Riku sighed for eighteenth time in under a minute, running his shaky hand through a now messy mop of silver hair. His aquamarine eyes closed for a few seconds, then opened and stared at a spot on the bland walls of Homeroom 148-B, wondering idly if the mark on the wall was from a red marker.
Two rows down from him, Cloud closely eyed the angsty teenager. What the hell was wrong with him? Usually by now Riku would be insulting the teacher or pulling some hare-brained stunt. Cloud sighed mockingly, loud enough for Riku to hear it. He didn't even pretend to notice it. Cloud twitched and wrote down 'What the hell's wrong with you?' on a piece of paper and flicked it at Riku. It landed perfectly on the middle of his desk. But, as expected, Riku was too caught up in his thoughts to notice it.
Cloud was starting to get annoyed when a piece of paper landed on his own desk. He blinked and picked it up, unfolding it carefully under his desk so the teacher wouldn't notice.
'Look at Sora.'
He had no doubt in his mind who the note came from. He quickly glanced at Leon, who was gazing warily into space. Leon's head turned, and gave a little jerk of his head in Sora's direction. Cloud obediently turned his gaze to Sora. Sora was glaring intently at his hands as he ripped a piece of paper into tiny pieces. Cloud winced as he saw how fervently Sora was tearing the pieces, feeling lucky he wasn't the paper.
He turned back to the note and wrote something down, passing it back to Leon.
'He looks like he's about to kill something. Did you see Riku yet?'
He waited patiently for Leon to read the note and write his answer in that nice, neat handwriting he had.
'Yes.'
Cloud frowned.
'Something's up with them.'
No sooner than he had passed his note to Leon, that he was greeted with a sarcastic reply.
'No shit.'
Cloud scrunched up his face. Figures.
'Do you think they had a fight?'
'Dunno.'
Cloud got the feeling the conversation was over and uneasily stared at Riku before scribbling something down.
'Can I come to your house today?'
(Pagebreak)
If it was one thing Leon learned, it was to never let Cloud cook. Not even if he begged, not even if he stared at you with pitiful eyes, just don't. Because there's this thing about Cloud Strife and fire. Cloud loves fire. A lot. And wherever Cloud goes, everything he touches ends up being on fire.
That, and Cloud hadn't cooked a day in his life. So when Leon looked hungry, Cloud automatically volunteered to cook.
...And ended up setting the kitchen on fire.
So that was why his boyfriend, covered in soot and god knows what, was glaring daggers at him. And why Cloud was trying to blend into the red leather couch, wishing so very dearly that he was born a chameleon.
"Cloud, do you know why I am angry at you?" Leon slowly ground out. Cloud gulped.
"Y-yes..."
"Would you please explain to--"
-DING DONG!-
"GOD LOVES ME!" Cloud gleefully hollered. Leon shook his head and walked to the door to answer it.
"Riku?" he asked, staring down at the younger boy.
Riku stared at his feet and muttered hoarsely, "I need some advice."
"Who is it?" Cloud called from his seat.
"Riku," Leon replied, stepping aside so that Riku could come in. Riku brushed past him and took a seat on the red chair where Leon had previously been sitting. Leon took a seat next to Cloud and leaned back.
"Okay," he said. "Talk."
"Well..." Riku began, "you've probably noticed Sora and I aren't on the best of terms right now."
"It's really pretty obvious," Cloud agreed.
"Well..."
(Flashback time!)
"Riku!" Sora wheezed, gasping for air. "S-Stop...tickling...ahaha...me!"
Riku smirked and didn't let up on his relentless attack on Sora. Today was Sunday, and his parents had finally caved in and let him sleep over at Sora's house. They had started out with the usual, playing video games, watching TV, and all that. Now, it was bedtime and...well...
"Not until you say it!" Riku smirked at the look of horror on the younger boy's face.
"N-never!" He gasped out, wriggling violently.
"Say it!"
"N-ahhaha...no!"
"Say it!"
"F-fine! R-riku...ahaha...is...the...best...haha..."
"And...?"
"Is...haha...greater and sexier...haha...than I'll ever be!" Sora gasped out, sighing in relief as Riku stopped.
"See, wasn't that easy?" Riku smirked, still sitting on top of him. Sora glared and muttered something along the lines of "egotistical weirdo."
"Now could you please get off of me?" Sora asked, pouting. Riku pretended to consider it for a moment.
"Hm...Nah, I think I'll just stay like this all night," he said, and grinned in satisfaction at seeing Sora blush. But Sora had other plans.
"HA!" Sora cried, suddenly attacking Riku's sides with his hands.
"So–ahahaha!" Riku laughed, trying to grab Sora's hands. In return, Sora slid his hands underneath Riku's shirt so that he couldn't grab them, but ended up pushing his shirt up to his chest. Riku froze as Sora suddenly stopped tickling him, and looked down at the other boy.
"Riku..." Sora began, his voice dark. "Why is it that I can see your ribs?"
Riku was certain he looked like a deer caught in headlights. 'Oh shit...'
A few minutes of silence passed until Sora decided to ask another question.
"You're starving yourself again, aren't you?" he accused, staring at Riku's stomach. Yep. He was pissed.
Silence.
"Well? Aren't you going to answer me?"
"Y...yes," Riku finally muttered, staring anywhere but at Sora. He got up off of Sora.
"Why?"
"...Why do you think?"
"God dammit, Riku!" Sora shouted. Riku stared in shock. Sora never cursed. "Why do you do this to yourself! After all we've done! We've tried to help you, Riku! I've tried to help you! Is this how you repay us? Did you lie, all those times you said you would stop? Did you lie to me!"
Riku was suddenly struck with an unknown anger. "Why would you care, anyway? It's not your body! I can do whatever the hell I want to! You should just be glad I'm not so serious as to commit suicide!"
"Glad?" Sora repeated in a whisper. "For all I know, you could be lying to me right now! How should I know that you don't plan to commit suicide!"
"Because I'm not!" Riku yelled.
"A minute ago I would have believed you," Sora glared. "But now, I'm not so sure."
And he left.
(End Flashback)
Leon and Cloud remained silent after Riku recounted the story. Leon was the first to speak.
"Riku, I would say you've gotten yourself in a mess of shit."
"Translation," Cloud said, "go talk to Sora."
"But how?" Riku asked. "He'll just get mad at me again!"
"Idiot. Let me make this easier for you. Let's say your friend had a toy that he loved, and when you played with it, it stopped working, and he was mad at you. How would you try and make it up to him?" Leon asked.
"I'd fix the toy and apologize to him," Riku said in a "duh" voice.
"Right. And how would you fix the toy?"
"By finding out what's wrong with it and fixing that."
"Do you get it now?"
"...Yeah..."
"Good. Now go."
"...Thanks."
"Whatever."
Cloud grinned at Leon as the door closed.
"Don't say it," Leon muttered, looking away.
(Pagebreak)
"Sora! Riku's here! Good thing, too, because I was just off to buy some groceries..." Sora's mother called, knocking on his bedroom door. Sora sighed and got up from his bed, unlocking and opening his door for Riku to come in. He watched his mother as she walked down the stairs.
"I'm still not speaking to you," Sora huffed as soon as the door was closed.
"Good. Then you won't interrupt me when I speak," Riku said, brushing past Sora and sitting down on his bed before Sora could object. "You see, I'm not going to be that broken toy anymore."
Sora frowned, confused. What the hell did toys have to do with anything?
"What I mean is, I've been a bastard. A selfish, lying bastard," Riku said.
"You've got that right..." Sora muttered. Riku ignored that comment and went on.
"I'm asking for a second...no, third chance. I--"
"No. What makes you think I'll trust you again?" Sora interjected. For a few minutes, Riku was silent, trying to think. Finally, he got an idea.
"Let me prove to you that I'm serious," he said, grabbing Sora's hand and dragging him down the stairs. "Follow me."
Riku brought Sora into the kitchen and let go. He opened the fridge and took out a bowl of leftover spaghetti.
"I hope you don't mind," Riku said, before digging into the food. Sora stared, dumbstruck, as Riku inhaled the previous night's supper. Riku visibly winced as he ate all that food which, to him, tasted plastic and strange, but reminded himself that he would have to do it from now on, so he might as well get used to it.
When he finished, he looked up at Sora, who had an unreadable expression. "So...?"
"...Riku Massaki, I could kiss you!" Sora suddenly exclaimed. And that's just what he did.
It was so sudden that Riku was taken aback for a while, but finally got to his senses and deepened the kiss. As soon as it ended, Sora pulled away.
"Am I forgiven?" Riku asked breathlessly, a tomato red.
"I should say so," Sora said, grabbing a bowl of fruit from the fridge and taking Riku's fork from him. He raised it up to Riku's mouth. "Now eat."
(End)
A/N: Yes, I know in real life Sora might not be so willing to forgive Riku, but it's fanfiction, people. And I had to get them to kiss somehow. Don't flame me...please...just...review. If you like it. Even if there is a tiny, tiny space in you that likes it, review. But if you don't like it, I read your reviews, too. Just...no flames. Please?
Anyways..um...yeah...