The Lion and the Mouse-
Hi! I'm back with chapter 7! I want to thank all of the wonderful reviewers who took their time out to read and review my story! I really appreciate it. I like to hear what others think. I hope you all enjoy this chapter too!
Disclaimer- I don't own kingdom hearts or FF. If I did, I would be rich, now wouldn't I?!
Chapter 7: The Thorn in the Lion's Paw-
Friday! At last! Finally the week was coming to an end. Never once in his life did Sora want the weekend to come this badly. He dressed for school, all the while making sure he wasn't wearing anything black and white. He felt his chest for his pendant and sighed knowing it wasn't there. Was he ever going to see it again? Sadly, he glanced at the picture of his mother, then, he picked up his back pack and left his room.
He walked downstairs and into the dining room, where Lulu and Aerith were serving breakfast. He sat in his usual seat across from Cloud. Rikku was yapping on and on about how cool her new friends were to their father.
Setsuna just laughed with her until he saw Sora take his seat. " Ah, Sora. Good morning."
Rikku stopped talking and turned to face Sora. " Morning Sora!" She gave him a bright smile and a cheery wave.
Sora nodded at them both. " Good morning father, Rikku."
" Are you feeling better this morning," Rikku asked. " My friends were so disappointed that they couldn't try their new make-up on you!"
Sora blushed with embarrassment. " Yes . . . I'm feeling much better."
His father looked at him with concern. " Were you sick, son? I know I got home late last night, so I wasn't able to see you."
Sora shook his head. " I was just feeling a little . . . depressed . . ." he told him. Lulu came around to his side to pour him some orange juice. He thanked her and began sipping it silently.
Setsuna sighed and set down his fork. " I know you miss the island . . . and your friends, but that's no reason to be depressed," he said. " Well, I guess for you it is . . ."
Sora looked down at his lap. He wanted to tell his father everything, and yet he didn't all at the same time. He would make too big of a deal out of it. He would probably want to move again. Although Sora was afraid, he didn't want that. He didn't want to leave Tidus, or Wakka, or Kairi, or any of the others. " I'm alright now. Really," he said, looking up to give his dad a reassuring smile.
His father smile and then picked up his news paper. " Alright. As long as you're okay." He opened his paper and began reading it.
Cloud gazed at Sora from across the table. He was sure that Sora was going to cave in and tell their father right then and there. He sighed in relief and continued to eat his breakfast.
Sora ate his breakfast in silence as he waited for Tidus and Wakka to come pick him up. They had agreed to walked with Sora to school, to watch his back. Cloud was coming too, with his new friend Leon. Rikku was also coming, because her new friends were going to meet her at the school.
It wasn't long before the doorbell rang. It chimed through the house, and Lulu finished pouring Setsuna's coffee to go answer it.
" Ah, good morning," said Lulu, her voice muffled from the distance.
" Good morning," came another deep voice. Sora recognized it as Leon's.
Lulu lead Leon into the dining room and gestured for him to take a seat. Leon took his seat next to Cloud and smiled at him. " Good morning," he whispered.
Cloud gave him a warm good morning smile. " Dad," he called down the table. " This is my friend Leon."
Setsuna set down his news paper and looked at Leon, inspecting him. He always did that when his children got new friends. He could usually tell who was good and who wasn't. It almost always worked, except for once, when Sora had brought Botta home for the first time. He thought he was a " bad seed". Once he decided that Leon was okay, he gave him a smile and said, " Nice to meet you Leon. It's nice to know that my kids are making new friends. It makes me feel a lot less guilty."
" It's nice to meet you too," Leon said.
" Would you like some breakfast?" Cloud asked him.
Leon shrugged. " Sure. What are you having?"
Lulu slid a plate of steaming pancakes in front of Leon's face. " My famous pancakes," she said, smiling.
He gave Lulu a smile. " Thanks! Looks great!"
The doorbell rang again, and this time, Aerith went to answer it.
" Let me in! I smell pancakes!" came Tidus's voice. Sora heard Aerith's laugh, accompanied by Wakka's. Tidus ran into the dining room and jumped into the chair next to Sora's. He snatched Sora's fork and took one of his pancakes.
" Hey!" Sora cried.
Tidus and Sora fought over the pancake for the rest of breakfast. Wakka finally stopped them. " It's time to go to school now," he said.
Sora sighed and rose from his chair. " Bye dad," he said. " See you when I get home."
" Good bye son," said his father. He waited until Sora was gone before he called Cloud over to him.
" Yes?" Cloud asked him.
" Cloud, you would tell me if something was wrong with Sora, wouldn't you?" he whispered so only Cloud would hear.
Cloud gulped and then nodded. " Yes. Of course. I would keep nothing from you." Behind his back, Cloud crossed his fingers. It wasn't that he usually lied to his father, it was just that he had already promised Sora he wouldn't tell.
" Good," said Setsuna, obviously satisfied. " Now run along now. Wouldn't want you to be late for school."
Cloud gave him one last nod before he left the dinning room with Leon.
" What was that about?" Leon asked him.
Cloud shrugged. " Nothing."
XxXxXxX
Riku searched the halls for any sign of Sora. He came around the corner and saw Sora's cousin Tidus coming down the hall. He was about to call out to him so he could ask where Sora was, but Tidus turned and bolted the other way screaming, " Sora! He's coming!"
Sora heard Tidus's cry and slammed shut his locker. Quickly, he picked up his back pack and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he ran for his life to his jewelry class.
Riku stared with his eyebrow stuck up where Tidus was standing. " What the hell was that about?" He scratched his silver locks and than started off for his first period class.
XxXxXxX
It went on pretty much like that all day. Riku would get within a few feet of Sora, and then he would disappear. Tidus and Wakka were always there, telling Sora to run whenever he got close. He couldn't even get close to him in their history class. When he sat next to Sora, he jumped up and moved to the back of the room.
In gym, Sora escaped him again, and in the locker room, Sora hid in one of the bathroom stalls so Riku wouldn't find him. Sora was starting to wonder why Riku had been chasing him all day. He would have asked, if he didn't like living. When he was sure the coast was clear, he opened the stall's door and darted out of the locker room. He met Tidus and Wakka at his locker, and together, they ran out of the school. The day was over, and Sora had avoided all possible hurt and humiliation.
Sora let out a long sigh as they walked down the sidewalk. " Wow. Thanks guys," he said.
" No problem!" Tidus and Wakka said at the same time.
Sora looked at both of them and laughed.
XxXxXxX
Riku stood in an alleyway, waiting for Sora to come. Sora had to walk past the alley way on his way home every day. It was only a matter of time before he would be arriving. He had to hide or else Sora would run away again.
He waited patiently until he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He spun around, ready for anything. Nothing was there. He narrowed his eyes, looking around suspiciously. He knew he had heard something. " Who's there?" he called. " Show yourself, dammit!"
Riku heard someone chuckle, and then a shadow emerged from the darkness of the alleyway . " Well, well, well . . . if it isn't an Oblivion . . ."
Riku clenched his fists and his teeth together angrily. " Flare . . ."
XxXxXxX
" And then Selphie was all like, ' Really?!' and I was all like, ' Totally!' And then she was all like, ' No way!'"
Sora and Wakka rolled their eyes as Tidus went on and on about a conversation he had with Selphie.
Finally, Wakka couldn't take it any longer and he clamped a hand over Tidus's mouth. " Tidus . . . shut up!"
Tidus's eyes narrowed with mischief, then he ran his tongue across Wakka's palm. He laughed when Wakka drew his hand back and started to wipe it on his jeans.
" Tidus! You're road kill!" Wakka yelled. He began to chase after Tidus who had just started to run away.
Sora laughed and ran after them. He and Wakka chased Tidus down the sidewalk and around the corner. They ran straight into Tidus when he suddenly stopped right in his tracks.
" Ow!" Wakka cried. " Dammit Tidus! I-- " his eyes widened in surprise when Tidus placed his finger on his lips to silence him.
" Shhh!" He said harshly. " Listen!"
Sora and Wakka both perked their ears up to listen as Tidus told them to.
" Hey, I don't want any trouble," came a voice from the alleyway.
Sora gasped. 'Riku? That's Riku.'
" Then what are you doing in my alleyway?" came another voice that Sora didn't recognize.
" Come on," whispered Sora. " Let's get closer . . ." He and the other two boys moved closer and hid behind the wall. They peeked around the corner and saw Riku talking to a boy clad in red and black.
" Who's that?" asked Tidus quietly.
Sora shrugged. " I don't know," he said.
" Your alleyway?" asked Riku bitterly. " Since when is it your alleyway?"
The other boy laughed. " Since today," he told him.
Riku growled. " Look Flare," Riku began, " I'm waiting for someone. Just leave me alone, before I have to hurt you . . ."
" Flare?" asked Sora.
" Flare is Oblivion's rival gang," said Wakka, and Sora sighed in understanding.
The Flare gang member laughed. " Like you could ever hurt me," he said. " Want to know why? Because you're weak. Just like your old leader . . ."
Riku's anger level was building up at every second.
" Your gang leader still crying over his bro?" asked Flare. " My big bro is still laughing about it."
Riku's anger level burst over the top. " Don't you dare talk about it like it was some sort of contest! Seifer is dead!"
Flare smirked. " It was a contest in a way. Flare won, and you Oblivions lost. . ."
With a great roar, Riku threw himself at Flare, fighting him with all his might. Flare fought back with the same amount of strength.
Tidus pulled on Sora's shoulder. " Come on, lets get out of here."
Sora shrugged off his hand. " No! What if he gets hurt?"
Wakka and Tidus gaped at him.
" What do you care? After all that he did to you?" Tidus cried. " Come on! Let's go before they see us!"
Riku felt something fall out of his jacket pocket as he was fighting, and he heard it clink to the ground. He jumped back and looked onto the ground. Sora's necklace had fallen out of his pocket. He yelped and swiped it up from the ground, inspecting it for scratches.
Flare wiped some blood from his lip. He saw that Riku wasn't paying attention and took it as an opportunity. He pulled out his switch blade and charged for Riku.
Riku had just put the necklace back into his pocket when he saw Flare coming towards him.
Sora turned around just in time to see Flare plunge a knife into Riku's side. He gasped and clamped his hands over his mouth when he heard Riku's cry of pain. " Oh my God!"
Wakka and Tidus looked back into the alleyway and gasped as well.
" Shit!" Wakka muttered.
Riku fell onto his back, holding the knife that was still in his side. Flare loomed over him, grinning, then from out of his red jacket, he pulled a gun.
" Now to get rid of another," he said evilly. He aimed the gun at Riku's heart.
Sora tugged on Tidus's sleeve frantically. " We have to do something!"
Tidus turned to Wakka, not knowing what else to do. " Do something Wakka!"
Wakka swayed from side to side, thinking. Then he came up with an idea. He cleared his throat and cried, " Hey! What's that noise over there!" He made his voice deeper, sounding like an adult.
Tidus did the same too, only his voice was less convincing. " I don't know! You go see while I call the COPS!" He emphasized 'cops' as much as he could.
Flare put the gun back into his jacket, muttering a cusre word. " Doesn't matter. You're as good as dead anyways." He laughed as he ran away.
When he was sure The Flare was gone, Sora bolted into the alleyway, tripping over himself as he did so. He fell to his knees by Riku's side and inspected the wound.
Tidus and Wakka came in shortly after.
" We should call an ambulance!" Tidus said when he saw the amount of blood that was spilling from Riku's side.
" No!" Sora cried. " They won't get here in time!" He gently pulled Riku's hand away from the knife..
" Pull out the knife!" Wakka suggested.
" Are you crazy?!" shouted Sora. " He'll bleed to death!"
" Well, what are we going to do?" asked Tidus.
Sora thought for a moment and then said, " We're taking him back to my house. I know what to do." He took Riku's clean hand into his and looked into his half lidded eyes. " Don't be scared, Riku. I'm here . . ."
Riku groaned softly. " S-Sora . . .?"
" It's okay Riku," whispered Sora soothingly. " Stay with me Riku, stay with me . . ."
Riku's visioned blurred, and the last things he saw before he passed out were Sora's beautiful eyes . . .
XxXxXxX
tbc
Dun dun dun! Riku's been stabbed! Will he die, or will he live? What will Sora do to help? Review, and you'll find out! MUWAHAHAHAHA! . . cough . . .cough . . .!
See ya!