Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney does. I do, however, own the original characters like Sira Lockheart, Shell Bastion, and the ever so sexy Rai Kisaragi.

A/N: Please review to me a lot more! It's kind of tiring to see that there are only a few reviews on the counter. You like the story don't you? If you don't want me to continue to post the story, that's fine with me but if you do, then you need to put up some reviews or this thing will be closed. Well, enough of my ranting, I just want to say that the story will be a lot more intense now. The past few chapters have been the hardest to write because I had to give out all of the information so that the actual plot would make sense. Well, I hope you like it. And there will be a little bit more SoraxRiku-ness in here! A little less more Rai-ness, sorry. Enjoy!


Promise Me Mortality


"Hello, this is Riku."

"Hey, this is Sora. I need to talk."


Chapter 5: Symphony

Riku laid on his bed, trying to take it all in. Sora, his beloved, had called him! He had almost forgotten how his gentle yet masculine voice sounded like. Either that or he had changed in the past month and some few weeks.

"Sora!" he started in shock. His heart was racing. "I haven't heard from you in so long! I thought you had forgotten me," he continued in a pouting tone. He always did that to make his friend laugh. It was so out of character for him to do so that it always caught him by surprise.

He heard a weak chuckle from the other end. Why did he sound so sad? Was he okay? Sick?

"I'm sorry, its just that things have been happening."

"You didn't say that you missed me." Though he hid it in a jovial mood, Riku was hurt. He didn't miss him? He was probably having the time of his life and was glad not to have him always looking over his shoulder. He fiddled with his now longer hair as he tried to hold back his pain. 'I have to be positive for him right? If I don't, then he'll get worried.'

"I did miss you Riku. Don't say that," said Sora in a scolding voice.

"Say what? I didn't say anything." He was starting to get worried about him. It wasn't like Sora to sound so sad. Even after the accident, he had the capability to smile and joke with him, and his girlfriend and father had died!

There was a pause on the phone which made Riku's mind race even more. What was going on over there? Was he hurt? Did someone hurt him? Was it Zack? Or was it someone else? Was he in danger? Or even more, was he running away from battle or something of that nature?

Before his thoughts became too ridiculous, he heard a silent and wounded whisper.

"Did… did you miss me?"

This really wasn't Sora. At least not the Sora he had known. The once happy, carefree, and even childish friend that he had fallen in love with had now become someone so filled up with sadness and angst that if he were to actually see him, to see his faded eyes as he had imagined them, he would fall apart himself. Or be swallowed up in a rage. Either one.

"Of course I missed you Sora. I can't imagine living life without you." He didn't really care if he was sounding strange, his friend would probably not even know the real meaning deep down. He felt the urge to simply spill out the contents of his heart to him but he held it back.

"I'm glad Riku. Me too," said his friend in a warm voice. He seemed relieved, relieved that someone actually cared about him enough to miss him, to wish he was there with him every waking moment.

"What's wrong Sora? You don't seem like yourself." As soon as he said that, he felt his friend's mood change. It was silent, a deep, choking, and cold silence that seemed to last forever. Sora then spoke up with hesitation.

"I did something."

"Did something? Did what?" he asked reassuringly. What had he done that had made him so frightened? So regretful?

Sora paused and gave a frustrated sigh before he continued. "I don't think you'll like me after this. I don't want to tell you."

"Tell me Sora. I won't judge you. You're my best friend and you know that."

It was another long pause before he finally confessed, choking back on tears.

"I fucked him."


Sora slowly walked back into the apartment, quietly easing the door shut with a lazy thud. He had been out of the house for the whole day and he hated having to come back to it. Setting his key onto the counter, he put his sidebag onto the side of the TV, eyes averting from the coffee table, the cursed place that they'd…

"Sora?" asked a maturing masculine voice from the kitchen. He cringed as he heard it and hurried into the bedroom. Slamming the door, he threw himself upon the bed and hugged the pillow, snuggling into a fetal position.

Ever since that morning, the morning he had woken up completely disrobed with only a blanket to cover them, he had felt guilty. He had felt remorseful and even dirty as if he had betrayed the golden rule of friendship. Even more, he felt embarrassed. He had exposed himself to his friend in a way that he had never done with anyone. And he had felt as if he had also let himself be taken too easily.

He was no longer a virgin anymore so that was good right? It didn't matter that he lost it to his man-friend and that he still hadn't been with any women. Now he had reached the halls of experience, the glorious gilded halls of men right?

Deciding that being optimistic wasn't the best thing at this exact situation, he buried his head into the pillow as he tried to doze off. School was tomorrow and he had to get his rest.

As he was trying to sleep, he heard the door slowly creak open to reveal Rai, wearing nothing but a pair of black jeans and a gold necklace upon his bare chest. In his hands was his peace offering, a bowl of exotic and rather aromatic food, making Sora' stomach rumble silently.

"I know I wasn't able to finish the meal yesterday so I decided to make it now," said the junior, his eyes locked to the wall next to him. It was painfully awkward as Sora loosened up and sat at the edge of the bed, gaze averted as well.

"Its really good," he continued, trying to fill up the silence.

"Just put it right there," said Sora in a whisper. Quietly, Rai padded his feet over to the bedside table right next to Sora and gently yet painfully placed the dish onto the hard wood. Sneaking a quick look at him, the younger teen then stood up and walked sadly back to the door and closed it behind him with a click.

It was sad; especially since a little more than 24 hours ago they were the best of friends. Looking over to the meal left on the table next to him, he eyed its contents. It contained slightly pale cabbage, chicken, beef, rice, and egg, floating in a reddish brown broth. It even smelled delicious with a warm and soothing aroma with a hint of spice every now and then.

Gently, he placed the bowl on his lap and collected a bit of the broth in the deep spoon. As soon as the juice hit his now dry and famished tongue, it flooded his taste buds with heat and the flavor of beef, chicken, fresh vegetables, and the hint of egg and cinnamon.

"It is pretty good," he said with a glimmer of happiness as he began to eat it. He relished in the dish, everything was wonderful, each and every piece. The chicken was so tender and the beef just melted in his mouth with each joyful bite he took. The rice had the flavor of sweet cinnamon and exotic spices that lent its magic into the soothing ambrosia that was considered broth. The egg swirls danced over his tongue as he also chewed on the buttery and soft but still firm cabbage.

He ate the whole meal down, drinking down the last of it all in one last gulp when he raised it to his lips. After finishing it, he looked at the bowl despairingly. Only after he actually had nourishment did he realize that he was so hungry. He hadn't really eaten anything since they had reached the apartment the night before, unless he counted the small chocolate bar that he ate at noon that day.

Standing up, he decided to go to the kitchen to fix himself more of the wonderful meal. His stomach wasn't even satiated and he needed more food soon or else he would feel the pains of near starvation. In his mind, he even felt as if he had become smaller. Too bad that it couldn't possibly be true, he had only missed out on food for one day, it took longer for effects like that.

Lightly padding to the door, he creaked it open slowly and peeked outside. He could see the form of Rai laying out on the couch, one leg sprawled out over the back of it as he flicked through channels unenthusiastically. Luckily, the back of the sofa was faced in his direction so he quickly sneaked behind it and down the hall to the kitchen.

Now he was stuck. The food wasn't all in one convenient pot like he thought and wished that it would. It wasn't even in two dishes, he could have handled that. Each piece of the meal was conveniently held in their separate pans and pots, one for the rice, one for the beef, one for the chicken, one for the broth, one to hold the drained and seasoned cabbage, and one for the apparently spice egg mixture floating in ribbons in a slightly lighter colored broth.

"Damn it!" he said sharply and then sweat dropped in defeat. Looking over the mass of six different containers, pots, and pans, he tried to remember how the food looked. "I think it was mostly broth. Wait! It was mostly rice." Then he sighed and banged his head on the counter in frustration. He was hungry and he might die if he couldn't get food to himself as soon as possible.

Then he heard the soft sound of bare footsteps as the very person he had taken every measure to avoid came into the room, advancing to him slowly. Sora silently chanted curses in his head as he felt the sudden urge to cower into a corner in needless fear. But he was too hungry to move as he quickly averted his gaze to the food on the stovetop.

"Need help?" he asked Sora coolly as he stood in front of him, towering over the 'dying' brunette. Sora's face flushed lightly as he stiffened. What should he say? Should he listen to his dignity and not admit to anything, or his nerves and just leave and starve to death? What about his head saying that he should just accept his offer, or even his stomach who was about to take over and just eat everything there anyway. He was so hungry that it wouldn't matter if he even ate cardboard with A1 steak sauce. His small heart however was too quiet in its own pleas that it didn't have a say in the matter.

Deciding silence was the best answer, he just stood there, waiting for Rai to leave so he could devour each container unashamed. The younger teen sighed and gently took the bowl from his hands and placed it on the counter. Upon hearing the impatient and long groan of his friend's stomach, he gave him a look of concern.

"You haven't eaten all day have you?" he asked, only receiving more silence. Running a hand through his hair, he looked over the cabinets, looking for something.

Pulling down a cereal bowl, he then held in gracefully in his palm as he pulled off the lid of the broth and spooned in enough to fill a fourth of it and then opened the rice cooker, paddling out a fist sized ball of rice. Then, he put in a ladle filled of chicken and beef each, making sure to drizzle the juices over the cabbage that he had placed in shortly before. Then was the last piece. He spooned some of the egg mixture broth until it floated over the rice, making it finally the soup that he enjoyed before.

Rai held the bowl up to himself and lightly blew over the top of it. Sora raised an eyebrow at this. "It's a Wutanese superstition to blow away the bad spirits from the meal," he said as he walked to the dining room table with a hungry Sora in toe. "It is also to bring good luck and the hope of longer life with your own breath of life."

The older teen took the random information in as he watched his food rest on the table, the deep and almost ladle-like spoon sitting pleasantly next to it. Almost unconsciously, he sat down in a rush and started to gobble down the rest of the food, smiling between each mouthful happily. Rai simply watched from his seat at the other side of the table in amazement as the food soon began to disappear.

Sora sat up suddenly, catching his friend off guard. His eyes glared at the younger teen, making him flush at the thought of being caught. "Soda, now!" he demanded as he then began to eat his food again, scarfing it down like a dog starved to the brink of death.

Quickly, Rai stood up and uneasily walked into the kitchen and first pulled out one of the bottled sodas he had bought and then thought better to bring two instead. He came back to the table and set the two glass bottles before him. They were a light blue glass with an interesting style on the neck. The label said PayPiyo-Melon with an array of mixed lettering on the bottom, probably in Wutanese. However, Sora didn't care about the beautiful packaging but more on the light pink liquid inside.

Opening the first one, he licked his lips before he put the mouth of the bottle to his lips and tilted his head back, chugging down half of it in a series of four or five gulps.

"Damn Sora! You must have been starved," said Rai in shock as he watched him then finish his onslaught.

Fifteen minutes, two sodas, and one more helping of soup later, the brunette was finally full, laying back on his chair, rubbing his now slightly bulged stomach. If he ate a single bite more, he feared that he would explode or at least have to heave out the extra into the trash. Rai was now in the kitchen patiently washing dishes and wiping off the counters.

Sora peaked his head over the side of the doorway, watching him pull up a large pan and filling it with a little bit of water and soap before using a bright yellow sponge to wipe it down. On his bare shoulder was a tattoo of an eight-ball nestled in a blue rose. Over it were the words 'Lucky Eight' in a curving fashion.

'He must really love those stupid things then,' he thought as he watched him pull off a few paper towels and wipe the pan dry with care. He then put the pan to the side and then pulled up another one and began to wash that one as well. Sora blushed as he watched his friend's hunched back muscles flex and move with each movement his arms made. They were so intoxicatingly tight and fluid that his thoughts soon drifted to a new desire to run his fingers across them and feel each and every part of it.

'Wait, what the hell am I thinking?' he thought as he shook himself out of his daydreams and looked to the floor red in the face. 'This is my friend I'm thinking lustful thoughts about, my man friend!' he continued as he looked back up at him again. He was now scrubbing down the counters, the dishes cleaned and put away. Only now did he realize how muscular the raven haired teen really was. He wasn't too built but rather on the slender side, healthily built to give him definition. His skin was a soft and creamy pale color, but a rich shade of peach as well.

Rai tossed the rag onto the sink and started to walk out of the kitchen. Upon seeing bright blue intense and watchful eyes, he jumped and gave out an irritated sigh.

"Don't scare me like that you little prick," he said, grasping his poor frightened heart. Sora simply blushed and laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry about that, I kinda dazed off. Forgot what I was going to get." Suddenly, a loud yawn crept up on him. Stretching his boyish form, he then rubbed his eyes drowsily.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going to bed now," said Sora as he turned and walked off to the bedroom.


He was standing on the beach, the ocean waves crashing on the soft shore. The sweet and saline sea breeze rushed across his slightly paled skin, taking it back to the glowing and beautiful tan that it used to be. Gulls floated in the wind and hovered before diving into the water, rustling their feathers.

It was back on the island, in Destiny Islands. He had almost forgotten how truly beautiful his home was. The air was so clear and the sky was bright blue, not the dull grey tinted sky in Midgard. Opening his arms, he smiled and yelled out in happiness, the wind blowing through his spiky brown hair in reply.

"Hey Sora!" yelled a familiar voice. He shifted his blue eyes down the shore, spying a well built youth, his shoulder length silver hair dancing in the sea wind. Sora smiled brightly and waved to his friend, running towards him.

"Riku!" he called over and over again as his sandaled feet padded over towards his best friend. Jumping into a boyish hug, he laughed as he then began to run down the shore, kicking at the water happily. Riku chased shortly after him, laughing heartily.

Strong arms then wrapped around him from behind and he felt himself be lifted in the air. Riku had picked him up and then proceeded to carry him to the deeper part of the water, tossing him in to the cool ocean. Sputtering up water, he glared up at Riku playfully.

It was just so wonderful. He crawled up to the more shallow water and laid out, feeling the water rush over his legs and at the sides of his face. The beach was paradise and he felt the urge to scream out in happiness.

His best friend crashed down next to him and leaned over to his side. At that moment, with the sun shining off of his ghostlike hair and the light glittering in his eyes, Riku looked beautiful. He seemed as if he were some kind of pleasant dream put into a physical form. The thought of this made him blush.

"Uh, I'm gonna go swim now," he said quickly as he sat up, taking off his sandals. That was weird, he was thinking about Riku, his best friend Riku, in a way that he was clearly confused about. He was becoming attracted to him. Shaking his head at the thought, he looked out to the horizon. He was only thinking this way because he hadn't seen him in so long. 'Yeah, that's it.'

"Hey Sora?" asked Riku as he sat up next to him. His lips looked so soft and moist that the brunette had to hold back his urge to kiss them. The silver haired boy then gave a playful smirk, a few of his white teeth shining through. Leaning over to his shoulder seductively, he rose his lips to Sora's ear. "Lets do it."

"What! What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Sora in shock as he futilely tried to hold back his intense blush. Why was Riku asking him of this? Was he deranged? Did he get dumped by someone and was so upset to use him as a rebound?

"Oh come on Sora," he started as he leaned closer to him, tracing his fingertips across his friend's thigh suggestively. The very feeling of his touch made his heart skip a beat, causing the younger boy to quiver. "I know you've wanted it as much as I have."

Wanting it? Wanting what? Sora blushed even more and tried to back away. He was acting weird and it was creeping him out. Riku was coming on to him and strong at that. It wasn't like him to do that, at least not to him.

"Uh, Riku?" he asked, shuddering as Riku began to lean over him. "Maybe we should… uh…"

Soon after he said that, he was pulled into a kiss. Just as he had imagined, his lips were soft. 'I guess I can get used to this. After all, this has to be a dream,' Sora thought as he allowed Riku to push him onto the sand, tangling his fingers into his silvery tresses. Right now, he was in need of a crazy dream to make his life seem a bit more, sane, at the very least. Besides, he felt experimental this night.

"Mmmm, Sora," moaned Riku as he settled himself on top of the brunette, rolling his tongue over his soft and blushing lips. All of the sensations that the younger boy was feeling was like magic on his skin. Kisses were soon traced from his bruising lips to his warm neck, nibbling at him gently. A milky white hand at this time also decided a journey of its own, down to his hips and then up again to slide under his shirt, teasing his skin there as well.

"Riku… ahh…" he purred, letting the said boy take him over.


"Sora?"

"Riku!"

"Sora! Wake the hell up!"

The blue eyed boy suddenly opened his eyes to see the tired gaze of Rai leaning over him. Blushing, he jumped up and hid under the covers.

"Wh-Wha-What the hell are you d-doing?" he sputtered, recoiling back into the back board.

"You woke me up with your little wet dream shit," he muttered, massaging the back of his disheveled head. If it wasn't for the fact that Sora had been caught having an adulterous dream, he would have thought the sight of a cranky and red-eyed messy haired Rai very amusing. But he did have that dream after all.

Collapsing back into bed, Rai pulled the covers over his head and sprawled his limbs out, trying desperately to fall back to sleep. Sora raised an eyebrow at this.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking to the window. It was getting sunny… well as sunny as it could possibly get in Midgard and he could hear the hustle and bustle start for the brand new day.

He saw a shift in the sheets and after a long groan and an array of cussing, he finally received his reply.

"I don't give a fuck, you check your own damn self!"

"Jeez," he sighed, getting out of bed lazily. "Who woke you up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Fuck you…"

Deciding that pursuing any type of conversation with Rai now would be a bad idea, the brunette padded his socked feet out to the living room to see what time it was.

"Seven fifteen," he muttered as he walked into the bathroom.

Taking a quick shower, he brushed his teeth and walked back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Making sure he wasn't under the perverted eyes of the irritated man in the comforters, he opened the dresser and pulled out his school uniform. While he got dressed, and making sure that Rai was still asleep, his thoughts began to drift back off to the dream.

What kind of thing was that? At first, it was perfect, being on the beach at the islands and soaking in the warm sun like he used to. Hell, it was even more awesome when Riku appeared and they played on the shore like they did since they were children. But then his friend began to hit on him, and even going as far to feel him up and ask to have sex with him. What the hell was that?

He blushed at his thoughts and buttoned up his shirt. Was he too confused after that night with Rai that he was confusing friendship with secret desires and lust-filled gazes? If he had a dream with Tidus or Wakka like that, he might as well jump out of a window or never sleep again.

Fastening his watch onto his wrist, he made a quick look and sighed. It was seven thirty-three and they needed to get to school by nine. With rush-hour being as it typically was, he didn't want to risk being late. The commute from Sector 2 to Sector 3 was going to be hell enough as it was.

"Hey Rai," said the brunette as he stood over the bed. Watching the Wutanese boy's face, he realized how handsome his friend really was. Sure, he had looked at him every now and then when he was curious about him but he never really looked at him. His childish face was twisted into a frown, his eyebrows knitted together as if he was concentrating on how to sleep. But his long black hair messily framed his face, making him look rather cute if he did say so himself.

Then, Sora raised an eyebrow. Leaning closer to the sleeping teen, he saw a small hint of dark umber hair peeking through. 'What the heck?' he thought as he leaned closer, moving his head side to side to watch the light shine off of the small part of hair. Sure enough, it was a rich dark brown, a good half an inch of it. It wasn't that easy to tell so Rai probably didn't notice it was showing.

But the fact that it was brown was the big puzzle for him. Rai Kisaragi was from Wutai and they typically had naturally jet black hair and dark brown almond-shaped eyes. Plus, they typically had a more buttery complexion. He, on the other hand, was pale with a slight hue of pink and had naturally brown hair with light brown eyes that verged into hazel. That led Sora to the truth, that he wasn't entirely Wutanese, he was of a mixed parentage. But why didn't he tell him about it earlier?

The teen in question slowly creaked an eye open, groaning in frustration. Quickly, with seemingly lightning speed, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of Sora's chocolaty locks from the back of his head and gave them a good yank.

"Owww! What the hell!" the older boy yelled as he gripped his hair to try to stop the pain.

"Well that's what you get you nosy little prick." Now Sora well knew that his friend was definitely not a morning person. Backing away, he sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed the now sore spot on his head.

"Sorry your highness but it is a little past seven thirty and I know that we have to be in school by nine. I don't think you can work miracles so you better hurry up and get dressed."

Rai suddenly shot up and struggled his way out of the bed. "Seven thirty? Holy shit!" he yelled as he started stripping on his way to the bathroom. Rolling his eyes, Sora walked over to his sidebag and began to pack his books for the school day.


"Hey Sora!" yelled Shell as she flung her arms around her boyfriend's neck, nuzzling her forehead against his. Sora blushed at the open display of affection.

"Come on Shell, everyone's watching," he whimpered as he gently tried to get out of her grasp. Realizing the scene she was making, she jumped away from him and buried her hands into her lap, blushing shyly.

Yeah, it was a bit embarrassing to be openly affectionately with her in front of the whole school but he thought it could be worse. Rai could have been walking down the cafeteria for once and… well, he didn't know. In actuality, he didn't know the reason why he was so hesitant to be even remotely loving with his girlfriend around Rai or his other friends. He knew he didn't have feelings for him, right? So what was he so worried about?

"Oh Sora you're so mean!" whined Selphie as she paused in eating her garden salad. He sighed and slunk into the chair, she was right. He was being unfair to her. After all, she was his girlfriend right? And what are boyfriends supposed to do with their girlfriends?

"Don't be mean to him Fi. If Sora feels uncomfortable about it, then I respect his decision," said Shell gently, looking to Yuna for support. The other girl smiled and nodded. "See, even Yuna agrees with me. Two to one!"

"No fair! I'm just looking out for you! If I didn't know better, I would think that Sora's cheating on you," said Selphie, making Sora spit up part of his soda onto the floor.

"Ewww Sora! That is gross!"

"See, he is! He's looking guilty 'cause it's true!" said the bouncy girl, folding her arms and glaring at him threateningly.

"Oh come on Fi! You seriously believe Sora is cheating on me because he doesn't want to have an open make out scene in the middle of the school?"

"Well it's true Shell. Before, he used to be crazy about you, only asking about what kinds of things you like, what kind of girl you are, and asking me to ask you what you thought of him."

Sora sighed as he put his head on the table, muttering 'why me' over and over again. Selphie wasn't really supposed to tell her about it, hell, it made him seem like a sick and pathetic stalker.

"You weren't supposed to tell her about that Selphie!" he mumbled from the table.

"Well, it's true Sora! You used to be crazy about her and these past three days you've been treating her like a disease. So who is she?" asked Selphie, smacking her palms onto the table as she stood up, leaning over to him in an intimidating way. The blue-eyed boy slunk back defensively, holding his hands up surrendering. What was she talking about? Him, cheating on the girl of his dreams with someone else? Who could beat dreams?

Sora blushed at the thought of his rather heated dream with Riku. He recently had another one with him on the beach. This time however Rai was in it as well and they both had him pinned down as they took turns enjoying his body while Sora cried out in pleasure. Unfortunately, he was a loud sleeper and he woke up that morning to see his friend blushing on the couch, trying to get his last half an hour of sleep in piece.

Upon seeing his reaction, his interrogator pointed a knowing finger at him. "I knew it! He is cheating on you! Who is she?"

"There isn't any girl!"

"Or is it…" she then started, gasping in the middle of her sentence. The two other girls huddled closer to her, wanting to know what she was going to say.

"Is it what?"

"A man?"

Sora blushed hotly at the accusation. The images of the dream he had of Riku and Rai came back to his mind and he clapped his hands to his face, trying to hide his embarrassment.

The other girls gasped. "Sora how could you do such a thing to Shell?" asked Yuna as she looked at him crossly.

"No-No-No-No! I did no such thing! I'm not cheating on Shell! I just want to be alone right now, I have a lot of things on my mind right now and I don't need you doing this right now."

Roughly getting out of his chair, he was about to take off when he bumped into what felt like a human wall.

"Oww… shit!"

"Hey Sora," said Rai as he helped his friend steady himself back into a standing position. "Sorry about that."

Upon realizing who it was, he reddened even more and charged out of the cafeteria, leaving behind a confused Rai, a concerned Shell and Yuna, and a very suspicious Selphie.


It was the last class of the day and Sora was looking forward to going back to the apartment to just sleep. 'Hell, I might even have a normal dream this time and fantasize about Shell or some really hot chick,' he thought, putting his head upon his desk. The teacher was only talking about Macbeth so he decided to ignore it; he had already read it in his last school so it would be easy for him.

'But with my record of homoerotic dreams that I've been having lately, it won't be very likely. And I'm liking them too!' He buried his face deeper into his arms and whimpered inaudibly. 'This is it. I'm becoming a fag. I totally know it. Hanging out with that dumb ass Rai is changing me.'

As he thought of that, a crumpled piece of paper slammed into his head. Picking it up from the tile floor next to his foot, he uncrumpled it and read it with a tired frown.

Are you okay? You've been freaking out whenever I'm around you.

'God damn it…' he thought as he replied, telling him that it was nothing. Tossing it to his feet, he reburied his face into his arms and continued in trying to take that nap he needed.

Seconds later, however, he received another annoying tap on the head from the same wad of paper.

Is it the dream?

'This guy just doesn't know how to quit! Just fucking leave me alone already!'

Yeah, and I'm trying to have another one right now so leave me alone!

He could see the trace of a smile and Rai answered it with a chuckle.

Just try to be quiet this time. I don' t think you want to have to explain why you're lustfully calling out my name.

Thank you so much… (

And by the way… in your dream, make me eleven inches; I've always wondered what that was like.

"You smug little prick!" yelled Sora, not realizing that he was in the middle of class.

"Sora! Sit down! We're in the middle of a lesson if you haven't noticed!" scolded the teacher, making the other students giggle at his expense. Realizing it, he eased himself back down and tried to keep the blush from rising too far up into his cheeks.

'Why can't I just have a normal life with a normal girlfriend, a normal group of friends? My own dreams aren't even normal!' he thought as he lazily leaned back into his chair with a sigh. As he did so, another piece of paper landed onto his desk, making him raise an eyebrow.

Unfolding the note, he glared at the paper and then murderously back at Rai, his face bright red.

You're cute when you're upset.


"Now Riku, don't wander too far from Sector 2. Everything you'd want would be here and I don't want to have to go and try to find you," said Sephiroth as he adjusted his long black trench coat. Riku just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes Father, we've been over this a hundred times. You're creeping me out with your mushiness."

His father just glared at him unthreateningly and gave him the key to their suite. "Just be back before nine. I'm not going to look for you."

"Sure, thanks!" he said as he ran off down the street, ignoring his father's concern. Even though he was cold and stoic to everyone else around them, whenever it was just the both of them, his father would show an unusually gentler side that sometimes creeped him out. Whenever it came to those moments, like now, he thanked Jenova that he was his mother's son.

'At least I don't always act like I have a stick up my ass,' he thought as he slowed down to a casual stroll.

Looking around, he recognized his surroundings as the booming red-light district. The lights were bright and everything flashed in bright neon colors of pinks, reds, and toxic green.

'How far did I actually run? I need to stop daydreaming. I'm losing it!' he thought as he tried to look for something familiar. Nothing.

"Hey baby! What is a cute kid like you doing here?" said an overly perfumed woman who he presumed to be a prostitute. Riku just glared at her and walked away quickly, trying to find his way out of the place.

"Hey cutie! Come over here and we'll talk!" called out another woman, her heavily manicured nails twirling in her messy mass of brown curls.

All of the cat-calls made him more annoyed. 'Since when did the teen karaoke district become a reeking whore house?'

Things had definitely changed a lot in Midgard since the last time he was here. Before when he walked these streets he would be constantly bombarded with trendy and youthful teens on their way to the hottest karaoke spots in the sector or off to some café for a poetry reading of some kind. The shops used to be pretty nice too and had some of his favorite designers in them.

Turning a corner, he began to see that the number of whores was beginning to lighten up but they seemed to be more desperate. Whether it was because he looked to be rich or that he was attractive, or even the fact that he was barely of age, every hooker that set eyes upon him would call out to him constantly for his 'attention.' It all made him sick though and he tried to rush through the street to find a subway.

'They always have subways to the red light district, I just have to find one,' he thought. As he continued down the long street, someone grabbed his arm. It was a tall teen, roughly about his age, maybe younger, with a small plastic bag of groceries in his hand. Looking over him once, he noticed that he was Wutanese which confused him. 'Why would a guy from Wutai want live in Midgard, of all places?'

"Seems that whores are more desperate now of days," spat Riku as he roughly pulled his arm away from the kid. The other teen raised an eyebrow and then his face cracked into a sly smirk.

"My whoring days are over, but if I wanted you, I'd let you know."

Riku just rolled his eyes. What the hell was he doing grabbing him then?

"Come with me and don't complain, I can tell you're lost and cute lost rich kids make the sluts hungry," muttered the Wutan teen as he grabbed his wrist and roughly lead him down the opposite direction of where Riku was going.

"Wait! Where the hell do you think you're taking me?"

"To my apartment of course. I'll give you a ride to the higher class district and you can find your way home from there."

Riku pulled his arm away from him and glared back at the teen angrily.

"That's not where I want to go!"

The teen sighed and put a hand in his pocket casually.

"Listen to me, right now we need to get you out of here. This neighborhood is pretty dangerous and there are pretty desperate people who wouldn't mind kidnapping you for a ransom or selling you as someone's fuck toy. If you wanna stay, that's cool with me. But when someone beats you down and shoves you into a crate for Don Corneo, don't blame me," said the other boy, walking off farther down the street.

As soon as the teen left, another horde of whores started to cat call to him again.

"Aww, did baby boy get dumped by his boyfriend? I'll make you feel better!"

"Come with me! I'll treat you right!"

"If it boys you want, I'll let you have the first cum for free!"

"Hey asshole! Wait up!" yelled Riku as he chased after the teen who was now far down the street. All of the offers were giving him a headache and he especially wanted to get out of there. After that he would go and look for Sora. But he knew that he wasn't any good to him if he was kidnapped by needy hookers.

The Wutanese boy turned around curiously and then grinned triumphantly. "So I see you can't take it ne?" he asked as he watched the silver-haired boy try to catch his breath.

"Just... shut up and… get me… out of here," he panted as he bent over, trying to get air back into his lungs. The other boy just shrugged and began to walk off.

"This way."

The rest of the walk was in silence and surprisingly enough, there were no cat calls. In fact, the girls seemed to be calling out to the other boy enthusiastically.

"Hey Lai! Sarah had a baby! Come over and see them sometime!" yelled one exuberant woman wearing a way too tight sailor uniform.

"We miss you Lai!" called out a chorus of girls, all giggling when they got his attention.

"Nihao ladies!" he greeted back, making the other girls wave excitedly and blowing him kisses. Riku just stared confusedly at him when he waved back at them casually, like they were simple school friends of his.

After they got farther away and the greeting stopped, the other teen turned his attention back to him.

"Sorry about that. They are a few friends of mine. They took care of me," he said as they entered the lighter side of the red light district. Now it seemed mostly filled with clothing stores and small time cafes with one light porn shop on the corner. Other than that, this part of the neighborhood seemed a lot more tolerable than the rest that he had been in but it still was a place that he wasn't too happy to be in.

'How could someone live in this district? What kind of a guy is he?' he thought as he followed him to the back of a clothing store and up the back stairs. Above the sop was a small hallway with two opposite doors. This, he supposed, was the apartment where he was staying.

"The land lord lives on the other end of the business district so he let us stay as long as we cleaned up and such, kept the place nice," said the other teen as he pulled out his keys and opened the door.

Walking inside, the apartment seemed a bit… empty. It appeared to only be off-white walls and tan carpets with a modest sized television and a single couch that appeared to be from the used furniture lot. But everything was arranged in such a manner that it could seem to the average person to be quite quaint and even go on to the verge of comfortable.

"Sit down while I put these things away. Can't let them spoil now," said the Wutan as he walked to the kitchen to put the groceries away. Eying the couch, Riku uneasy sat down and looked at the blank black screen of the TV.

"My name is Rai by the way! Rai Kisaragi! What's yours?" called the teen from the kitchen.

"I'm Riku Lockheart."

"Oh, well, that's cool. I'm going to make a killer Kifuu if you want to stay awhile for dinner. My roommate should be back soon and I know he'd love some company," said Rai as he walked back out of the kitchen with a Wutanese soda in his hand.

'Oh great, his roommate. Looking at this guy, I don't think I want to meet whoever the heck he is.'

"No thank you. I don't want to interrupt you and your boyfriend," said Riku politely as he received the drink.

"Oh no, he's not my boyfriend. I mean, I want him to be but he's way too gaga over his new girlfriend to really care. Hell, I've even did it with him but now he's still pushing me away," said Rai with a sigh, opening up his soda.

"But he moved in with you so that's something. Guys don't move in with other guys and stay after they've been hit on. He likes you too, you just don't get it yet," said Riku matter-of-factly, sipping on his drink. It was actually pretty good, a blend of watermelon and exotic fruit from Wutai with a hint of mint in the after taste.

Looking at the ceiling, Rai swigged down the last of his drink. "Yeah, I guess you have a point there. I mean, it wasn't like I raped him or anything and he still talks to me like nothing happened. Besides, he always gets so flustered whenever I say he's cute," he said with a laugh.

'God, I really don't want to listen to him and his gay love problems. I need to go look for Sora and this is getting me no where,' thought Riku as he finished the rest of his drink.

"I need to go. I'm looking for a friend and I need to find him soon," said the silver-haired teen as he stood up, placing the soda on the coffee table. 'Actually, I think the coffee table is my favorite thing in the whole apartment.'

Rai shrugged and put his soda bottle onto the table, his eyes lingering between it and the sofa for a few seconds as he stood. Riku raised an eyebrow about this but just shrugged it off.

"So, who is this person that you are looking for. You obviously aren't from Midgard so this guy must be pretty important to you," asked the raven haired teen as he walked him out of the door.

"None of your business. I know who he is and that's all that matters."

"Jeez, so touchy," replied Rai, holding up his hands. "It's kind of obvious that there were some kind of suppressed feelings but I didn't mean to his a sore spot. I was just asking in case I know the guy. But by the way you look, any guy who knew you would be pretty easy to pick out in a crowd, knowing him or not."

They walked down the stairs and Rai led him to the back alleyway to his motorcycle, chained up against the wall.

"Well hop on. I'll take you to the terminal in the upscale business district. That train should be able to take you anywhere you would want to go after that. Just don't take the Limli Boulevard stop, it'll send you right back here and I'm not gonna save you again," said Rai as he straddled the motorcycle gracefully, pulling on his helmet.

"We're seriously going to ride on that?" asked Riku in more of a statement than a question. The other teen nodded and pat behind him, offering him a seat. With a sigh and a few sarcastic breaths, he seated himself behind him and strapped the spare helmet onto his head. "Just don't get me killed. It would be in your best interests if I stay alive."

"I know you're the so of some elite kid in ShinRa. They are sending in experts this week to train soldiers against Wutai so I know that if I accidentally dropped one of their kids, I'd pretty much be shot," he said jokingly as he started revving up the engine.

They started up and sped away as Sora began to turn the opposite corner to their apartment.


A/N: Okay, I'm so sorry that I haven't put out my chapters for this story sooner. I just haven't really felt like writing this part since school ended for me and now college is about to start! I'm so horrible! cries miserably Well, I think that this story will be going in its right direction now. I haven't been so angsty this summer so I haven't had the emotions to properly write on this. But hopefully that will be over! I know that when school starts up, this story will get dramatic like it needs to be. But I'll hopefully be updating way before my classes start! Well, please review! And I hope you like that Riku is now back into the story. This could complicate things for Sora! A girlfriend, a roommate who wants to be something more, and a childhood friend who has loved him from afar! What could be more exciting! Well, conspiracy, revelations on people's shady pasts, and an organization on the brink of war with assassins galore! But that will come in later! Bye! REVIEW!