Riku's PoV

I slept badly that night, tossing and turning. The image of Sora kept haunting me. Sora, his eyes alight with pure, unalloyed joy, no trace of pain at the bottom… joy at seeing Alex. Emotions burned through me, nameless, overwhelming. Finally, I couldn't take it any more. I sought the one cure I knew would work.

Throwing on the first clothes that came to hand, I padded down the stairs and out to the small strip of land along the house. About twenty meters long, but only two wide, it made a perfect shooting range. I flipped a switch set in the wall, and outdoor lights flicked on over several straw bales with paper targets pined to them. I grabbed my bow quickly out of the garage, along with nearly two dozen arrows with assorted fletching patterns. Stringing it was easy; I preferred a fairly light bow, and I had years of practice. Carefully, I drew an arrow from my belt quiver, nocked it to string, and drew.

Everything narrowed to bow, target, and arrows for a time as I lost myself in the exercise. I had no idea how long I stood and shot, pausing only to reclaim my arrows or replace a target face, but finally, I felt a balanced calm descend over me. Dawn was just brushing the eastern sky when I came out of my near-trance, feeling as though I had been drowning and reached solid land. My body was exhausted, but my mind was calm for the first time in days, and my emotions no longer overwhelmed me. I could think again. For a while I did just that, stood there in the dawn waiting for my mind to produce the question that was bothering me. It came, slowly at first, then all in a rush. Why should Sora's smile cause me pain? The answer followed without conscious thought. Because it wasn't for me. I was jealous, but why? I wasn't in love with Sora… was I? The thought was impossible, but could I honestly deny it? Watching him, haunted by his beauty, enthralled by his voice? In all honesty, I couldn't. I was in love with Sora. My best friend. Who also happened to be a guy.

The last thought sent me reaching for another arrow, in automatic reaction to the tumult of that thought. I nocked it and began to draw, only to drop it in surprise at the sudden jolt of pain that ran through my arms. How long had I shot? My muscles screamed protest at every motion, and I couldn't force my hand out of its shape around the bow's grip. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I unstrung my bow with a wince of pain, and without bothering to collect my arrows, dragged myself upstairs. I didn't even remember lying down.

Sora's PoV

Riku wasn't there first hour. I know because I looked, in every hiding spot I've ever seen him in. I even climbed the tree by the computer lab. I spent a while in the tree, trying to figure out where he could possibly be. I never found him. I managed to stay pretty calm about that until fourth hour. He just felt like sleeping in today, right? Fourth hour, though, worried me a lot. Riku should have been there.

The great Riku Lostin was never absent, even when he was sick. He hated the admission of weakness more than the makeup work. Option two- he might be out of school for some other reason. And not want to tell me? That stung, but the third idea was worse. I wouldn't think about it. There was no way he could be avoiding me on purpose. The logical part of my mind dismissed it as egotistical, but a heavy weight settled on my mind, like an iron band around my chest. I felt like a caged hawk; restless, angry, and searching desperately for an out.

I had lunch on the gym roof, like always. No Riku, but at that point it didn't surprise me much. I lay there in the sun, unable to eat with my stomach in knots, and my mind in like shape. Lostinthedark. The e-mail address Riku had used to talk to me that first time. Since that whole mess, I had gotten to know him better than I had ever dreamed, but I had missed the obvious. I had always broken it down as Lostin the Dark, like a title, like an honor. But there was a darker interpretation. Lost in the dark, the same way I had been lost since I Alex and I had parted ways. Alex's voice spoke, unbidden, and I winced at the pitilessly accurate memory.

"Humans love the sun. We are diurnal by nature, and we portray good as light. But we worship the darkness, with awe and the kind of respect that turns most easily to fear." I closed my eyes, wishing I could banish thought as easily as I blocked the light from my eyes. I should have helped him more. All I had done was bring trouble. He would have every right to hate me. I drifted off there, lying in the sun, and when I slept, I dreamed.

Trapped. They had caught me easily, waiting outside my house. I took a hint of grim pleasure in the fact that they had waited several days for me there; my house was not my favorite place to be. Now I was lying, slumped against a wall in the abandoned church, my wrists and ankles bound and both bound to the alter with another length of chain. Then one of my captors paced into view, and I recognized him with a gasp completely muffled by the gag in my mouth. Cloud. He glared at me for a moment, then stalked off, calling, "Trev! He's awake." The voice that answered was so slimy I shivered despite my bonds. "Good. Let's have a little … fun… with Alexiel's pet." I fought to scream, thrashing around…

… And banged my head on the air conditioner. It took me a moment to wake up enough to realize I wasn't there anymore. That had been a bad memory; thankfully, Alex had burst in a moment later, with help. Cloud's words had been more than the truth; he had been working with Alex, and that was the signal that I could help in my own rescue. Unfortunately, Trevor had worked out his betrayal, and shot Cloud in the leg. Alex had gotten the gun away from him a split second later, and left Trevor beaten nearly to death while Devon had gotten me out, and Leon did likewise for cloud. Cloud was accepted back at base without two words being exchanged, and last I had heard, Leon and cloud had been partners, and not people to mess with.

I slipped down the drainpipe, trying to leave old memories behind along with the barren rooftop. Walking quickly, I headed for the back gate. I couldn't deal with school today, and base wasn't so far away. Turned out, I never got that far, as I was stopped by Rigel near the Art room. He had apparently decided more cronies were the answer, and they badly outnumbered me. There was no way in Hell I could take them all on and win by myself. I didn't care, because right then, I really, really, really needed to hit something.

Ouch. Another short one… Gomen. A cliffy, too! I really am on today.A cookie to the reviewer who guessed thatthe chapter titles are the lyrics from Yuki Kajiura's song Cynical World. Just as a little note, I actually have up through chapter 9 (of 16) written, just not typed. The reviews really make my day. Seriously, a good day is five hours of homework and getting smacked in the face with a football, then coming home to find two new reviews. I love you guys.

Dyslexic Angel