been both tedious and long, especially from him. Riku just wanted to settle down in the back of the class and finally gather the courage to ask Sora the question that had been burned in his mind for almost a week now.
With some whispering about yet another newcomer to the class, which he didn't dispel like usual, Riku sat down in his seat. He glanced sideways at Sora, who seemed engrossed in the doodles along the margin of his paper. He sighed and turned to the other side to quietly chat with Kairi, who was excited about the student teacher.
"I hope they're nice, or at least cute," she said hopefully, starting to copy down the note of the day, which was about using idioms properly.
"Yeah, I hope it's a hot chick. I can seduce her during break," Riku chuckled, scribbling down the title, but, disappointingly, was still able to make it neat.
"Pfft, you're really into your fantasy world lately," Kairi rolled her eyes. The last female student teacher they had was really nervous and almost broke into tears a few times.
"No, no, dear Kairi, my fantasy world is becoming reality," Riku smirked, glancing hastily over to Sora, who was still doodling, half writing down the note.
"He seems even more out of it than usual," Kairi commented, following Riku's gaze. She smiled, satisfied with Riku's slight flush.
"I guess. He's been weird for a while now though," Riku sighed slightly; he hadn't even been able to have a normal conversation with Sora since the dinner. At school Sora was always running away from Kairi when Riku approached them. And getting Sora alone? He seemed to always have somewhere to go right away. At home, he was always too busy to come to the phone, or he was asleep. Sora was harder to get a hold of than a fist full of water.
"Did you do anything to him, Riku?" Kairi asked, writing down the points the teacher had written out on an over head.
"No, that's the problem. I haven't had a decent conversation with the boy, in, like, forever," Riku said, now doodling himself, the note was too boring to write.
"Well I have and all he asks about is you. Then you appear and he runs off," Kairi said knowingly, she paused, "It's total elementary school behaviour, don't you think?"
"I'm not sure, Sora doesn't seem the type to act like that," Riku said, pretty sure that Sora almost always had a reason for his actions, even if his reasons were impossible to find or to understand. Or just plain silly.
"Maybe you should tackle him the next time he tries to run away," Kairi laughed, not meaning it. She looked up and was startled by the scheming look on Riku's face.
"I was kidding!" she cried out, a little louder than she should have. A few people, including Sora turned to look at the two. Riku covered her mouth and gave the rest of the class a coy smile. He looked over at Sora who turned away quickly.
Riku frowned at Sora. It wasn't fair; it was like there was something was between them. Riku thought he had fixed that 'something' with the staring match-a-thon. He was sure Sora could look him in the eye now without fainting. He was sure there shouldn't be a problem between them. However, for all the 'sures' in his mind, Riku, for the first time in a long time, was feeling quite unsure about his position with Sora. He wanted things to be clear.
That was why, when the teacher asked for two volunteers to go pick up copies of 'A Tale of Two Cities' for the class, Riku didn't hesitate to raise his hand. However, he did hesitate for a moment before standing up, while the teacher was still deciding on the volunteers, to announce that he was going to get them, no other volunteers needed.
"Sora and I will get them," Riku said, pulling Sora along behind him as he walked out of the classroom. Their teacher just shook his head at Riku's eagerness and went back to his notes.
"Well that was subtle," Kairi complained softly, going back to writing her note.
Riku and Sora rounded the corner and headed down the hall to the English supply room. Sora, grumbling to himself, finally yanked his hand free from the class representative.
"Did you have to drag me along?" Sora complained; it had been the first thing he had said to Riku in two days. He stopped in the middle of the empty hall and stared, waiting for Riku to explain his actions.
"You seemed bored and this is something to do," Riku reasoned, walking to the room, leaving Sora to catch up. He was secretly relieved when Sora finally ran to catch up with him. He looked over and found Sora slightly red and pouting. He figured the flush was from running down the long hall.
"Kairi was bored too," Sora pointed out while Riku fiddled with the door's lock. Riku finally pushed the door open and started searching the shelves for the books. Sora rolled his eyes, found the switch and turned on the light.
"She was taking notes and you weren't. Is it really that horrible to be getting books with me? Most people would kill for a chance to get out of that class," Riku said without turning around. He threw a copy of 'A Handmaid's Tale' into the garbage casually; he disliked English class with a passion. He tossed a few other titles out of the way, trying to see the books behind them.
"Yeah right," Sora flicked through a stack of Shakespeare, looking up only when the door clicked shut. It must have closed on its own. He blinked in confusion when Riku turned and swore.
"What?" Sora asked, finally finding a box of Dickens. However a Tale wasn't in it.
"Sora! The door locks on its own! From the outside!" Riku hit his forehead, having to explain things out for Sora. A lot of doors closed and locked on their own in the school. It was a security feature to try and stop stealing. However, going by the dust on most of the books, the English supply closet wasn't a well-used room. Riku sat down on a case of grammar books and sighed.
"Oh. Well, someone from our class will come and find us when we don't come back right away," Sora said, not too concerned, still on the search for 'A Tale of Two Cities'. He searched the shelves above Riku, who was preoccupied with being locked in a supply room. He finally looked up, watching Sora stretch himself to read the titles, his tongue sticking out a bit in concentration. He looked away quickly before Sora noticed him staring.
"You're either stupidly optimistic, or this has happened to you before," Riku ventured, opening a book he found on a shelf. It was a play. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and put it back.
"Oh, well, it's not that bad. It could be worse. Are you always so melodramatic?" Sora asked, sitting down himself, finding a box of novels to be a nice chair.
"Well, unlike you, I haven't been locked in a closet before," Riku said slyly, figuring it was the only reason Sora wasn't hitting himself. He looked over to see that Sora was engrossed in a book of short stories. He sighed and grabbed the book, taking it away from Sora.
"It wasn't as if it was my fault. My friend was really mad and slammed the door and forgot it locked. We just waited patiently until help…what?" Sora explained, pouting a bit remembering that, though he had waited patiently while Saki plotted revenge and tore through boxes trying to find a perfect murder weapon. He blinked, not understanding Riku's intent look.
"Sora, can I ask you something?" Riku shifted himself to look at Sora who fell off his box onto the floor in surprise.
"What? Why? Ask what?" Sora blushed and looked around, realizing that there was no where to run. He would actually have to confront Riku.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Sora, you seem to be running away from me. It's even worse than when you wouldn't look at me," Riku said, remaining calm. Sora raised an eyebrow.
"Riku! Me? I'm the one acting weird? What about you?" Sora argued, pointing an accusing finger toward Riku, who gave him a strange look.
"What? At least I don't run away from you," Riku still trying to understand exactly what Sora was going on about. What did he do now?
"You kissed me!" Sora burst out, bright red in the face. There! He said it! Now they could both be awkward around each other.
Riku had to make a spilt second decision in his mind about what to say. He was surprised that Sora was still thinking about it. He just wished he knew if it was because Sora liked him or was disgusted by it.
"So what?" Riku frowned, hoping Sora would say something more. He kneeled down in front of Sora on the floor.
"You kissed me! Doesn't that mean anything to you? If it didn't, why did you do it in the first place?" Sora looked adamant and a little hurt; he was getting the idea that it hadn't meant anything to Riku.
"I kissed you because I like you, Sora," Riku admitted, surprised at what he said. He ran his hand through his hair, watching Sora's expression change from doubt to surprise.
Sora sat for a moment, going in and out of shock. Did he just get a confession out of Riku? He was even redder now, and his mind was reeling. He didn't know what to think. Did he even like Riku back? Sora had been told he by his friends in his old town that he didn't seem interested in girls too much, but he had never heard someone confess like this, especially not someone like Riku. He looked around; this kind of thing was a reason he hadn't wanted to talk to Riku, but not one that had come to his mind at all.
He waited for a minute or two in heavy silence trying to find his voice.
"What?" Sora finally managed to vocalize. He stared at Riku in both embarrassment and amazement.
"I said I like you," Riku repeated, only now starting to realize the weight of that sentence. He felt a little warm; he was usually the one fending off confessions from people. Riku frowned a bit, wondering exactly how Sora felt about this. Well he supposed there was at least one way to test whether Sora liked him back.
"I heard you the first time," Sora muttered, flushing. He wondered how long it would be until someone came and found them. He would barely be able to make out the sound of footsteps if someone walked by because of the heavy steel door.
"Really? I don't think you understand though. Let me try again," Riku said softly, leaning over a puzzled Sora who opened his mouth to question what exactly the silver haired boy was doing. However, Riku saw his chance and pressed his lips against Sora's open mouth.
Sora's eyes widened. Well. Now he could yell at Riku for properly kissing him. He turned even redder, if that was possible. However, he didn't fight back at all, not seeing the point, especially when it felt so nice.
Riku would have smiled but he was too busy deepening the kiss, trying to slip his tongue into the brunette's mouth. He held the back of Sora's neck, pulling him closer, changing the kiss from a desperate expression of Riku's muddled feelings to a gentler kiss and then back again to a more passionate exchange. He only reluctantly pulled away from Sora's delicious lips when he heard a startled gasp.
"Oh my god! Riku!"
Kairi had been about to say, 'there you two are' but the scene in front of her had been too much of a surprise. She blushed furiously and then fled from the door and ran around the corner.
Kairi had been deathly bored in class, especially since she was finished taking the note and was now drowning in a stagnant discussion as the teacher and the same few people argued passionately about English. Usually she was one of them but today the topic didn't excite her at all. She turned to chat with Riku when she realized they still weren't back.
She frowned; Riku wasn't one to dawdle in the halls. He thought skipping class and staying in the school was one of the lamest things someone could do. Kairi wondered if they were having any trouble with the books.
Knowing the stubborn and arrogant Riku, he would rather spend hours in a dusty supply room than go ask someone for help.
She had picked up Riku's extra key set for the school (he had taken the teacher's) and had politely excused herself from a distracted English class and headed to the English supply room.
Kairi found the door shut but, listening to it for a moment, she was sure she could hear talking behind it.
She shook her head. Figures, Kairi thought. It makes sense for those two to get locked in there. Neither seemed practical enough to make a door stop with a box or a heavy book.
But all that was a moment, or, as it seemed, a lifetime ago. Now, Kairi was around the corner in a stairwell, falling to the floor.
Laughing.
That's how Riku found her a few moments later. He frowned at the gales of laughter the red head was emitting. He put his hands on his hips waiting for Kairi to calm down enough to breathe. Every giggle was stabbing him where it hurt most: his pride. After three full minutes of laughter, he gently kicked her leg.
"Are you done yet?" Riku asked, not looking very amused. Kairi looked up and giggled a bit more.
"My poor virgin eyes!" She exclaimed, falling back into laughter.
Riku rolled his eyes and kicked his friend again. He was not appreciating her reaction. After a bit more, her laughter started to die down and he pulled her to her feet. Kairi was still catching her breath, giggling every once and a while.
"You have to be the biggest slut I know. I can't believe you kissed him. At school, for crying out loud!" Kairi shook her head, patting Riku on the shoulder in a congratulatory gesture. Riku didn't deny the accusation but he thought she was being a bit harsh.
"We were locked in a closet, Kairi. That's pretty private. Besides, it was only a kiss," Riku tried to shrug it off as his normal behaviour. He had done worse during class. Though, as he thought back, this felt very different.
"I saw that kiss. That wasn't just a peck or anything," Kairi argued, making Riku flush a bit. He was used to Kairi ignoring his romantic adventures. He sighed, knowing this thing with Sora wouldn't be the same.
"Whatever. Are you finished?" Riku asked. Kairi shook her head, laughing a bit and grabbing Riku's hand.
"Is he a good kisser? Could you tell? He looked like he was enjoying it," Kairi ranted, causing Riku to chuckle. He liked the kiss well enough, until she interrupted it.
"I'm not going to tell you," Riku smirked, heading back to the supply room, hoping Sora was okay.
Kairi followed Riku, calming herself down and trying not to embarrass Sora when it was obviously Riku's fault.
They found the door to the supply room closed. Riku just hoped Sora wasn't locked in there again. He unlocked the door to find an empty room and, upon closer inspection, a room also devoid of any copies of 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Kairi shrugged it off and suggested Sora might have gone back to class.
Riku led Kairi back to the class, dragging her by the arm. She was still recovering from her laughing fit. She wiped the tears from her eyes and followed the grumpy Riku back into the classroom. Their teacher was handing out copies of the lengthy novel.
Kairi sat down at her seat, passing Riku his keys back to him without looking directly at him. She didn't want to look at him, because she was fairly certain she would start laughing again, embarrassing both herself and Sora (Kairi was sure Riku would go into 'I'm ignoring you' mode). She felt bad for the brunette, walking in on such a tender moment for him. Kairi glanced around Riku's form to check on Sora's outward condition. She frowned; he didn't look too happy.
Sora had noticed Kairi's wet eyes. He just wanted to die on the spot. He had been kissing (well getting kissed by) her boyfriend and they were caught. Kairi's reaction still could be heard echoing through his mind. Sora glanced over at Riku, who just looked bitter. Sora pouted. Was Riku completely heartless? Riku looked like he was just annoyed with being caught.
He sighed and rested his head on his new book, feeling lower than low.
.:---:.
"I can't believe he did that!" Empty hall. Empty hall.
"Yeah, I didn't think he'd get so mad," Classroom. Empty hall. Empty hall. Loitering students. Empty hall.
"Geez. It was only a laxative in his coffee," A small room. Empty hall. Teachers smoking on the corner.
"Well, Selphie, he did say we went too far this time," the dirty blond boy glanced away from the black and white video screen and to the girl beside him. Selphie shrugged.
"I guess he wouldn't have been so mad if he hadn't been meeting with the board superintendent," She reasoned, flipping the security camera screens to even more empty halls.
"Maybe," the boy looked at the screens with dull eyes, "Wow, nothing happens in this school,"
"It's because we're in here and not out there causing havoc, Tidus," Selphie reasoned. The principal was making them watch the security cameras all day while they were suspended and they had to report anything suspicious to the administration.
"This school is so boring," Tidus yawned, flipping through the security cameras, not paying attention.
"Whoa! Stop! Tidus!" Selphie squealed swatting Tidus's hand away from the control panel.
He looked up at the screen. Tidus could figure out who it was, even in black and white.
"Isn't that Riku?" He asked, glancing at Selphie and then back to the screen again. He wondered why the almighty class rep wasn't in class.
"Uh huh, but who's that he's making out with?" Selphie studied the screen more. She turned and started copying and preparing the video file of the closet to keep for herself.
"That's a guy..." Tidus raised an eyebrow, watching the scene. He shook his head at Selphie, who was getting ready to save it and e-mail it to herself. He had known Riku got around, but a male student during class?
"I hope this won't be too big for an e-mail file, otherwise I'll have to upload it," Selphie muttered, getting another strange look from Tidus.
"You should give up on the porn, Selphie. Someone walked in on them," Tidus's warning brought Selphie's attention back to the live screen.
"It's Kairi. Ouch; being found out by your best friend. Oh, I wonder why she ran away," Selphie was about to switch it when Tidus gasped.
"It was Sora!" he exclaimed. Selphie glued herself back to the screen.
"Riku was making out in the closet with the boy who fainted?" Selphie snorted thinking that, though Riku chose a cute one, he was picking a loser.
"Weird. Riku must de desperate," Tidus, gaping at Selphie, who was sending the file to her e-mail, "Why are you doing that? They left,"
"I believe we just found our big story," Selphie grinned and pressed 'send'.
Tidus shared the smile, "I see what you're getting at. I'll go and get the scoop," Tidus turned and stared at the steel door leading to a hall in the main office. He had forgotten they were suspended.
"Maybe after school?" Selphie suggested, clearing some memory from her digital camera. She was going to need space for photos.
Tidus nodded and went back to slipping through security cameras. Empty hall. Empty hall. Big news.
.:---:.
"What's wrong Sora?" Riku looked up from his desk, trying to make his eyes as big and irresistible as Sora's usually were. He just hoped it would work on Sora just as well as it worked on him. Sora hadn't said a word to him since Riku'd kissed him in first period.
Sora frowned, glancing down at Riku and wondering how he could not know what was wrong. He was able to ignore the look that Riku was giving him. Sora was sure it was the same principle that made snakes immune to their own poison. He sighed; he didn't really want to discuss this with Riku in Biology class.
"Don't you feel bad?" Sora finally asked, a little exasperated by Riku's attitude.
"That I didn't finish? Yeah," Riku smirked as best someone could with their face lying on a desk. Since Kairi had been laughing so much it had been hard for him to make it clear to her that he was not happy that she walked in when she did. Riku wasn't one to leave things at a kiss, even if it was someone like Sora.
Sora glared at him for a moment, groaning a bit. He wondered how someone could act like this. He was pretty sure that Riku was the most self-absorbed person he knew and that was including the people in his old school. Sora shook his head slightly, mostly to himself and went back to writing out a lab the class was going to do the next day. Conversation with Riku didn't seem to be going all that well.
Since Sora stopped paying attention to Riku, he was more than a bit surprised when he felt a pair of lips on his neck. He blushed furiously and completely froze up, not even finding himself able to push the other boy away. Therefore, since Sora hadn't reacted in time, Riku went on.
Riku trailed his teasing kisses up to Sora's jaw-line, where he stopped suddenly. He waved his hand in front of Sora's face, quite sure that the brunette had stopped breathing. Rolling his eyes at melodramatic reaction, Riku grabbed Sora's side.Sora squealed, reacting to the pinch. He glared at Riku, noting that, at least, no one had noticed neither Riku's public display of… something… nor Sora's noises.
The silver haired boy grinned, leaning over to capture Sora's lips in another kiss. This one surprised Sora enough to let Riku to explore Sora's mouth with his tongue until the brunette was able to react to the invasion.
Sora was torn. In the back of his mind, he thought kissing Riku was very, very nice and he couldn't help but return the kiss. However, the voice of reason spoke up causing Sora to pull away before Riku was finished. He had to remind himself that Riku was a horrible two-timing person. He tried his best to ignore Riku and went back to his work.
Riku frowned and licked his lips. Was he just rejected? That was a first. He narrowed his eyes, hoping that it was just because Sora was shy and not something else. Not that Riku thought the teacher would care. This was the most he had moved during Biology all year. She might even be pleased that he had found something of interest in the class, albeit another student.
He reached over and shut Sora's binder, tired of the brunette focusing on the school work instead of on Riku himself. He grinned at the indignant look he received from Sora. Riku raised an eyebrow, meeting the boy's eyes and causing Sora to blush lightly.
"I think I could get away with just about anything in this class," he whispered, his low voice causing an unconscious shiver to run up Sora's spine. The brunette turned back to his desk.
"All by yourself?" Sora responded quietly, glancing at Riku with a strange expression, at a crossroads of attraction, humiliation, anger and disbelief. He lowered his head, his eyelashes hiding those confused eyes from Riku.
Something which the silver haired boy could not stand.
Riku reached over, grabbing Sora's far arm, turning the boy toward him quickly. Sora glanced up; a little shocked. Would Riku just leave him alone at any point today? It didn't seem so when the white haired boy leaned over, pressing himself against Sora's chest. Sora's eyes widen when Riku's tongue ran up his neck. Between this and the heat radiating from the other boy, Sora was beginning to go off the edge. This was just wrong. How could any human be this shameless?
Although his hands, his strength, didn't agree with this viewpoint and ignored Sora's screaming mind to push Riku off him. And his mind really meant off him. Riku seemed to be more on Sora than on his own chair. He shifted his own weight, trying to stop Riku's wandering hand that was finding its way under Sora's shirt and the pair of lips expertly ravishing his neck. He didn't know how long he could handle this, especially in Biology class.
Luckily, the sound of the crash was more than enough to hide the moan that escaped Sora's lips. He had shifted a little too far, and, when Riku had put even more weight, the balance of the chair was so off that Sora slipped off the chair, sending Sora's chair back and Riku's chair away from them when Riku followed Sora's fall. The brunette was lying on his back, wanting to rub the pain away from his behind and his head while Riku's fall had been cushioned by the generous donation of Sora's body beneath him.
Now everyone in the class was paying attention for the first time. Except, their attention was on Sora and Riku.
"I'm glad to see you're awake, Riku, maybe you can use all your stored energy to answer this problem on the board for me," the bespectacled Biology teacher gave a knowing, lop-sided smile. This time it was Riku's turn to moan.
.:---:.
Kairi didn't always like her spare. It was rather boring without Riku to joke around with. However on most days, it still felt like he was there with her in spirit. Or, to be more precise, there with her in terms of paper work addressed to the class representative.
Kairi didn't really mind all the forms and the reading of the memos. She had told Riku she'd be there for him when the class voted him to lead them and he was just as eager to take her up on that.
He was a good leader; no one could deny that. Riku was the definition of charming and extroverted. He was a wonderful speaker and gained more respect with the students than the teacher ever did. These were the reasons (beyond that he was her best friend) why Kairi gave up most of her spare everyday, and sometimes outside of school as well, to help Riku with managing everything.
"Oh he'll enjoy this," Kairi said quietly to herself, reading over an announcement. It was ordering all club leaders and class representatives to start planning for the school's mid-autumn festival. Each class and group was expected to come up with something for it. Riku having to do even more work for the class? Kairi made sure to read the announcement closely; she had the feeling she would be the one to do most of the work.
However on the day of the festival, Riku would be the passionate leader once again, doing anything and everything to get them to win the grand prize. Whatever that was. It hadn't been mentioned exactly what could be won in the memo. She sighed and started writing up what Riku would have to do the next day.
The hardest part in all of this was to extract some creative and interesting ideas from their classmates. For an English class they could be really dull. Kairi sighed; if Riku would want to win (and he would) it was going to be very difficult to beat some of the clubs. Especially the Arts Council, the reigning body of not only the visual arts, but of music, yearbook and the drama club. Kairi was afraid that even Riku wouldn't be able to beat Aria, the director of the council, and her minions.
"I wonder what we should do," Kairi asked herself, walking down the hall, trying to come up with ideas. If you had ideas already, it was easier to get the class into it and make them start suggesting their own.
"About what?" A strange male voice asked, right before Kairi walked into a tall body dressed in a suit. She looked up and turned red.
It was the guy from the café. The one with the tight butt.
.:---:.
Kari: Chapter Four complete, I could go on but that's just so funny.
Riku: I can't believe I was made to do Biology work!
Kari: I'm sure your teacher was just so impressed with your own personal project.
Riku: She should have noticed I was busy with my personal project. ::stares at Sora::
Sora: ::eating his ice cream before it melts:: What?! Do I have ice cream on my face?
Riku: Wahh! ::jumps at Sora::
Kari: ::sweatdrop:: well… then… bai!
Special note: If you happen to see copies of 'A Handmaid's Tale' follow Riku's example and throw them out. Also, try not to read the middle of any lengthy Dickens novel. Believe me, you're not missing anything. And by that I mean… nothing happens.