Okay, after much wait, here is chapter four. I'm not happy with it. I actually originally intended to have some fluff between teh two boys. But it's too soon. XD Don't worry. It's coming soon. And soon, more characters will be introduced. I'll name a few: Sephiroth, Vincent, Ansem... and, Cloud will play a big role in the next few chapters.

Wakka: Pssst. She actually intended in making me a nudist in this chapter. o.o;;

Chapter Four: Counting spiders

The brat didn't show up for school today. How predictable. And even worse, I'm stuck with all this bullshit about having to go to his house and get working on the project with him. Some bitch named Lulu called the school and asked me to. I had to say yes if I want a good mark on this project. Oh, what will one boy do for a good mark? Maybe I should become one of those slackers who have nothing better to do than smoke pot all day. Maybe not.

"Hey, man," says a familiar, bright and happy voice. I slowly turn my head around to find the familiar face of Tidus. "What's up? You seem a little angry."

"Eh? No way. I'm just... deep in thought," I mumble, turning my face away from him yet again. I hear Tidus' chair squeak around too, just over the rumble of noise in the cafeteria. Chattering and other kids talking is basically all you can hear in this stupid room.

God, I'm starting to hate this school.

The trip to Sora's house was fairly uneventful. I got lost a couple of times, now I'm just looking for the last turn off to his street. I can't believe Yuffie took the car. I had to walk halfway across the city with a huge bag on my back. Someone needs to shoot that girl in the head.

I'm in the old zone of town. I recognize the old Victorian style houses. They're a break from the new-age buildings in the district I live in. Glancing down at the address scrawled on my hand I figure out that Sora's house is just a few blocks down.

"Hey! Riku!"

Glancing up, I notice a man walking over to me. Muscular upper body is the first thing I note. The next is the bright orange hair.

"Wakka! Hey there. What's up?" I say, grinning stupidly. My back is aching. I just want to get to that kid's house and sit down. I don't feel like talking to some idiot who's part of the anger management group.

"Not too much, ya!" replies the man cheerily. You wouldn't suspect that he smashed open his ex-wife's window with his head.

"Yeah, same here," I say, keeping my grin in place, "Hey, I gotta go. I've got homework to do at a friends'. I'm already late." Wakka's smile disappears. Shit.

"You ditchin me, man? Cause I don't like it when people ditch me," he mumbles, crossing his arm. I laugh uncomfortably, trying to keep myself from jetting away.

"No, Wakka! I really do need to go. I'm sorry!" I say, still keeping my smile in place. Wakka turns around, marching off in the other direction.

"Whatever, ya!" he calls back, giving a wave over his shoulder. I sigh, running off to Sora's house.

"... Come in."

I slowly open up the oak door, bringing in almost nauseating scents of lavender from the house. I nearly choke from the fumes, but decide not to insult the strict-looking woman sitting in the next room.

"You must be Riku. I'm Lulu, nice to meet you. This is Dr. Auron..." The ebony-haired woman points to a rather peculiar looking man sitting across from her. The man simply nods in my direction as I take off my shoes. Lulu turns her attention back to Dr. Auron, "Anyway, did you figure out what the cause of it was this time?"

"Well, Sora wouldn't tell me. Although, he's still dwelling on the past," says Auron. His voice is like hot molasses, smooth and rich. I could probably listen to him talk forever. Gah, what am I saying!?! Shut up Riku.

"Hm. Still?" says Lulu simply. Her dark eyes veer towards me for a second. "Sora is upstairs, second room on the right." I nod, heading up the hardwood-floor stairs. God, Lulu keeps this place as clean as a hospital. There isn't an inch of dust anywhere. I hear heavy metal music playing through the first door as I reach the top step. Sora's probably drowning himself out... no wait. It's coming out of the first door.

SMACK

Ouch. Door in face.

"LU! I'm outta batteries! Is there some down there? Oh, hello there," says a girlish voice. The door swings shut and I rub my nose. That hurt. Bringing down my hand, I absorb the scene infront of me.

Holy shit.

That girl is STACKED.

A pretty brunette stands in front of me, tank-topped and pissed looking.

"Who the fuck is this?" she asks, her voice dripping with venom. "Oh, let me guess. Sora's new boyfriend?" My face pales visibly.

"No," I mumble, "Er. Chemistry partner." The girl nods, her long brown hair bouncing along her back.

"Ah. Well, I'm Tifa. Lulu's sister. I live here too."

I can tell. Her outfit is similar to Sora's, but a little less gothic. More punk-like. She heads down the stairs, apparently getting more batteries. I shrug the backpack higher on my shoulders, going down to Sora's door. It's probably going to be filled with posters of Marilyn Manson and be painted jet black with pictures of macabre everywhere. Eh, wouldn't be surprised.

Wow. I am surprised.

His room is pink!

A four-poster bed sits near the middle of the room, the headboard pushed to the wall. A dresser with tons of make-up sits opposite to it. The colors all match. There isn't a view of Sora's gothism in the room. Is he a crossdresser in his spare time?

At the end of the large, girlish room sits Sora, right beside the window. A white curtain is hanging over his back, making him look like some sort of one-winged angel. His head is rested on the window-sill as he gazes into the sky, an odd tie-dye of orange and pink in the sky. The sun is setting already? I hate fall.

He slowly turns his head towards me as I click the door shut. His face is paler than normal, his unmanageable brown hair is flatter than usual and his eyes are glazed. His expression makes you want to run up and hug him.

"Oh... hi Riku..." he mumbles, turning his gaze back to the window. I drop the bag on the floor and wander over to him.

"Hey. You okay?" I mutter, sitting down beside him. He does look sick. It's reasonable that he stayed home.

"I guess," he mumbles, not taking his gaze away from the window. He's wearing arm warmers. It's not even cold. Well, whatever.

"So... what do you have or whatever?" I say, leaning against the wall, my eyes traveling around the room.

"A bad case of remembering too much," says Sora, an obvious sigh in his voice.

"Oh. What...?" I ask, silver hair falling in front of my eyes. I'm too lazy to push it away, so Sora does. I almost run away from his touch... but... it's nice.

"Just stuff that's undesirable."

"Oh."

"Yeah," says Sora, giving me an awkward smile. "Anyway, why don't we get started on that project, okay?" I nod, standing up and retrieving the backpack from its neglected spot near the door. Damn, it's still heavy. Sora moves over to the middle of the room where I pull out all of the stuff for the project. Wow. This is going to be fun.

A few hours later, Sora and I are totally bored of working. So, we're talking about whatever. It feels pretty normal, like I can get along with this guy on a regular basis. Dare I say it? We could be friends. Maybe. It's possible.

"So," says Sora, tapping his pencil on the edge of his notebook. "What do we do now? We've talked about everything." I lean back on my elbows, thinking.

"Dunno," I mumble, closing my eyes momentarily. It's already past seven o'clock.

"Riku... do you live with your mom?"

"Yeah. I live with her and my dad and my sister, Yuffie."

"That's nice." Sora turns his head away from me, his spirits obviously going down.

"What about your parents, Sora?" I say, going back to my seated position. Sora sighs, drawing small circles in the carpet before answering.

"Well... my mom is not herself and I only get to talk to her every so often. My step-father, I know him pretty well. He's not here this month though. Business, you know," says Sora.

"Step-dad?"

"Yeah. I don't know my real father at all."

"He probably was some guy who was her high school sweet heart or something, right?"

"No. Mom was twelve years old. Rape."

The four letter word seemed to echo through my mind for a few seconds before I realized what he had meant. He had a reason for being as depressed as he was. His mother probably doesn't like him, because he's a rape child.

"Oh. Um. ...."

I'm totally lost for words. Half of me wants to give him a hug, but I'm afraid he might try to molest me or something. He forms a weak smile.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. You're actually the first person I've told this to, you know?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess... I just trust you."

"Why?"

"I don't know," says Sora, yawning lightly. "Just do."

"Cool."

It wants sushi this time. Click teh review button. Now.