Author's Notes: AWRIGHT! IT UPLOADED! I had issues with this bitch last night and finally got it working at six in the morning. My last push for a positive update before Cancun!

All right. First things first - I will have internet connection in Cancun. This is an international resort I'm staying at so they have net cafes and wi-fi and such. BUT there will be lots of day trips/nights out/etc., so even if I DO get online, I probably won't update very often. So you guys will essentially be seeing a hiatus from me. Sorry!

This chapter introduces something new. A countdown.

And the days are correct - counting the date that's underlined and Friday when Riku ran away, it's been that many days.

Ah...to whomever wanted Zack...(Killyjoy again, right?)...I ran out of characters for a small part, so... :)

Chapter 31

"Pressure Maneuvers"

Wednesday, September Fourth

Thirteen Days Missing

Leon sighed and ran his fingers through his damp brown hair. He'd just stepped out of the shower, and he was taking the day off. He watched the news constantly these days for any news on Riku and Sora, but so far found nothing. The police reported that they had a lead on either Burmecia or Esthar, since Ansem's car had been found on a major highway leading to the two metropolitan cities, but that nobody had stopped long enough to report if someone had picked them up. Someone had seen them go with somebody into another car, but it was a useless tip; the eyewitness couldn't even recall so much as the driver's face, or a license plate. By now, Leon was more worried than he would think himself to be. Maybe it was just because he'd now gotten a call from Riku's mother, the same woman who had demanded Riku's new school and address.

"I saw Riku on the news!" she cried last week over the phone. "Why is my boy on the news, and why is there a classmate with him? Are they going to find my Riku?"

"Ma'am," Leon had said calmly, "I'm not sure what's happened, but I can only assume that Riku took his classmate and fled when Ansem tried to harm them."

"That bastard!" she'd hissed. "I'm sueing his ass the moment Riku's found!"

Leon clearly remembered choking on his can of soda. "Er..." he sputtered, "Ma'am...?"

"Mister—ugh. Leon, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"Don't patronize me. I know my idiot ex disowned him, but Riku is still my boy! I'm just sorry I never got custody over him seven years ago. I should have fought harder. I'm going to make this hold up in court...you'll see! Please, if anything new happens, let me know. I'm a bit tied up with some legal issues already."

Leon had frowned then. "Miss Lockheart, I—"

"You'll want to reach me on my cell phone number. It's 571..." Leon had snatched up a pad and paper and quickly began scrawling, "...-225-6838. Thanks so much, Mister Leon."

And then she'd hung up without so much as another word. Leon had blinked and stared at the phone dubiously, then glanced at the chicken-scratched cell number. She always seemed to be in such a hurry.

Now, at two forty-five in the afternoon, Leon was stressed, annoyed, a little high-strung, and getting a headache that even Aspirin wouldn't cure. So he tried to get rid of some of the anxious build-up by talking to Riddlez. (Riddlez had recently become his overall therapist, he noticed.)

GrieversKeepers: yt?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: as here as I can be. My boyfriend just left.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: Find anything new on the kids yet?

GrieversKeepers: No...news says they're in Burm. or Esthar but no solid leads.

There was a long pause there. A very unnaturally long pause, considering Riddlez. In fact, Leon stared at the chat window for eight minutes before he finally typed out:

GrieversKeepers: You alive over there?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: ...actually...

Leon frowned.

GrieversKeepers: What?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: ...You're Riku's foster agent...right?

GrieversKeepers: yes...

GrieversKeepers: Why?

Another long pause, but this one was shorter. Just four minutes. Leon reached for his Mountain Dew and began to take a long sip when Riddlez finally replied.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: they're here.

He had a repeat of the incident with Riku's mother, and clapped his hand over his mouth and nose, coughing as he slammed the can back down, staring at the screen. When he'd wiped up what had dribbled out of his nose (God, that felt weird) and swallowed, he answered:

GrieversKeepers: WHAT?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: both of them are here. I'm sorry I didn't tell you.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: Riku pressured me to keep quiet.

GrieversKeepers: You LISTENED to him?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: he just doesn't seem ready to go back.

GrieversKeepers: for God's sake, the cops are ALL OVER the place LOOKING for him. Just turn him in now, before they charge you of anything!

RiddlezindaMiddlez: I doubt anything they charge me with will hold up. Besides, I can always make it look like I just recently found them.

Leon winced and sighed, shaking his head as he hid it behind his palm. Riddlez, you idiot! Don't be a bleeding heart! This is such a stupid, dangerous thing you're doing, you son of a bitch...

RiddlezindaMiddlez: don't worry, I'm taking good care of them.

Two seconds later:

GrieversKeepers: Fine, I'm coming to pick them up.

He could just picture Riddlez freezing behind his computer screen.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: What? Why?

GrieversKeepers: If you won't turn them in, I will.

GrieversKeepers: Not only is it time Riku come back, but I imagine that Sora's family is getting extremely worried.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: Wait...

GrieversKeepers: Give me your address, and I'll leave as soon as I've talked with my boss.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: I dont have to share that with you!

GrieversKeepers: I'm prying it out of you whether you want it or not. Please give me your address, Riddlez.

GrieversKeepers: I hate to do this, but I'm not giving you the option.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: you can't force me to do anything!

GrieversKeepers: i have a friend who's a hacker. you'd be surprised what he can do with just a screen name and a direct connection.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: youre fucking kidding me!

GrieversKeepers: give me the address.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: i cant believe youre doing this.

GrieversKeepers: and I cant believe you hid them from me. Do you know how worried I got? Please, Riddlez.

Leon's answer was another long wait for a reply, and after ten minutes ticked down on the clock, he finally heard a new-message ping.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: 323 Sally Doll Avenue...in Burmecia. Eidolon district.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: i swear to God, if you make this harder for me than it already will be, I'm going to rip you in two.

Leon shook his head.

GrieversKeepers: don't be such a drama queen. Thank you for the address.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: you wont be so quick to judge when you see who I am.

RiddlezindaMiddlez has signed off.

The foster agent blinked at the computer screen, and his brow crinkled in confusion. Wow, he's moody today. I wonder what that was all about.

He had to say, though, he'd cooked up a damn good lie there for a moment. Telling Riddlez he had a hacker friend had worked. He hadn't even expected him to fall for it. For one, Leon had almost no friends at all, let alone a hacker; and that was one of the oldest ploys ever. "I have this friend who...". He shook his head. Riddlez, you're so gullible.

Sighing, Leon picked up the phone and dialed his boss. It didn't take very long for him to pick up. On the other end of the line, the ever-upbeat, happy-go-lucky Zack Whitters answered the phone.

"Heyyy! Leon! What's up!"

"Not much," Leon replied. "Zack, when do you think I could take my vacation? I'm planning on visiting family in Burmecia soon."

"Aahh...let's see..." Zack paused. "Well, what's your schedule look like?"

Leon pulled up the file on his computer that listed all his appointments and checked how accurate it was with his clipboard. "I'm full for the next five days, unfortunately. But if you don't have anything else for me to do after that..."

"No problem! You earned it, man. Take five and have fun. Five days!"

Leon nodded. "Right. In five days. Thanks, Zack."

"Don't sweat it. Later!" And then Leon hung up the phone.

Five days...I'll let Riddlez know that's how long he has until I leave. He frowned. That is, if I ever see him on again...

The brunet crinkled his brow, confused. Why did that seem like such a death sentence?

"Come on."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"You won't regret it, I promise."

"Nooo..."

"It's really fun!"

"Nooo...!"

"But you like watching me..."

"That's because you're good at it!"

"Please, Sora?" Riku nudged his shoulder. "Just one dance. Come on, don't you DDR?"

Sora was crossing his arms and pouting on the couch. "I do not DDR."

"Loser!" Riku stuck his tongue out. Sora looked away from him. He frowned and squeezed the boy around the waist, making Sora gasp.

"Hey, WHAT—"

"Come ooooonnnn. Nobody's home and I'm bored to tears."

"Get off my waist!"

Riku grinned. "Will you DDR?" Sora glared at him now, burning red in the face, and tried to pry him off with no avail.

"Rikuuu—ugh! Get off! Come on...!" Sora pouted, practically scratching at him. "This isn't fair!"

Riku snickered and kept his grip tight. "Oh, please, like you're not enjoying this."

Sora shot a wide-eyed look of bewilderment his way, and Riku just smiled at him and squeezed. "One dance!"

"NO!"

"I'll raise it to two."

Sora hissed. "Nooo!"

"Going on three!"

The brunet stuttered and glared, pounding at Riku's chest. "Get. Off. My. WAIST!"

"Four dances." Riku cocked an eyebrow. Sora hissed at him again.

"One!" he snapped.

"Three," Riku answered.

"ONE."

"Two."

"I said ONE!"

"Well I ain't goin' any lower..."

Sora froze up, mouth gaping open, and Riku just smirked at him and waited until the brunet sulked. "Fine, two dances. Just two!"

Riku smiled. "You're weak. I would've bailed out if you'd persisted."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure you would have."

"No, really, I would've bailed and you'd've gotten out with no dancing at all."

Sora sighed and crossed his arms, leaning back on the couch. "Whatever. Remember, just two!" Riku just nodded his head and hummed, and then he stared at Sora for several moments. The brunet paused and turned, staring back, frowning.

"What?"

Riku's eyes shimmered under his silvery bangs. "Aren't you gonna bitch at me to let go?"

Sora let that process through his brain for a moment before he turned a bright shade of red again and shoved Riku's arms off, with the silver-haired teen snickering at him all the while. Sora quickly got up and rushed over to the video game system, helping to set up DDR, just to forget that had ever happened.

"You're so adorable, you're almost a girl."

"Yeah, well, I'm not." Sora growled, patting his chest as he leered at Riku. "I'm one-hundred percent guy!"

Riku shot a daring, wicked grin at him, eyes flaring up with a sudden spark of...something. Excitement?

"Yeah? Wanna prove it?"

"Absolutely! I'll kick your ass!" Sora was fired up now as the game started, and he got up onto one of the hard plastic platforms. "Let's dance, loser!"

Riku just chuckled and got up onto his platform. "Name the song and speed, metro."

Sora didn't understand what that meant, but he just shrugged it off and shuffled through the songs until he found one he liked—kinda techno, a little upbeat—and set it for medium. Riku just got into a ready position as the song started and watched his half of the screen, while Sora kept an eye on his.

The moment the arrows started flying up, Sora was a little lost and had to fight just to keep up. Riku, however, flowed through them like water in a river. Every move he did was languid and expressive and he was landing all Perfects or Goods. He won the first dance with no questions asked. Taking slow, but slightly heavy breaths, Riku flashed a smirk.

"So, Country Boy, who's the loser now?"

"I-I was doing good until you started—"

"Until I started? You're watching me while we're dancing, aren't you."

Sora blushed again. "I-I was not!" he cried. "...Was I?"

Riku laughed. "Why do you sound so unsure of yourself? Did you or didn't you?" He smiled. "It's not like I'm going to gouge your eyes out..."

Sora pouted at him, and looked away, embarrassed. "Fine. Maybe I looked a little. But it's only because you're so good at this!"

"Riiight." (You keep thinking that, Riku said to himself. That's just too cute. Cuter than Tidus, even...)

"I'm serious! One more. Then we stop."

"You mean then you stop." Riku corrected. "I fucking love this game. I'm gonna keep playing it." Sora rolled his eyes.

"Fine, you do that. No skin off my nose."

Riku just smiled at him. Keep lovin' the shows, Country Boy, he thought. You can't stay in that closet of yours forever.

Of course he knew what Sora was going through. And, admittedly, he was enjoying how fun it was trying to pry this kid out of his shell. He wondered what Sora would be like after he cracked it and got to the meaty little insides. What Sora's emotions would be. At the moment, it was all Riku could really think about...

Author's Notes: And if you're really that desperate to keep up with what's happening, you can see me over at my LiveJournal. I'll update it every other day at least.

P.S. - Riku means "metro" as in metrosexual, which is essentially a gay man in the closet.