Author's Notes: Holy shit, y'all. This chapter is now the longest one. Eight and a half pages, barely clearing Chapter 8, or Chapter 9, or whatever one had the big clash between Riku and Tidus in the schoolyard. I think it was 8, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure it was 8.

My God, I don't know why I crammed all of this in here. I guess I was just too lazy to make another chapter.

I received my first fanart entry in the mail from reviewer Lee recently! I'm hoping to see more whenever I check my mail. If I don't get enough entries, you guys won't get the special lemon...so some of you better hop to the challenge and try it!

Someone asked me where you send the fanart to. Again: send it to me by e-mail. I've made it so you can click the "email" button on my profile to get my email address and send it, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get a hold of me, m'kay? Good. Enjoy the chapter, guys!

Chapter 47

"Chance and Chance Encounter"

Sora was towelling his hair dry when he walked out of the shower, another towel around his waist. Selphie bounced past him going up the stairs, humming a song to herself. "You got a phone call!" She sang. Sora peeked out at her from under the towel.

"Who from?" He asked.

"That Riku guy!" Answered Selphie.

Really? He called? I wonder why. Sora frowned. Hmm. He quickly threw on a pair of boxers and a plain tank top—and, just because he felt like it, that crown necklace on a chain that he loved so much. Then he went downstairs and grabbed the kitchen phone. (He needed his own phone soon, he decided.) Backtracking through the logged calls, he found Riku's number stored ("LOCKHEART, T"), and clicked it to dial. Hayner's eyes followed him as he paced, and when Sora caught it, he glowered at him and then held his head high, strutting out of the room. Hayner just grinned.

He displays himself, he thought with a snicker.

"Hello?" Said a woman's voice on the phone. Sora blinked, straightening up.

"Hi, this is Sora. Is Riku home?"

"Sure thing! Just one second." Sora nodded to himself, and waited patiently. He heard some shouting in the background—asking Riku to come downstairs for the phone—then he actually heard the stomping of feet before there was talking again.

"Hey! I was going to call you back..."

Sora smiled. "Oh, Selphie told me you called, I thought I might check in. So, what's up?"

"Eh...nothing, really...Mom dragged me out for shopping. Some clothes and everything. Plus some nice suits for court." Riku grumbled, "I hate suits."

Sora tried briefly to imagine Riku wearing a suit, tie and all. He grinned and broke out in snickers. Riku said, "It's not funny."

"I can't see you wearing a suit!"

"Yeah, laugh it up, Chuckles." That just made Sora giggle more, but Riku didn't stop him. Sora had a feeling that Riku didn't really care. When he settled down, Riku cleared his throat.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm basically going to get my arm twisted a whole lot while we're messin' around with the court room and the charges being pressed and shit...so, I thought we might go out and do something."

Sora paused. He blinked, and smiled nervously. "You mean, like, a date?"

Riku chuckled. "Your mom said the same thing when she picked up. You know she still thinks you're straight, right?"

Sora reddened. "I—I haven't gotten to that yet...I don't wanna tell her right now..."

"But you know you'll have to, eventually, right?"

"Yes," sighed Sora, "But not right now. Anyway..." He cracked into a grin just thinking about it. "Where are you going to take me?"

"There's this carnival that's downtown, about twenty minutes away. I thought I could take you there and we could, you know, have a little fun. Plus, it's right next to this hangout place that I hear has good malts and stuff."

Sora couldn't help but smile. "It sounds great! When do you want to pick me up?"

"Can you even go in the first place?"

Sora frowned. "Well, depends on when we're leaving, and all that..."

Riku paused before he responded. "Hmm...maybe, eleven o'clock we leave, three o'clock we come back? Something like that. Although..." Riku's voice changed in tone somehow. "I was really hoping you could come back to my place. But I think that's asking a little much, since it's the day right before the trial."

"Oh, well." Sora shrugged. "Hold on. Lemme ask Mom." He capped the phone in his palms and turned. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Riku wants to take me out to a carnival tomorrow; it sounds really fun. We were thinking we could leave around eleven and get back at three. Does that sound okay?"

Lisa had an uneasy frown on her face. Sora blinked, then cringed mentally. Oh, that's right, she doesn't know...

"Um, I mean, like, it's going to leave town really soon. And he says some girls he knows are coming with, too."

It was a terrible lie. Still, by the grace of God, his mother bought it. Though Sora still caught that wary glance in her eyes.

"It sounds fine by me," she said. "Should I take you there to meet them?"

Sora paused. "...Hold on." He relayed this information to Riku. Then he clamped his hands on the phone again and told her, "He says he's gonna pick us all up and drive us there."

Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "I seen no trouble with it."

Sora hugged her. "Thanks, Mom!" Then he went back to Riku, pacing around the living room as he left the kitchen. "She said I can come!"

"Really?" He sounded almost relieved. "That's great! I'll pick you up at eleven sharp, so be ready for me, okay?"

"Okay." Sora nodded his head. "Do I need to bring any money?"

"Don't sweat it. Mom gave me some cash, so I'm paying."

Aww, that's nice of him, Sora thought. He smiled bashfully. So sweet...

"Aww, how gentlemanly." He teased.

Riku scoffed. "Don't get used to it, I don't have a wallet."

Sora frowned. When the silence fell, Riku laughed. "I'm kidding, you goof. I would never sponge off of you. I hate spongers. They soak up all the good stuff and then they never pay for it."

Sora chuckled slightly. "So, tomorrow at eleven?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay. I'll, um...see you then, I guess." He could feel his cheeks turning pink. God, I'm such a girl! He grumbled. Hope that's not too annoying.

He heard Riku chuckling at him. "You're so cute, Sora."

Now the brunet was sure that he was red. He blushed madly and fidgeted with the hem of his tank top. "Stop iiiit! Don't flatter me on the phone...I'm with an unknowing mother in the other room!"

Riku laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, you silly blushing fool." He paused. "I love you," he added. It made Sora blink for a moment. He wondered if perhaps they were moving too fast.

Still...like everything else about what he did with Riku, it just felt right.

"I...I love you, too," he responded shyly.

"Hmmm," was the satisfied hum he got, and then the sound of a kiss. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Sora murmured.

"See you." Then they hung up, and all Sora could focus on were the butterflies in his stomach. A date! He cried in his head. I'm going on a date...with Riku.

The rest of that evening, he was a grinning, blushing fool, and during that whole time, Sora had to put up with Hayner's relentless teasing while he tried in vain to think of something else. He went to bed, but was too excited to sleep. He didn't actually doze off until eleven at night, and even then, all he could think was, Twelve hours from now, Riku's going to take me on a date.

Even his dreams were riddled with the very likeness of what he imagined it would be.

One by one, they were leaving. Already, the house felt quite empty. It was just a few of the spare older ones left—Zidane, Pence, Olette, Cody, Jenevieve...and, of course, Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. Those eight, plus Cloud, were the only ones left. And none of them would be staying very soon. Cloud was trying to lift the mood by playing games with them, but it hardly helped. Zidane was the most calm that he'd ever seen him, and Olette had a sad look in her eyes. Finally, at one point she paused the game and asked, "Are we really leaving, Cloud?"

Cloud tried to smile at her. "Don't worry. I'll try to come and visit, okay?"

"We don't want visits." Cody grumbled. "We don't wanna leave, Cloud."

The blond sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But this is how it worked out..." Cloud shook his head. "There's no way—no way I can keep up with this..."

"If that bastard hadn't fired you," growled Zidane, "Pretentious old zealot!"

"Come on, let's keep playing." Jenevieve urged. "We wanna make the most of these days, right?"

"Right," murmured some of the others. Cloud sighed again as they continued their game. Outside, the paparazzi hovered at his door with their cameras and microphones, staring in awe at the "FOR SALE" sign tacked on his lawn. He was going to sell the house, after all—as quickly as possible. He had to.

In the kitchen, the phone rang, but nobody went to answer it—thinking it was the tabloids. When the machine asked for a message and then there was the click of a hang-up, the button labeled "2" for Cloud's inbox blinked red for one new message. The logged call was "LEONHART, S".

Saturday

The Day Before Trial

Sora couldn't remember the last time he fussed over his clothing so much. He tore up his room trying to find the right thing to wear—he couldn't decide. I really am a girl, he mused, looking at a red t-shirt that had a white tribal dragon on it. Frowning, he tossed it onto his bed. That won't work. He was already dressed in a pair of black pants that hung low on his hips, and had one of his newer pairs of tennis shoes on. The pants had crossing X-shaped patterns on the pockets and were semi-Gothic. He chose those because he thought they looked cool. But now he was having trouble finding a shirt to match it.

"Grrr," he grumbled, sifting through the drawer that had all his shirts. Nervously, he checked the clock at his bedside. It was ten forty-two. He had roughly fifteen minutes until Riku came to pick him up, and he still wasn't ready! Sora moaned and pulled out a random shirt, opened it up, and stared at it front and back. It was dark blue—almost black—and it had black and white lightning-like thorns decorating the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves. On the back of it was a big white logo that resembled a three-pronged, upside-down heart. "No, not that either!" He flung it to the bed.

Hayner came upstairs and knocked on the open door. "Hey, uh, I'm leavin' now."

Sora whirled around, startled. He winced. He hadn't come down to see Hayner all morning, save for breakfast. "O-Oh, I-I'm sorry! I'll come down, I just need to find something to wear..."

Hayner laughed. "Frazzled up 'cause of your date?"

"I can't find a good shirt!" He whined.

"Yer such a girl..."

"Yes, I know, shut up!" Sora snapped, still ripping through his shirts. "Arrgh! These pants don't match anything!"

Hayner shrugged his shoulders. "So, change the damn pants," he suggested.

"No!" Cried Sora. "I like these pants! I'm not changing the pants!"

The blond sighed as he walked into the room, kicking articles of clothing out of his way. He looked through what Sora had haphazardly thrown about, picking up things, examining them, and then dropping them back to the floor. He found a dark-blue tank top with a big (but stylish) pocket for hands on the stomach of it. He held it up.

"Hey, Miss Prissy, what about this?" Hayner displayed it for Sora to see. Sora blinked at it, and tilted his head, staring.

"Uhh...that might work...but it's so old."

"Well, throw it on." Hayner tossed it to him. Sora caught it, and with a hesitant sigh, he pulled it on over his head. Hayner's face crinkled instantly.

"Needs somethin' to go over it," he mumbled.

"Since when do you know about how to dress up?" Sora asked.

Hayner gave him a deadpan stare. "Sora? I'm gay."

The brunet frowned. "That doesn't say anything..." Hayner looked over his shoulder, and laughed at him.

"Yes, Sora, yes it does. Trust me." After some more searching, Hayner found he was unsuccessful and went straight for Sora's closet. He found a few jackets in there. He sifted through them all, and then he paused, tugging one out.

"Huh. This looks kinda cool." He brought out a black, short-sleeved jacket, almost like a t-shirt, that had a hoodie and some white-lined pockets. The shoulders were decorated with what could almost be called armor. "What about this?"

When Sora didn't say anything in response, Hayner threw it at him. "C'mon, c'mon, try it."

So Sora put it on, and then looked at Hayner as if expecting a verdict. Hayner cocked his head to one side, and twirled his finger, pointing it at the floor.

"Turn around?"

Sora felt like his mother was making him try things on at the store. He sighed and did a quick spin, then went back to the same blank stare. Hayner grinned at him.

"Ooh, that's good! See? I'm a girl's best friend."

"Do you really think this looks okay?" Sora looked at himself and tugged at the bottom of the jacket, twisting this way and that to get a full view of it. "It's good?"

"You look fine, Sora, now stop fussin' about it. Do ya not trust my judgement?"

The brunet seemed to catch up with a past remark and glowered at him. "I'm not that much of a girl," he grumbled. Hayner just snickered.

"Yeah, yeah, sure you aren't."

"Haynerrrr! C'mon, let's git! We're goin'!"

Sora smiled and grabbed Hayner, and hugged him. "Thank you," he said.

"Naah." Hayner patted Sora's back. "No problem. You stay sharp, 'kay?" Sora looked up at him, and nodded. Hayner smirked and leaned down.

"Can I get another test kiss?"

Sora glared at him. "Not on your life. I'm taken."

"Just checkin'!" Laughed Hayner. "I woulda told Riku to ditch ya if you'da let me do that again, you know?"

"Heyyy!" Sora crossed his arms as he drew back. "Some friend you are!"

"Heh, heh, heh. You have fun, Sora."

Sora nodded. "I will...thanks, Hayner."

Hayner grinned at him. "Keep in touch!"

So Sora went downstairs in his now-completed outfit, and watched Hayner get into his father's car as they drove away. Once again, the house was clear of visitors. Sora spent the rest of his time sitting anxiously in the kitchen or stalking the front windows to watch for Riku driving a car. He didn't have to wait very long. At eleven sharp, just like Riku said, he arrived in a sleek black Sedan. Sora jumped up and rushed in to find his mother, and hugged her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Riku's here. Gotta go!"

"Okay, have fun, honey."

"I will, Mom. Love you!" Sora burst for the door. Lisa stopped him by shouting, "Wait, Sora!" The brunet froze and turned around, looking at her anxiously.

"Yeah, what?"

Lisa paused for a moment. Then she smiled at him. "Don't have too much fun, okay?"

Sora paused, and cocked his head. Whaaat? I don't get it.

"S...ure, Mom." Sora perked up again and headed out. "Love you!" Selphie shouted something to him, and Sora told her good-bye quickly before going out to the car. He went straight for the passenger's seat and grinned at Riku.

"Hello!" He said cheerily.

Riku laughed. "You're chipper, I see." Sora smiled at him as he buckled in, and he saw Riku's eyes looking him up and down. His smile widened.

"Like it?"

"You look nice," he said. Sora couldn't make his smile go away. It just got bigger or it stayed on his face. He couldn't help it—he felt so happy.

"Yeah, you do, too!"

Riku was wearing baggy blue jeans and a black shirt under a white jacket with yellow inside lining. The lapels of it looked somehow split and the zipper was more for decoration than anything. The jacket was open both at the top and bottom, and his flat stomach was showing just a little. Riku smiled back at Sora as they turned out of the cul-de-sac.

"Thank you."

Sora let his eyes wander around the interior. "So is this your car?"

Riku snorted. "No, it's my Mom's, because I'm still too lame-slash-poor to have my own. But don't remind me. I'm trying to be cool, here." Riku looked at him. "It'll ruin my chances if you think this is someone else's car."

Sora laughed. "I don't care. You'll have your own eventually, right?" He sighed. "I mean, I've still only got my permit. I was gonna go take my driving test soon."

"Yeah? Good luck with that. The people that test you are really anal. I got points kicked off for not holding the steering wheel right."

"What? How are you supposed to hold it?" Asked Sora. Riku scoffed and put his hands at the eight and four positions—way down at the bottom of the wheel. "Like this," he said. Sora gazed at it, and then his brow creased.

"Mom said she was always taught the ten-and-two rule," he said.

Riku went back to steering with his hands at the top of the wheel. "Bastards changed it because some douchebag bitched about breaking his thumb when the air bag inflated."

Sora laughed. "You don't know that's what happened!"

"Oh, don't I? I can guarantee you that's what happened. Because the world is full of jerk-offs who can't keep their mouths shut."

Sora laughed slightly, and then they both fell silent for a while. Riku kept his eyes on the road as they headed for downtown, and then he cleared his throat.

"So, your mom let you come, did she?"

"Uh-huh." Sora was fidgeting with his shirt. "I had to lie a little bit, but she bought it." He paused. "...She told me not to have too much fun." He scoffed. "Don't know what that means."

Riku, however, laughed and shook his head. "Your mom must be smarter than I gave her credit for."

Sora blinked. "Huh? What?"

Riku shook his head. "Nevermind. Not important." Riku slowed them to a stop as they came to what Sora knew, from riding the bus, was a particularly long red light, and it had just changed. They were silent again, and Sora found himself glancing furtively over at Riku, who was staring intently at the light, waiting for it to change. Sora continued to shift between looking at the light and looking at Riku, and fidgeting with his shirt. Then he stopped fidgeting.

He got a smile on his face and moved the shoulder strap off so he could reach over the seats. Riku turned his head and caught this, and blinked, coiling away slightly. "Hey, what are you doing? I'm at a stop light."

"Oh, bullshit. It takes five minutes to change. I counted one time." He pressed his lips to Riku's, and wrapped one arm around the front of him. Riku grunted as if to protest, though it wasn't long before he gave in and kissed back.

Sora tilted his head for maximum pressure and, when their lips parted open, he slipped his tongue into Riku's mouth and briefly swept their tongues together before pulling back. He kissed him again, this time longer, and then again...Riku reached up to stroke his hair as they made out, and Sora purred in response. He used what he'd learned and sucked lightly on Riku's bottom lip, knowing that he liked that from when they had "experimented".

Just as it was getting good, though, the car behind them blared its horn. Riku jolted and quickly hit the gas to speed ahead before going the speed limit, with Sora still clinging to him. They both laughed, after Sora was done gasping.

"Five minutes, huh?" Riku said with his cheeks a little flushed. "More like two."

"I-It was still a long light," Sora grumbled. "It tricked me that time. Really."

Riku chuckled. "Don't do that again, you little sex kitten. You'll get us killed."

Sora sat back down in his own seat and pouted. Riku could see the disappointment on his face, so he smiled and reached over to rub a sensitive spot on Sora's neck with his thumb.

"Don't get upset." He winked at him. "That's what the end of the date is for."

That seemed to cheer Sora up a little. "So, what's at this carnival?"

Ansem checked his watch nervously on his wrist. The guy that was keeping an eye on him was off somewhere in the corner, but he knew he could feel those eyes on him, making sure he didn't pull anything funny. Not that Ansem was really in the mood to do such a thing. He was so racked up over this case that he didn't feel he had room to pull any stunts.

Luxord arrived five minutes late, but it was an excusable amount of time. Classical and Jazz were being pumped out of the speakers softly in the Addled Impasse, but it did nothing to calm Ansem's mood. When Luxord sat down with him after buying a latté, he just glanced at the folder of papers the man had with hesitant anticipation.

"I overlooked the case," Luxord explained, "And it seems I'll be able to reasonably push for a fifteen-year sentence if we play our cards right."

Ansem just nodded his head. "Okay." He looked calm enough, but inside he wanted to throttle the little bastard who put him here.

"I can't say I'll be able to completely discharge you, of course. It would be nearly impossible to convince the jury that Riku wasn't raped. Because there's such substantial evidence against you, the best you can do is to plead guilty. That might allow for an extra few years less."

"I'm not going to plead guilty!" cried Ansem. "Are you insane? After caring for that boy for a year and a half, he enjoyed what I did!"

Luxord raised an eyebrow. What a fucked-up client I'm working with, he thought. I'm going to need a lot of Bloody Marys after this.

"Ansem, I think the fact that Riku assaulted you and left you in the hospital with a dislocated jaw and three broken ribs, before stealing your car and fleeing to the next city, soundly proves that he did not appreciate any of the activities you forced upon him."

"He's an ungrateful little bastard is what he is!" Growled Ansem. "I gave him food and shelter and I put clothes on his back. No one else took him in from that agency but me! He should be happy he had a bed to sleep in!" Even though, while Ansem wouldn't admit it, that the fact was Riku slept in the basement on an army cot most of the time.

Luxord gave a stressful sigh and sipped his drink. "So, against my suggestions, you're going to plead not guilty?"

"If that little prick is going to ruin all I gave him, I'm going to make sure he gets a fight."

Luxord sighed again. This time mentally. He must think he may as well go out stubborn. He'll be braying like a donkey in the court room...

"Very well. That's going to call for a change of plans." Luxord patted the file in front of him. "So, allow me to explain to you what I'm going to try to do to defend your case."

Ansem checked his watch again. It was twelve forty-three. But this didn't mean anything to him, other than the fact that time suddenly seemed like it was going by much faster.

By a little after one o'clock, Sora was practically laughing nonstop, talking with Riku, and smiling all the while. They were going to go back to the carnival, but Riku insisted they break at the Addled Impasse, because he said they had better drinks. Besides, it was right nearby—the carnival was two blocks away. The brunet thought it was a little weird, but he wasn't ready to object—he was having too much fun!

Sora had a stuffed monkey hanging onto him, with its arms around his neck and its legs around his waist, strapped tight by velcro on the hands and feet. Riku won the prize at one of the carnival games, but he'd given it to Sora afterwards when they got some funnel cake. "Monkeys don't suit me, but they work just fine for you." He'd said. Sora had pouted at the time, but he knew Riku was only teasing him.

As they got up in line, Sora was resisting the urge to cling to Riku. He still felt uncomfortable acting completely like a boyfriend in public, because it now occurred to him that there would be eyes that might possibly be staring at them. Riku sometimes discreetly slid an arm around his waist, which Sora allowed. Though he was still antsy about it, especially here.

At the front, Riku looked at Sora. "So what do you wanna get?"

"Um...hot chocolate, I guess."

Riku held up two fingers. "Two hot chocolates, please."

"Sure," the lady said, disappearing to go fix their drinks. Riku looked at Sora.

"You could've gotten that at the carnival." Sora glanced up at him with a wicked grin.

"Well, you could've eaten at the carnival."

"I did eat at the carnival."

"Yeah, but you won't drink there? You're weird."

"Hey, hey. I've been here a couple of times, okay? And I like it. Bad memories on occasion, but I still like it."

Sora paused for a moment, and then he frowned. "Ansem took you here, didn't he?"

Riku cast his eyes off to the corner. He didn't look happy, but he didn't tell Sora to change the subject. "Sometimes. When he was in a good mood."

Sora could sense the slight change in Riku's mood. As a result, he slid his hand to Riku's secretly and clasped it. The silver-haired teen squeezed it back. As if it were an afterthought, Riku added, "This was his favorite place to 'reward' me for good behavior."

The brunet couldn't suppress a shudder. God only knows what "reward" meant in Ansem's twisted mind.

They were soon given the two hot chocolates they requested, and Riku paid the cashier what he had to in order to cover it, accepting change. He turned and they were about to move out to go find a seat, when he froze. Sora had to turn around to stare at him. "Riku, what's up? Come on, let's go sit."

But Riku couldn't go sit. There, right out there in front of him, was Ansem. There were mixed feelings that came with this. The first one was that he was scared. Second, he was angry. Third, he was downright flustered. What the fuck is HE doing here? He saw a blond-haired man with him who was wearing a dice earring in his ear and sipping a drink. They looked to be talking about something. The blond was very business-like.

Sora approached him, looking between him and the crowd. "Riku? Are you okay?"

"He's here," Riku hissed. He started to grip the steaming-hot cup in his hand a little harder. Sora, confused, scanned the tables—and then his eyes were on the same one Riku was staring at. Sora tugged at him.

"Come on, let's go outside," he said gently. Riku didn't hear him. He started to squeeze the cup...

"...! R-Riku...hey! You're gonna break the—"

Pop! The top slid off and the cup crumpled and tore, and piping-hot chocolate spilled all over Riku's hand. Riku yelped loudly in pain and sucked on the bridge of his hand between his thumb and pointer finger, dropping the cup to the floor. Sora cursed and grabbed a fat handful of napkins and started to clean the mess up. Feeling guilty, Riku helped, but was shooting glares at Ansem as he did. Ansem was staring right back at him, apparently staggered that the other was here. Riku had half a mind to just storm over there and scream at him...

But Sora grabbed him and pulled him up before that could happen. Throwing the napkins away, Sora took Riku's good hand and his own drink and said, "Come on, let's go." And, dumbly, Riku followed him out of the shop. As soon as they were outside, Sora was fussing over his hand.

"Are you okay? Is your hand hurt?"

"It's fine," Riku growled, though he still tenderly sucked the side of it, and the skin was a little red from the hot drink spilling on it. Sora's eyes gazed up at him worriedly.

"Do you need some ice for it?"

"It's fine!"

Sora drew back shyly. "Okay, but..."

Riku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He sighed, exhaling it, and then he worked on relaxing his tensed-up hand. Truthfully, it really wasn't that bad. The skin was hot and red, but the chocolate hadn't been that heated up. Still, seeing Ansem in the shop had made him jumpy, and he was just now beginning to realize that.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just..."

Sora only nodded his head, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Yeah. I understand."

Riku clenched and unclenched his fingers, while Sora held onto his arm out of concern. He tilted his head and nestled it against Riku's shoulder. "Do you want to go back to the carnival?"

After a pause of thought, Riku got a sorry look on his face and shook his head. "No...I can't...I'm sorry. Not with him being that close, not even if it's for a half hour."

"That's fine. We'll go back then."

Riku sighed again and turned his gaze down onto the brunet. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin it like this. I was hoping we'd have a little more fun."

Sora smiled at him. "What, you think you're taking me home?" He snickered. "We still have a couple of hours to kill. Now I have an excuse to come over to your place, right?"

When the thought crossed him, Riku's lips curved upwards slightly. "I guess you do," he murmured. "Alright, we'll go kill some time at my house." He led Sora back to the car, and started it up, heading for home. On the way there, Sora hugged his monkey in his lap and then looked over at Riku with a grin on his face.

"Hey, when we get there, can we do the stuff you wouldn't let me do to you at the stop light?"

Riku laughed. "Sure, we can do that."

Sora couldn't even hold out for the door, apparently. Before they entered the house, Riku was almost pinned against his seat as Sora gave him a few deep kisses. Riku chuckled at him. "You're just all over me today, aren't you?"

"I can't help it! I just look at you, and all I wanna do is kiss you."

Riku smiled, humming in the back of his throat and ruffling Sora's hair gently, kissing his cheek. "That must mean you really love me, then." To which Sora giggled at him with a cheeky smile, and replied:

"I do love you."

Riku just kissed Sora's lips again before unbuckling. "Come on, before my Mom thinks we're gonna try something funny." Sora laughed at this and they walked out of the car, with their elbows linked (at Sora's discretion to take Riku's arm). Riku opened up the door and they went inside, and the silver-haired teen called, "Mom! I'm home!"

"Oh, good! Come in here, I'd like to introduce you to someone." Tifa stood up and they met in the living room, where Riku had been heading, and Tifa was right by the couch with a woman who had her pitch-black hair done up in a bun, her bangs hanging over one side of her face. Sora noticed her in her business-like suit and cocked his head. Where have I seen that face before?

Riku was thinking a similar thing. "Mom, who's this?"

"This is who I wanted to introduce you to!" Tifa frowned. "I didn't know you'd get back this early. And you brought Sora? What happened? The carnival got boring?"

"Riku had a little scare at the coffee shop." Sora explained. Riku elaborated by adding, "I saw Ansem at one of the tables, and I kinda flipped out."

Tifa nodded. "Ah, well, it's good that you came back, then." She clapped her hands together. "But anyway! Riku, this is Lulu, and she's going to be your attorney for the case."

Sora gasped out loud and shook a finger that he was pointing at Lulu. "Ohhh thaaat's where I've seen you before! See, my friend gave me your business card and I gave it to Riku..."

Lulu smiled cooly in amusement and she stood up, going over to the two boys. "I'm glad that I was referred here. I'm more than happy to defend your case." She held her hand out to Riku. "You must be Riku."

"The one and only," Riku said, somewhat sarcastically, and shook hands with her. Lulu turned her eyes to Sora.

"And who is this?"

Riku wound his arm around Sora's waist. "This is Sora." He then added, with an air of pride, "My boyfriend." Sora blushed a little at this and ducked his head down shyly. Lulu smiled at him.

"It's nice to meet you, Sora."

"You, too, ma'am." Sora shook hands with her. Tifa had a big smile on her face.

"Hey, Riku, do you think it would be too much trouble to spare a few minutes to talk with Lulu? She really wanted to discuss some things about the case with you."

Riku frowned, and so did Sora. "Will it take very long?" Riku asked. Lulu's eyes darted between Riku and Sora, only for a second, but it was clear she knew why he was asking.

"Not at all. I only need maybe ten minutes of your time." She checked a watch sitting on the underside of her wrist. "I'm on a lunch date with a girl friend of mine soon, anyway, so all the more reason for me to make this quick."

"Can I sit in on it?" Sora asked. Lulu creased her brow, and flicked back strands of hair that got in the way of her eye and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, normally this is something that is just between me and the client. It's not you, it's business. I'm afraid it would be best if you not be in the room."

Sora looked disappointed. "Oh. Okay."

Riku squeezed him around his middle. "It's fine, Sora. She said it wouldn't be long. You can wait for me upstairs or in the kitchen or something."

The brunet still didn't seem satisfied with this, but he did nod his head in agreement and find his way to the kitchen to pull up a chair and wait with his head on the table while Riku sat down in the living room with Tifa and Lulu.

"So, Miss Sykes—"

Lulu raised a courteous hand a few inches from her lap. "Just 'Lulu' is fine."

"—Lulu," Riku corrected, "What's the game plan for this whole deal goin' on?"

Author's Notes: By the way, if I miss a day (I'm sure nobody cares), it's because I'm staying at my sister's right now for the weekend of the Fourth and there's lotsa family stuff goin' on. But you guys know I can't stay away for that long. It gets lonely when my Inbox has no messages. :(