[Author Notes]: Long chapter!! Hurray! Read it, love it, review it, and make me happy!

[Special Thanks To]: Kyari, myredraincoat, Uzumaki-sama, Rabid Chibi Fangirl, Rock-Howard-17, VixettaremIx, Rae, Rinoki Rio, Crystalline Tears, sorariku, shadow-seraph, angelicattie, Minako, BloodMistress, Gina-uzumaki, Terra, inoaheartilly, Zollo, Kumagoro-chan, Turok-Han, CSantCal, inumoon3, and Kikyobashergirl!

[Disclaimer]: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would be filthy rich right now!! So, get off my back!!

[Warnings]: This has yaoi, or to plainly put it male x male relationships! If you don't like it, don't read it!! I don't want to see flames on this subject because I plainly put my warning here!

[Rating]: Rated R for future sexual situations and language

[Reminder]

"..............." Means talking

(...............) Means author notes

*..............* Means an action

~..............~ Means thinking

'...............' Means past sayings

............. Means a place

Self-Control

Chapter Three - The Rest of Day One

Selphie walked up and down the main street of Destiny Islands for three hours straight, and her weariness from walking and the bet was beginning to show. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Cloud had been right; her life revolved around her boyfriend Tidus. It routine was simple - School, Tidus, Work, Tidus, Play...and Tidus! That's basically how her day went, but this bet certainly screwed it up. For the past three hours, the emerald-eyed girl tried to find something to do and failed miserably. Although this bet wasn't about the money and more along the lines of proving her independence, it shook the foundation of her daily life more so than she predicted.

"What to do, what to do..." Selphie muttered to herself. She had seen all of these stores before. They didn't interest her then, they don't interest her now.

"She climbed up a palm tree to avoid hugging me!"

~Oh no!~

Selphie looked around her frantically and spotted a small alley a few steps in front of her. She dove to it and rolled inside, pressing her back firmly against the wall when she sat up. She peered around the corner and saw Tidus and Riku talking and walking across the street. Tidus' face was etched with anger, and Riku had an expression of understanding. "THEN, she cancelled our plans for today because of her 'exercise' or whatever the fuck she was talking about! She blew me off for no reason!!"

Tidus' face grew an interesting shade of red from his anger, his fist clenching and unclenching. The absurdity of this situation got him so pissed that he was ready to lash out at any brown-haired emerald-eyed girl. Riku just stayed silent until he thought over Tidus' situation. "You know what, the same thing happened with Sora this morning."

Just when Selphie was getting bored with the conversation, Sora was brought into it, sparking her interest once more.

"He was scared shitless when I went to touch him this morning." He specifically left out how he went to touch him... "He called his mom and made his escape."

Riku's eyes darkened as he remembered what happened this morning, and the more he thought about it, the angrier and more suspicious he got. "He didn't even come home last night and claimed he was whittling something for my birthday. Sora hates whittling."

Selphie snickered as she watched the two boys pass by. It seemed that Sora was keeping up with the bet, but as happy as she was for his suffering, it made her sad to that this bet was actually still going.

Even if it had only been a day.

She sighed and waited for a few more minutes before exiting the alley. Since Riku and Tidus were going the way she was originally going, she turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

"Selphie!"

Until a familiar voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

Selphie rolled her eyes before turning around and flashing a bright smile. Tidus and Riku were heading her way, Tidus looking calm and Riku looking angry. He stepped in front of Tidus and grabbed Selphie by the shoulders, shaking her lightly. "Where's Sora?"

"I dunno," she said as he continued to shake her. The shaking increased, causing Selphie to blink rapidly. "Umm, can you stop?"

With the question asked, Riku stopped, his eyes darting up and down the street for a certain cinnamon-haired boy. Tidus ignored the strange behavior of his fellow friend and walked up to Selphie, eyes narrowing dangerously from anger. She gulped at the sight; she knew exactly how Tidus could act when he was angry or sad at something. Her boyfriend tends to wear his emotions right on his face, making the escape Selphie was planning mere seconds before almost impossible.

"Get your exercise?"

Selphie looked into Tidus' eyes and suddenly felt very guilty about what has been going on. The sarcasm from that statement dripped off like melted ice cream on a spoon, but burned like flesh-eating acid. Yet her pride kept her immune from the acid-like sarcasm and all she did in response to his question was jump high in the air and do a little dance. "Of course!! The pounds are coming off quicker than Cloud's hair gel on a hot summer's day...which is everyday!!"

She snickered at her own little joke, but the boys in front of her didn't even seem fazed. In fact, Tidus seemed to get worse as he let out an angry sigh and turned to walk away. Selphie didn't reach out for him, but bounded in front of him and put on a silly face. "What's the matta, grumpy-face? You're looking mighty upset."

That statement probably wasn't the best to say at the moment.

"Upset? UPset?! Do you know why, Selphie Tilmett? It's because you blew me off!"

Selphie winced as her full name was used. Tidus only used her full name when he was pissed, so this would be one of those moments. "I-I didn't blow you off, Tidy! I was completely telling the truth..."

~Geez, what a lie.~

"Really," Tidus drawled out, "what did you do to get your 'exercise'?"

A pause. "Heh, k-kickboxing?"

Kairi's House

"You did WHAT!"

Kairi was currently standing up next to her bed, staring at Selphie with widened shock-filled eyes. The aforementioned girl just heard about the bet proposed by Sora, and the fact that Selphie just told Tidus that she was doing kickboxing with Kairi to save herself from his wrath. She wasn't really surprised from the reaction of her friend since she knew that Kairi watched all of them closely, particularly Sora and Riku. Kairi knew how close the couples were - as well as Wakka - and for them to just stop any kind of physical contact was crazy.

"Cloud started talking about me and Tidus' relationship and Sora tried to break up the argument, but we ended up joining together and gained up on him."

Kairi let out a sigh, burying her face in her hands. She knew how crazy her friends were, but this was absolutely ridiculous. Selphie can't keep her hands off Tidus, Cloud can't keep his eyes off Leon's ass, and Sora was a completely different story.

In her opinion, he was the worst of the three.

"Did you guys even realize how much this is going to affect Riku, Leon, and Tidus? I mean, they don't show it, well, Riku does a little, but they crave you as much as you crave them. This is going to drive them up the wall!"

From the look Riku had on his face while he was looking for Sora and the anger Tidus had showed towards her, Kairi hit the nail right on the head. This WAS going to drive them crazy, and it was going to drive her crazy too. But sacrifices must be made in order for her to prove her point. The two spiky haired bimbos (Sora and Cloud being the bimbos) have always underestimated her in everything, and she was damn near sick of it. It's time to show them that she is not some weak little girl.

Besides, the Ms. Give-Me-A-Piggyback-Ride-Or-Die Tilmett comment from Cloud will not go unpunished.

"I've already made up my mind," Selphie stated with determination. "I chose to participate in this bet and I will not give up until I am the winner! Victory will be mine, I tell you, it shall be mine!!"

She bounced off the bed and headed to the bedroom door, but stopped mid-step and turned to Kairi. "Oh yea..."

Kairi eyed her suspiciously. "What?"

"Well, since I told Tidus that you and I are takin' kickboxing, you're going to have to do it with me."

"Selphie!"

"I know, I know, but to make it believable, then you'll have to do it. Pwease?"

"No!"

"Oh c'mon!!"

Selphie got on her hands and knees, dragging herself pitifully across the room to Kairi's ankles. Wrapping her arms around her friend's ankles, she mustered up her best puppy eyes and released it full-force against the girl above her.

Kairi didn't know what hit her.

The large, bright emerald eyes of Selphie were sparkling with unshed tears, making them glisten sadly, but beautifully. Kairi all of a sudden felt guilty since the boyfriends of her friends were the only ones suffering. She had seen the sad look on Selphie's face as Tidus walked away from her house. The least she could do was a little kickboxing class, right?

"Ok, but I'm only doing this for you."

Selphie immediately got off the floor, enveloping Kairi into a fierce hug. She soon let go and headed to the phone to register. Kairi sighed once more.

Unaware of how this will be the worst decision she has ever made in her entire life.

^*^

*thump*

*thump*

*THUMP*

"Oww, damnit..."

*thump*

*thump*

*THUMP*

*CCRRIICCKK*

"Huh?"

Cloud looked beneath him to the spot where he was banging his head. It appears that due to his excessive beating, he wore down the old trapdoor that covered an ancient passageway. Cloud stood up and rubbed his head, peering down the winding staircase that spiraled into the dark depths of the underground. He had been here ever since Leon left for work, and the banging that occurred helped him rid his thoughts of Leon...and his ass. At first he stayed at home, cleaning the house to keep himself busy. But when he reached his and Leon's room for cleaning, he lost it and just had to get out of the house that was saturated with Leon's decor. So he set off on a small little rowboat to what he used to refer to as 'Play Island' and immediately headed for the Treehouse. Up until this day he had come here to think and relax since the atmosphere was that of a comforting one. He didn't start banging his head against the floor until his thoughts began to get a little too dirty than what he could actually handle right now.

Before descending down the stairs, Cloud headed to the far left side of the room to a small bag pushed into the corner. He grabbed the dirty brown bag and rummaged through its contents, searching desperately for the one thing that would make his trip a hell of a lot easier.

A flashlight.

After a few moments, he finally acquired the aforementioned object, turning it on to make sure it worked.

It did.

Thus, he began his journey downward, observing everything within close proximity. The walls of stone were veiled with cobwebs and dust, creating a sheer drapery all around. The ominous tunnel seemed to narrow as Cloud got deeper, but nevertheless he kept going. Stepping over various rocks and decayed items, he finally reached the mouth of the tunnel. It expanded to the size of a small cave, and tiny holes in the wall caused sunlight to peak through slightly. The sound of running water could faintly be heard, and Cloud walked closer to the small holes, peeking inside. It seemed to lead to another cave that was fully bathed in sunlight, illuminating the bit-sized tunnels that connected them. The place was completely barren and at first sight, had a foreboding feeling, but the sounds of the trickling water from the waterfall above calmed Cloud. He sat down, not caring about his clothes, and took a deep breath.

As of now, this place was his safe haven; he decided to start shaping it up.

^*^

"Thank you for calling Downtown Providence Theater, this is Sora speaking, how may I help you? [1]"

Sora cradled the phone in his right hand as he reached for the register with his left, occasionally nodding and responding with a 'Yes, Sir.' His co-worker watched with an amused smile on his face

and laughed when Sora pretended to put a noose around his neck and hang himself. The box office was hotter than ever, causing the two workers inside feeling irritable, frustrated, and just plain hot. However, both boys were used to this feeling and made the best out of this bad situation.

At least one of the boys was.

Not only did Sora have to deal with the heat, the irritability, and the frustration from being cramped in a small space and kissing up to the customers, but also his thoughts were filled on what happened to Riku this morning. It has been almost fours hours from their unpleasant run-in, and he has yet to see Riku anywhere. Riku was very sneaky - which was demostrated today in the shower - and shouldn't be forgotten. This bet was really taking a toll, and since Riku didn't know about it, he would just keep pursuing the boy until he finally gave in.

'I-I'm sorry, Riku, I guess I just not in the mood right now. Heh...'

'Really? Well, I'm sure I can fix that...'

Sora shivered as he remembered the seduction and smoothness of Riku's voice when he said that. He was missing the physical contact between him and his sexy silver-haired boyfriend already despite the fact that he told Cloud and Selphie their relationship wasn't based off contact.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

Sora snapped out of his reverie and went back to reviewing the menu on the register. "I'm sorry, sir, what movie did you want to see?"

"Hot & Raw."

~Oooh, Kami....~

Feeling his mouth go dry at the title, Sora looked to the screen to make sure that was the actual title of the movie. And behold, in the lower right corner of the screen was Hot & Raw, showing all of the information and show times of the movie.

Sora didn't believe it before, but now he knew Fate was created to destroy him.

"Sir?"

"The remaining show times are 2:20, 3:00, 4:00, 6:00, 7:05, 9:30, and finally midnight."

"Alright, I'll take Hot & Raw at midnight."

"Y-Your tickets will be waiting at Will Call, have a nice day."

"W-Wait sir, you don't even know my na--"

Sora dropped the phone carelessly back on its base, sinking into his chair wearily and earning a curious stare from his co-worker. "Are you all right Sora?"

Taking in a shuddering breath, Sora nodded, trying futilely to get the image of him and Riku having hot and raw sex at midnight out of his mind.

^*^

Leon paced the room in fury, his rage simmering bright in his stormy-blue/grey eyes. Never before had he felt this angry towards a single person in such a short amount of time. The person responsible for this rage: Cloud.

Cloud has been missing for most of the day and avoided eye contact with him when they were together. Not only did he make his boyfriend's favorite breakfast, but he also apologized for something that was not completely his fault. Cloud didn't even acknowledge that! To make things even worst, Leon spent the entire afternoon looking for Cloud, but the blonde was nowhere in sight. It was as if he just disappeared!

"There's something really strange going on with Sora, Selphie, and Cloud," Tidus stated, running his fingers through his messy blonde hair.

Riku and Tidus sat in front of the pacing Leon on a small couch in his living room. The two boys meet up with Leon a few moments after they left Kairi's house, so they decided to go back to Leon's house. Each had shared their stories about the strange behavior of their boyfriends - in Tidus' case, girlfriend - and all of them came to the conclusion that something must be done.

Now.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Tidus," Riku muttered sarcastically. "Of course, we couldn't figure that out on our own."

"Shut up, Riku! You don't have to get pissy on me since you can't find Sora."

"Well, at least I wasn't the one who got blew off for some 'exercise' that wasn't even necessary!"

"Ha, coming from a guy whose boyfriend called his mom to get away from you."

Riku stood up abruptly, eyes narrowing dangerously on Tidus. "Watch your mouth, blondie."

Tidus stood up as well, and his jaw clenched from the rising anger. "Or you'll what, dumbass?"

"I'll show you the real reason why I'm crowned best fighter on this island."

"Son of a bitch!"

Tidus lunged towards Riku, only to be stopped by Leon grabbing the back of his shirt. The younger boy, currently crimson red because of his anger, struggled to get loose, but ended up being thrown on the couch. Leon glared at them both, making their anger die down, and continued to pace back and forth across the room. "This is not the time to fight." he stated with hardened seriousness. "We need to figure out what's going on and why."

"Leon's right," Riku said while glaring at Tidus, "so let's go to the theater and check if Sora is there."

"Why do we have to check on Sora first? Why can't we check on Selphie?"

"Because we already know where she is. Zell Dincht's Kickboxing Club, right?"

Riku snickered as he said this, causing Tidus to glare at him forcefully. Leon sighed and stopped his pacing. "I've looked for Cloud and can't find him so let's just go to the theater."

Tidus threw up his hands in defeat, and the three friends walked out the house to Downtown Providence Theater.

Providence Theater

"You total is twelve dollars."

Riku instantly recognized that voice as Sora's and looked towards the box office. There he was, taking a $20 bill from an old lady with a bright smile on his face, joking with his co-worker as he printed the tickets. Jealously boiled within him as he watched the white-haired amber-eyed man sitting next to his boyfriend. ~He's suppose to be laughing and smiling like that with me, not leaving me in his bathroom naked with his mom outside the damn door!~

Before Leon or Tidus could say something, Riku dashed forward to the box office, murder in his eyes. He saw the cinnamon-haired boy catch the look of murder and literally, the color drained from his face at the approaching figure. He saw the co-worker put his hand on Sora's shoulder out of concern, and at that point, the jealously almost became too overbearing. Sora jumped out of his chair and headed to the employee exit, disappearing from sight. Riku immediately changed his direction from the box office to the theater entrance, picking up his pace and not worrying about the confused Leon and Tidus in tow.

"SORA!" he screamed as he entered the theater. He spotted a tall figure disappearing out the back entrance and sprinted to the source of his anger, dodging adults and children along the way. He knew his boyfriend could run, but Riku was the one who won all the races.

*

There was a first time for everything, and this was Sora's first time. He never had the reason to run for his life, but after the look on Riku's face when he found him, it certainly changed that. His eyes light up when he experiences a huge wave of emotion, but this time, his sea-green eyes darkened immensely. Never before had he seen so many negative emotions all in one glare:

Frustration.

Jealously.

Anger.

Betrayal.

Confusion.

It was almost heartbreaking to see the sight, but Sora was to busy running to really think in-depth about it.

"Sora."

The way Riku hissed his name made him stop dead in his tracks. It was eerily calm and controlled, but unmasked his undeniable anger. Riku always used that tone when Sora did something extremely wrong...

"Turn. A. Round."

Sora turned around as if he were in a trance, locking eyes with his boyfriend instantly. It wasn't the wildfire anger he saw earlier, but the more controlled I'll-kill-you-in-your-sleep kind of anger that scared him even more. His silver hair was blowing all in one direction along with his clothes, and slowly, but surely, the seventeen-year-old boy was walking forward. Sora took steps back as Riku took steps forward. The air was thick with tension, but Sora had the audacity to speak.

"I-I gotta go."

With that, he bolted off in the opposite direction, leaving a very pissed teenaged boy behind.

^*^

"Lift your leg higher."

"B-But it hurts!"

"Stop whining! You joined because you wanted some hardcore action, didn't you?"

"U-um, sure..."

"Well, it happening right now! And you, you're slacking. Finish your workout!"

"I didn't even want to come to this stupid place so fuck off."

"Hey! Watch your language, this is supposed to be a child friendly place."

"Yes, mother."

"Ok, that's it! You are suspended from the rest of the lesson."

"GRR-ARGH, fine! Like I care!!

Kairi packed up her stuff and stomped out the small club, raking her hands through her sweaty auburn-hair. First, she was practically forced to join this stupid club, then this macho man named Zell had the balls to focus all of his attention to her and Selphie and say that they're the laziest people in the room, therefore needed all the attention. Even though part of that statement was true since the rest of the people in that room were boxers or bodybuilders, it gave him no right to say it.

*BAM*

Shaking her head, Kairi looked at the idiot she bumped to, only to discover that it was her only sane friend, Wakka. He stretched out his hand to assist her. She took it gratefully. "Oh hey, Wakka."

"What's da matta, ya? You lookin' mighty pissed."

"Yea well, Selphie got me into this stupid thing because of this stupid bet and ---"

"Bet?"

^*^

Cliffhanger! Haha, I love doing that. Anyways, Kairi telling Wakka is gonna make all hell break loose. Yay!

[1] This is pretty much what I have to say every time I answer the phone at work. It's so annoying!

[Preview for the Next Chapter]

-Wakka shares his newfound knowledge

-Sora is punished for his wrong doings in the most sinful ways

-Cloud's liking for his hideaway crosses over to obsession

-Selphie improves on her kickboxing...and uses it

-Leon and Tidus get down with their bad selves

Stay Tuned!

~MercuryGoddess~