The Lion and the Mouse

by sakurai-chan

[AU] Riku is a viscious gang member, Sora is a timid high school student. When Sora rescues Riku from a life threatening experience, they become a little closer than others might like... yaoi RS,LC,WT

6. New Friends

The Lion and the Mouse-

Hello! I'm back! Thanks for all of the reviews! I feel like singing ! La la la! I hope you like this chapter, even though it's mostly about Cloud than Sora. Oh yeah! And my friend apologized for what he said. He gave me a big hug when I came back to school that day. He was really sorry. It was kind of funny. Anyways . . . On with the show!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final fantasy...sigh . . .

Chapter 6: New Friends-

Cloud searched the library shelves for something that looked or even sounded interesting. He felt as though he wasn't doing his job protecting Sora as he said he would. He was worried about his brother and wished that he had told Sora to stay with him until he was done. He was hoping to catch Sora when he was done looking for a book, but he didn't know it was going to take him this long.

He sighed and moved his index finger across the spines of a few books. Then, he spotted a title that caught his full attention. " Arial Combat . . .?" he whispered to himself. He reached for the book with a look of interest on his face, but the book slipped from his grasp and disappeared on the other side of the book shelf.

Cloud's eyes widened , startled. " D- Hey!" Cloud said a little too loudly for a library.

A librarian nearby shushed him with a finger to her lips.

He ignored it and gazed through the gap where the book used to be. He gasped slightly when his eyes met cold, gray ones. " Oh!" he breathed out, amazed at what he saw.

The eyes belonged to a the handsome face of a boy a bit older than Cloud himself. He was definitely taller because he had to bend over to look through the gap. His hair was shoulder length and dark brown. He gave Cloud an apologetic smile. " I'm sorry," he said in a deep mature voice. " Were you going to look at this?"

For some reason, Cloud could feel himself blush. " Um . . . yeah . . .I was thinking about reading it . . ." he stuttered out, and he didn't know why.

" Wait there," the boy instructed him.

Cloud shyly pushed a few strands of his blonde hair behind his ear. " Um . . . okay."

The boy smiled at him again before he vanished behind the rows of books.

Cloud nervously scratched the back of his head while he waited for the boy to come around the corner of the tall bookshelf.

The boy appeared shortly after and came over to Cloud, smiling gently. He held out Arial Combat and Cloud willingly took it. " Sorry," said the boy, laughing a bit. " I'm a little crazy over this author here . . .Kiyomi Tanaka."

Cloud nodded in agreement. " I can tell . . . looks like a good book."

" It is," said the boy.

Cloud looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. " You've read it already?"

He laughed, having been caught. " A few times, I'll admit."

Cloud smiled and then laughed too. " Then I guess it must be good!"

The boy nodded. " You're going to love it."

Silence lingered between them before to boy spoke again. " The name's Squall Leonhart. I prefer to be called Leon. What's your name?"

" Cloud Skye."

Leon stuck out his hand and Cloud shook it. He blushed when their hands come together.

" So, where are you from?" asked Leon, sliding his hands into his pockets. " I can tell you're not from around here. And I haven't seen you around . . ."

" You're right," Cloud told him. "I am new. I'm from the Destiny Islands."

" Ohh. Exotic," Leon said with a hint of amusement. " I've always wanted to visit that place."

Cloud just smiled at the warm memory of the cool beach waters and the feeling of the sugar, white sand between his toes. "Yeah, it's beautiful. I miss it a lot. . ." he began to walk over to the check-out counter.

Leon followed. " How do you like it here?"

Cloud shrugged. " It's not as bright, and it always seems so foggy for some reason. It's a little boring . . ." he admitted while rubbing the back of his head. They came to the counter and Cloud handed his book to the check-out lady, or rather check-out girl. She seemed a little bored as she took the book from Cloud's hands.

She ran the scanner over its bar code and then handed it back to Cloud. " There you are . . ." she said and sighed in boredom.

Leon and Cloud looked at each other.

" You . . . okay?" Cloud asked her. " You seem a little young to be working here."

The girl looked up at them an stretched. " It's a student elective. I needed one for college . . ." She yawned and rubbed tears of boredom from her eyes. " I'm Yuffie," she said. " You?"

" Cloud," he answered, sticking out his hand to shake Yuffie's.

" Nice to . . ." yawn, " Meet you . . ." she gazed up at Leon and her smile faded. " Oh. Hi Squall . . ."

Leon groaned in annoyance. " For the last time . . .! It's Leon. LE-ON."

Yuffie placed her finger to her lips. "Shhh! This is a library!" she said mockingly, and then she giggled.

Leon crossed his arms and looked away, grumbling.

Cloud looked from Yuffie to Leon. " You two know each other?"

Yuffie nodded vigorously. " Yup. A few years back, in detention. Squall was in there aaaaallllll the time."

Leon slammed his fist on the counter. " It's LEON, dammit!!!"

Everyone in the library shushed him.

Cloud giggled a bit with his hand over his mouth. " I should go now," he said.

"Need a ride?" Leon asked him, calming himself down.

Cloud wasn't so sure, but he found himself saying yes anyways. " Alright." He said, his cheeks turning pink.

Leon motioned for Cloud to come with him out of the library.

"See ya around Yuffie," Cloud said, waving.

She waved back with a bright smile on her face. " Bye Cloud! Bye SQUALL!"

Leon dug his hands into his thick hair. " Damn you Yuffie!"

Cloud could hear Yuffie's evil cackle and people shushing her as he left the library with Leon. He followed him through the parking lot until they came to what he thought was Leon's car. He waited for Leon to unlocked the door of the car.

Leon was giving him an amused smile. " That's not my ride, Cloud . . ."

Cloud looked at him, confused. " Huh?"

" This is . . ." He waved his hand at a black motorcycle that was just behind the car.

Cloud gulped. " We're going to ride that?"

Leon chuckled. " Don't sound so scared." He tugged his helmet onto his head and then threw his spare to Cloud.

Cloud caught it with both hands and then pulled it over his head. " You do know how to ride it well, right?"

" Nope. I just got it today," Leon said, seating himself on the motorcycle.

Cloud almost choked as he spoke. " Seriously?!"

Leon laughed again, and Cloud decided he liked the sound. " I was joking Skye, Jeez. Do you want to go or not?"

Cloud gulped again and the sat on the bike behind Leon. " I live on 1776 Limelight Drive," Cloud told him as he slowly encircled his arms around Leon's waist.

Leon gave him a thumbs up as he revved up the bike.

Cloud tightened his hold on Leon's waist when he heard the rumble on the bike. It was his first time on a motorcycle. He had only driven in cars before so he was scared. His father had always told him to stay off of motorcycles; he said he had a friend in high school who died on one- slammed right into a wall. Cloud cringed. He didn't like to disobey his father, but he had to get home quickly. He wanted to see if Sora was okay.

" Let's get going!" Cloud shouted over the roaring bike. " I have to check on my little brother!"

" Alright!" Leon shouted back. " Hang on!"

Cloud gripped Leon's waist tighter as they sped out of the parking lot and onto the street.

O0oo0O

Leon followed Cloud through the gates of the majestic mansion. When they had first pulled up to the house, he had thought he had the wrong address. But Cloud confirmed for him that it was in fact his house.

When they reached the front doors, Cloud removed his house key from his pocket and then stuck it into the door's lock. He turned the key and then pushed the door open.

Out of the house flowed Sora's beautiful piano playing. He was playing a depressing song in the minor notes. Cloud instantly recognized the song as Rain and Storm ( AN: A pretty song from .HackSIGN!) Cloud inwardly gasped. Sora never played that song unless he was deeply depressed. ' Something must have happened . . .' Cloud thought as he and Leon stepped inside.

"I'm home!" Cloud called into their enchanted entry way. The piano playing kept on, and Aerith came in through the side kitchen door.

" Good afternoon, Master Cloud," She said, giving him a cheery smile. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Leon's intimidating figure. " Um . . ." she said, not knowing how to address him.

Cloud smiled back at her. " Hello Aerith. This is my new friend, Squall Leonhart. I met him at the library."

Aerith's smile returned as she dipped into a deep, graceful bow. " Nice to meet you," she said.

Leon gave small bow as well. " You too."

Cloud smiled and then turned back to Aerith. " Is Sora okay?" he asked her.

Aerith shook her head. " He walked right past me with a plate of cinnamon cookies, and he's been playing that song ever since he got home."

Cloud placed a palm to his head. " Something happened. . ."

Aerith began to walk away. " I have to help Lulu with dinner. Maybe you should go talk to him, Master Cloud."

Cloud gave her a nod and she walked back into the kitchen.

Leon looked down at Cloud. " Who's Sora?"

" My little bother . . ." Cloud answered. He asked Leon to come with him into the living room, where the piano was. The music became louder as they entered the living room. There, Sora sat perched on the piano's seat, his fingers delicately flying over the keys.

Cloud cleared his throat. When Sora didn't answer, he called his name. " Sora . . ."

Sora stopped playing and turned around on his seat. He was wiping at his face and sniffling. He cheeks were red and his eyes were sparkling from tears.

Cloud went over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. " Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Sora sniffed again and wiped away some fresh tears. " I-I'm okay . . ." he choked out through tears. " I-I just get so emotional when I play . . ."

Cloud could tell he was lying. " Tell me what happened . . .please . . ."

Sora pushed his hand off of his shoulder. " I thought you weren't going to let anything happen to me . . ."

Cloud just stared at him, confused. " W-what?"

Sora looked beyond Cloud and saw Leon standing there. " But instead, you've found a new friend and deserted me . . . just like everyone else . . ."

"Sora, it's not like that . . . I . . .er . . .I-I . . .shit. . ." Cloud stumbled over his words while rubbing the back of his head.

Sora slowly rose from the piano chair and walked past Cloud. He stopped in front of Leon and smiled politely at him. " Hello. My name is Sora."

Leon gave him a warm smile in return. " Hey. I'm Leon. Nice to meet you. You okay? You don't look so well . . ."

Sora nodded a few times. " Yes. I am fine. I just want to go to my room and rest for a little while. I'm a little tired."

Sora left the living room and started for his room.

Leon and Cloud gazed after him.

Cloud sighed and looked down, ashamed for not knowing what happened to Sora---he should have been there to see for himself and to stop it.

Leon looked down at Cloud and said, " He looked a little down."

Cloud nodded and said, " Yeah . . . There's this gang that's been bothering him at school lately . . ."

Leon drew in his breath. " Wait . . ! Do you know the name of this gang?"

" Yeah . . ." Cloud said, sighing as he did so. " It's called Oblivion." He looked up at Leon, whose face seemed to have drained of some color. " Leon . . ?" he called.

Leon blinked and looked at Cloud again. " Um . . ."

Cloud stuck up an eyebrow, gazing at him suspiciously. " What's the matter?"

Before Leon could answer, Rikku's voice rang throughout the house.

" Hey! There's this really cool motorcycle outside!" She ran into the living room with her two, new friends at her side. "Who's is --?"

The three girls skid to a stop when they saw Leon with Cloud.

Rikku's mouth was wide open, and the corner of it twitched slightly. Rinoa was blushing and Yuna was giggling.

Rikku grinned when she started talking again. " So Cloud . . . who's your new friend?"

" This is Leon," Cloud told her while shaking his head with embarrassment. " Leon, this is my twin sister Rikku."

" Hey Rinoa!" Rikku called loudly. " Isn't this the boy who you have a HUGE crush on?!"

Rinoa's face turned tomato red. " Rikku!"

Leon just chuckled at the sight.

" Whoopsy!" Rikku said, while rubbing her arm. " I didn't mean to say to say it out loud . . . Um . . . lets go up to my room now. Oh! And you have to meet my little bro! He's the greatest---"

"Rikku," Cloud interrupted. " He's not in a good mood right now . . ."

" Oh . . . well . . . I can cheer up!" Rikku declared. " We can do his hair and try make-up on him! He looks so pretty with make-up on! Wait until you see it! He's prettier than most girls, I swear!---"

" Rikku!" Cloud shouted. " He's not in the mood! I have to talk to him later . . . It's a brother-brother thing . . ."

Rikku looked disappointed. " Oh, uh, okay. Well girls, lets go up to my room now."

Rikku, Yuna, and Rinoa ran up the spiral staircase and down the hall to Rikku's room.

Cloud sighed again and then looked down at the ground.

" Want me to go?" asked Leon softly.

Cloud nodded. " I really need to talk to him. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

" Definitely," Leon assured him, smiling. " I'll meet you here in the morning and we'll walk together."

Cloud gave him a nod and walked with him to the front door. Leon gave him one last smile before he left. Cloud watched him get onto his motorcycle and speed off down the street. Cloud closed the door and headed up the stairs to go speak to his younger brother.

He walked past Rikku's room, where the sounds of their girlish laughter was heard through the door.

He came to Sora's room and the door was closed. From behind the door, Cloud could hear Sora listening and singing along to Utada Hikaru's Colors. For as long as Cloud could remember, Utada Hikaru was Sora's favorite singer.

He tapped softly on Sora's door. The music didn't stop, but Sora came to the door and opened it a crack. " What?" he asked.

Cloud let out a deep breath. " We need to talk."

Sora sighed and opened the door all of the way, letting Cloud come inside. Sora sat on the edge of his bed, and Cloud pulled up Sora's chair from his desk. He sat in front of Sora and gazed at him, wondering if he should speak first.

Sora looked up from his lap and sighed. " I'm sorry I lost my temper down there . . ." he said quietly. "I didn't mean to."

Cloud shrugged. " It's okay. So .. . you gonna tell me what happened . . .?"

Sora stuck out his lower lip in thought. " Mmm . . ."

Cloud grinned and said, " Or do I have to TICKLE it out of you?!"

Sora shrieked with amusement as Cloud jumped on him and started tickling him. It felt just like when they were younger.

" Okay!" Sora made out through a fit of laughs. " I'll tell you! Just . . . stop . . .TICKLING ME!!"

Cloud laughed too as he crawled off of Sora and sat back in the chair.

Sora pushed himself up and waited until his laughter died down before he spoke. Colors had just ended, so Sora reached over and turned off his C.D. player. He sighed deeply. " Zell and Riku stole my necklace after school . . ."

Cloud stopped breathing for a moment. Then, his eyebrows drew together and his teeth clenched in anger. " Why those little sons of bitches . . ." he said under his breath.

Sora put his hands on Cloud's shoulders. " I don't want you to do anything, do you hear me? I don't want you to get involved."

Cloud placed his hands on top of Sora's. " Sora, I can't just sit around and not do anything . . .Do you hear me? You're my brother."

Sora shook his head. " Please promise me you'll stay out of it . . . please . . ."

Cloud rose from the chair. " I'm not promising. I have to do something."

Sora jumped up from his bed and screamed, " No! Don't you understand?! If you try to do something then . . . they'll go after you too! And then you'll get hurt, or worse! I can't let that happen, Cloud! Never!" His fists were balled and drawn to his chest. A single tear escaped from his eye and ran down his cheek.

Cloud reached over to wipe the tear away with his hand. " Don't worry about it. We've got a pretty big team now. Maybe we can start our own gang." He laughed at the appalled look Sora was giving him. " I was kidding of course."

Sora sighed in relief.

" I'm sorry Sora, but I am going to do something. Now, It's on, big time," said Cloud. " I mean, mom made that necklace for you. With her own two hands! I can't let them get away with this . . ."

Sora gave up on trying to stop him. " What do you plan to do?"

Cloud shrugged and started for Sora's door. As he walked out, he said, " I don't know, but I'll think of something."

Sora watched him go with a look worry on his face. He didn't like where this was going.

Suddenly, His phone started to ring. Sora ran over to his dresser and picked if up. " Hello?" he said in the receiver.

" Hey Cuz'!" Tidus's voice said on the other line.

Sora smiled a bit when he heard his cousin's voice.

Wakka was on the other line---a three way call. " Hey Sora. How's it goin'?"

Sora fell onto his bed with his pone still pressed to his ear. " Horrible," he told them.

" Why?" asked Tidus.

"Oblivion," Sora said, and it was all he had to say. They knew what he was talking about.

" They're actually the reason we called," said Wakka.

" Yeah!" Tidus chimed in. " We wanna help you!"

Sora groaned. " Not you guys too!"

" Look, just shut-up and listen," Wakka ordered nicely. " We came up with a plan."

" We're gonna protect you," said Tidus.

" Protect me?" Sora inquired. " What do you mean?"

" Like . . . we'll warn you when they're coming," Tidus said.

Sora just shook his head. " Alright. If you wanna help, help. I can't stop anyone anymore."

Tidus gave a whoop for joy on the other line. Wakka scolded him for doing it right in his ear.

Sora just laughed at the both of them. Maybe this would be good to have them helping. He laughed some more with them and turned his music back on.

O0oo0O

tbc

I love the song Colors. It's so pretty. I was listening to it while writing this. Speaking of Utada Hikaru, I'm learning how to play Hikari on the piano by ear. I can't read sheet music, so I rely on playing by ear. Hikari has some hard parts in it that I'm still trying to figure out. Oh yeah! And that story about the guy crashing into a wall on his motorcycle, it happened to my aunt's boyfriend. He died, too.

Anyways, Please review. I'll see you again in Chapter 7: The Thorn in the Lion's Paw.

Bye!