New chapter! T.T This story is becoming difficult to write. Such a hard style! It's supposed to be sort of nondescript and working more to the characters than their surroundings, but gosh it's a toughie. XD lol!

LiLi-Sama- lol! You'll just have to wait and see what happened, though a few more hints are given in this chapter. XD Kinda. I'm so happy you're enjoying this! –Cheers- And nope, Riku's not coming out of the closet in this story. XD There is definitely dark homosexual elements in this story, but they don't involve Riku. That's sort of Sora's territory on this one. Lol:D

Sky-Pirate-Tat-Sighs dreamily- Ah, I picture him that way too. X3 lol! I dunno why I write him like that; he's a generally sweet and cutesy character, but he just curses. I don't even know why, really! Lol! XD It just happens when I write his dialogue. :D

kage-chan- Thank you so much:D I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And here it is, your update!

Forbidden

A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic

Chapter Seven

Sora and Riku both stepped into the local post office, a little bell on the top of the door frame ringing as they entered. The brunet among the two hurried to the counter and pressed another bell since it was empty. When no one came, he shrugged and went behind it. When he reached a door behind his he looked to Riku and gestured for him to follow. He did.

"Cloud!" Sora called when they walked in. Riku assumed that was the brother-in-law that he had mentioned earlier, and when he called it only one person turned their head. It was a handsome blond-haired man with icy blue eyes that Riku met eyes with, and just for that second before they turned to Sora his body shivered.

'Something about him,' Riku thought, turning his glance away, 'I just don't feel comfortable.'

That hardened face seemed to soften at Sora's smile and he approached the two, giving them a smile of his own. Over his shoulder was a huge bag, letters sticking out of the opening. He sat it down on the floor next to him and it made a loud thumping noise. A few envelopes sputtered from the top.

"What's up, Sora?" Cloud asked. Riku dared himself to look at him again, and this time he felt a great deal calmer. Even more so, he was curious. He watched where the blond was looking until it rested on Sora's wristband. He noticed how he always wore one, but now something about it seemed more. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not this time," Sora said leisurely. Riku tried to act nonchalant but paid attention. Something about this just seemed strange. Was he being sarcastic or serious? He couldn't tell. "Anyways . . . this, uh, friend of mine really needs a job to pay for his apartment. He's new here."

Cloud looked to Riku with a sort of disgusted expression, annoying him. What did he do? With the way he noticed people always looked at him he'd swear something was written all over his face. He hated the way people looked at him like they already knew him.

"A friend . . . right."

Sora seemed to understand something Riku didn't and laughed it off a bit while shaking his head. "No, Cloud! I was being serious! It's not like that, really . . . I don't think you have to worry about being hit on at work."

'Okay,' Riku thought, 'What the hell did I just miss?'

"I hope so," Cloud muttered, shrugging. He gave Riku one last strange look before picking up the mail bag again. "I don't make the decisions here, so just go talk to the boss about it. I think we have an opening somewhere or something."

Sora smiled, a red tinge coming to his cheeks that was so slight the other two didn't even notice. He was glad it was that way. He didn't want to cause any trouble at the moment. "Thanks, Cloud. You're the best."

"Sure."

Sora pointed to a door and said something to Riku about going in there, as if he knew the entire place by heart already from simply being there so many times. Riku nodded like he was listening, but something else was occupying his mind entirely. For once he wasn't thinking of how he wanted to go home, how he wanted to see Kairi, or how much it sucked to be away from Kairi.

'First, it's that stupid wristband,' Riku thought. That might not be as big of a deal as he was making it out to be, but it was one of those feelings. He was always one to go with his instincts. 'Then there was that conversation . . . Sora's a pretty interesting guy.'

Kairi didn't really bother to change in anything different than what she had before. She had come downstairs in her same clothes, but her mother laughed in that fake tone of hers and decided to help her get dressed. Part of her knew her mother was annoyed but didn't want to show it. Part of her knew she was depressed that she just didn't change. She could just tell.

In the end she kept the heavy shirt and put on a pair of Riku's old baggy jeans. She personally didn't care that they were his or that they had massive holes in them; they were clothes and they were the only pants she had in her drawers. Putting them on she realized how much of a skank she must have looked like, wearing short skirts in the middle of the winter.

"Oh, Kairi," her mother said as they walked along the hallway of the local mall. She stopped her daughter and licked the end of her thumb, wiping at her cheeks and them brushing away some of her hair. It was still a mess, but it couldn't be helped; Kairi didn't want to get it cut properly. "You just had a little bit of smudge on your face. It's gone now."

"Thanks," Kairi replied absentmindedly. Her mother continued to talk about things they used to do when they did their 'girl stuff'. It was work, friends, the latest news and fun gossip. She only partly listened, staring out at the different clothes in the windows. She wasn't really looking at them like she made it seem; she had more on her mind.

'I remember when Riku and I always went to the mall,' she thought, smiling so small that no one could have possible noticed. Her hand glided on the railing and she looked down at the first floor below her. It would be a long fall if she jumped. 'Tidus would come too, before he died. And Yuffie and Selphie would come. Not during the dates when we did girl stuff, but just the hang-out stuff.'

She couldn't really think of a better name. Her mind was too tired. She turned her head when she heard her mother calling her and she found her mother pointing to an outfit behind a window. It was a small, cream colored coat with a matching skirt and a white tank top. She didn't really find any interest in it, which surprised even herself. She normally would spend every last penny and even some of her friends' dollars for something so cute. 'Once again I'm reminded of how much I wear those stupid skirts.'

"Kairi?"

Kairi paused, her body frozen. She recognized the voices from school, and she knew that today she wasn't as confident as she had been on the last day she actually went to school. She looked behind her, seeing three boys. They were all her friends, all there on that night. She remembered them being with her before things went fuzzy. She didn't bother to try and remember that part. She really didn't want to.

"Hey," Kairi said, turning her body and waving to them a bit. She tried to manage a smile, but she imagined it looked horrible with such chewed lips. She shouldn't have even bothered raising her hand. There practically weren't even any nails to paint any pretty colors. The three boys exchanged glances, even scowling a bit. With her hair unwashed and everywhere and her skin oily and shiny, she looked horrible compared to the perfect doll from before.

"Damn, you look . . ." one of the three started, trying to carefully place his words. After a moment of silence, he chose. "Different."

"Oh, really?" she replied, as if it were a lie. She really couldn't stand being right there then. 'Just die, die, die! Slip and fall over the balcony or something. Maybe a shooting will happen. Come on . . . Anything is better than this humiliation.'

None of them spoke, an awkward silence filling their little circle. No one knew what to say. Instead, Kairi took the initiative. "Well, I'm gonna go hang out with my mom now. You know, girl stuff."

They seemed to go along with it. The middle one spoke. "Uh . . . yeah! Sure. Have fun, Kairi. See you later."

"Sure."

She turned around to walk to her mother when she heard the three of them snigger, snorting as if they were getting it all in. Now she really wanted to die. Just for anyone to come and kill her now. She wasn't brave enough to do it herself.

Riku stepped out of the office, surprised to see Sora waiting there. Almost. He was in a swivel chair spinning in the middle of a busy hallway, interrupting human traffic. Riku stuffed his hands in his pockets and put out his foot to stock the chair in its tracks, in which Sora pouted. Somehow that just didn't work on him.

"Stop that," Riku said, standing on his two feet again. "You look like a stupid twelve-year-old."

"Don't you remember me saying I liked being treated like a twelve-year-old?" he replied, giving him a puppy face like he was in trouble. It still wasn't working.

"Well, now that I know you're the same age as me I'm creeped out by it, so knock it off."

"Asshole."

But in the end Sora did agree, and he stood up and pushed the chair back in its rightful place before approaching Riku again. "So, how did it go?"

For once in a rare occasion, Riku grinned. "I start tommorow."

X x x x x

Let it be known that I have never stepped into a true-blue post office behind the scenes in my life, and so I have no idea how a real post office works! XD Just imagine that they have giant letters and they sort them all by hand, then they give them to the mailman and he sends them off. Yeay! That's what I'm guessing anyway. Lol!

And more of Kairi. T.T Poor her! I wasn't actually interested in her character in the beginning of the story, but now she's becoming the most interesting to me; I want to write about her more, but this is supposed to be about Riku and Sora's friendship-ness:P Where has the plot gone? Lol!

I'll try . . T.T I will, really! Thank you so much everyone!