Author's Notes: Soooo I didn't update when I said I would, but I still made up for it.

This was really, really juicy. Just dripping with angst. I liked writing this chapter. I hope everyone likes reading it.

Chapter 55

"Makeshift Therapy"

Standing just outside the court room now, Riku was hugging Sora tightly and Sora was rocking him back and forth in a slight sway, while Tidus and Roxas sat down on a nearby bench. Roxas wasn't joking when he'd said it earlier; Riku really was shaking. Sora could feel his fingertips quivering in his hair.

"I can't do this," Riku muttered, "I can't, I can't, I can't..."

"Stop it!" Sora scolded, standing at half-arm's length and glaring at him. "Who says you can't, huh? You mean you can beat this guy until he's dead, but you can't stand up to him in court?"

Riku shook his head frantically, eyes wide. "This is different! This doesn't depend on my life! Not like that! I can't do this! Ohhh...!" Riku moaned and his hands flew up to his hairline, and he raked his fingers back through his hair, starting to pace and mumble to himself. Sora was growing more worried by the second. He knew Riku had issues, but even he had never seen him acting this bad. If this was a relapse, it was a really, really nasty one.

Roxas cocked his head. "Dude, are you sane?" He mumbled.

"Riku?" Sora tried to reach out and touch Riku's shoulder, but the other wouldn't stand still. Sora finally stretched his hand out and snatched Riku by his collar, reeling him back and turning him so that they were facing each other. "Riku. Riku, look at me."

Riku wasn't listening. He covered his ears and shook his head, muttering to himself. Sora thought he caught something along the lines of, "Oh my God, it's right, it's so right, but I know it's not right, and it won't shut up, it won't go away, oh God..."

"Hey!" Sora reached up underneath those silver strands and cupped his hands to Riku's cheeks, tilting his head down. Riku whimpered, his hands still covering his ears. "Hey," he said more gently, "Look at me."

Finally succeeding with eye contact, after a pause, Sora stood up on his toes and was almost nose-to-nose with Riku. He used his fingers to brush away some strands of silver hanging in the other's face, and breathed worriedly, "What's wrong?"

Riku gulped and shut his eyes, breathing deeply, hands sliding down over his face. "It just..." flustered, his hands shook and turned into claw-like positions, "I can't make it shut up!"

"Can't make what shut up? Riku?"

"Schizophrenic."

Sora blinked and looked at Tidus. "What?"

"I think Riku is schizophrenic."

Sora had never heard this giant fancy word before, but it sounded bad. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Voice," Riku blurted, covering his face.

"...It means he sometimes hears voices in his head." Tidus explained.

"That's what I said!" Riku growled, pointing at his skull. "Voice!"

Sora looked crestfallen. "Riku, is that true?" He asked, turning to him. Riku dug his fingers through his hair again, sighing heavily.

"I heard it all the time, every day of every hour of every minute, and it kept me from dying when I was with HIM..." He clenched the muscles in his hands, shaking his head back and forth. "But now it sided with him, and it won't shut up!" Riku looked down with guilty eyes. "I-It was gone for a while when I was with you, but I still heard it whispering..."

"Don't tell me you're listening to it?" Roxas wondered. Riku glared at him.

"Well it's no fucking picnic trying to block it out, you twink!"

Roxas' jaw dropped. Tidus covered his mouth to hide a grin that escaped after he gaped in dumbstruck awe.

"Ssh, Riku, keep your voice down." Sora wrapped his arms around one of Riku's now. "You mean you heard this thing when we were in there just now?"

Lulu had exited the room by this point, and just walked in on the conversation. She interrupted Sora's question with one of her own, looking down at Riku. "What happened in there?"

"Riku has schizophrenia." Tidus explained. Lulu blinked, staring at her client, stunned.

"And you never told me this?"

Riku flung his arms up. "We got you last minute!" He hissed quietly. "What, I was supposed to tell you I was crazy?"

"It would have helped," Lulu admitted firmly. "I could have recommended you a therapist and prescription medication."

"Oh God!" Riku laughed, covering his face with his hands again. He laughed quite a bit. "I'm going to be a pill popper...!"

Lulu sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, one arm crossed over her chest. "Riku, calm down. You're working yourself up. Take some deep breaths."

"I am taking deep breaths!" Riku insisted in a whimper. "I'm breathing, dammit, breathing!"

"Riku..." Lulu sighed.

"I can't fuckin' do this!" He rambled, shaking. "I can't go in there and—and—and stop STARING at me, you clown-faced RAPIST!" Riku suddenly caught the Cheshire Cat grin directed at him from Ansem and shouted at him across the hall. Lulu immediately grabbed him and turned him so that he wasn't looking in that general direction.

"That's enough of that," she hissed, grasping his shoulders. "Do that again and you could be accused of verbal assault!"

Sora slumped a little and his eyes turned skyward as he went into his own world of thought.

"He's staring at me," Riku complained, "he's staring right at me, just like he did in the court room! He's looking at me and he's waiting for me to fuck up, I know it!"

"And that's exactly why we have to avoid that," Lulu said, as calmly as she could. "Riku, listen. You have to be calm. You have to breathe. Breathe, okay? Close your eyes—forget about Ansem, forget about the case..."

"Oh my God, I'm gonna fuck up," Riku pulled on the hair at his hairline. He was trembling. "Don't make me go back up on that stand, please! I don't wanna testify!"

Lulu groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose again. This wasn't helping. Maybe if she were a better therapist.

"Hey...Riku..." Tidus stood up. "Man, you're really wired up. Stop talking for a minute, okay? Maybe that'll help a little."

Riku moaned.

"Try thinking happy thoughts!" Roxas said lamely.

Riku moaned again.

"This isn't helping," Lulu grumbled to herself, sighing and rubbing her forehead, feeling a headache approach as Riku's breathing remained erratic and fearful. Tidus and Roxas exchanged glances, frowning. They weren't experts, either.

Tidus started. "Maybe if you try—"

Sora tugged Riku's hands down away from his face, stood on his toes, cupped Riku's cheeks, pulled him down, and kissed him.

There was a whole rainbow of expressions that rippled around the hall, but the most prominent one was shock, coupled with a hateful glare from Ansem and a few embarrassed, turn-away glances by Sora's parents, being reminded that their son was apparently gay.

One would think that Sora or Riku would realize what was happening, but neither one of them managed to take into account that the entire hallway had fallen silent, and that everyone was staring at them.

Riku shut his eyes upon instinct, though at first, he didn't kiss back; just letting Sora kiss him, feeling Sora's tongue on his lips, feeling that slick muscle prying passed his tightly-shut mouth and deepening the kiss, and knowing how Sora tilted his head and buried his fingers into soft, cloud-white hair. Riku felt Sora's lips drawing back and putting suction on his own, opening and descending on his again for another round. By the third one, Riku was returning the kiss eagerly, almost hungrily—residents of the hallway be damned!—and he was beginning to stop his frantic trembling. His heart was ramming against his ribcage still, but the adrenalyne rush was an entirely different one now.

Roxas had his eyes covered, Tidus was blushing and looking in another direction, mouth hidden by his hand, and Lulu was clenching her fingers by her mouth, eyes wandering, looking like she was out of ways to preoccupy herself.

"Mmmm," Sora purred, his fingers drawing forward and running down the soft curve of Riku's neck as the other explored his mouth with his tongue.

"A-hem."

Neither of them was quite sure exactly who was the source of that informative cough, but it definitely made them stop. Sora was now flush-faced and Riku was dazed, but he definitely wasn't shaking, pacing, mumbling, or screaming. So after an uncomfortable pause, Sora looked up and asked, "Is that better?"

Riku nodded his head dumbly.

"But it's still talking..."

"But you feel better, right?" Sora asked. Riku rubbed his eyes and nodded. Sora squeezed his hand.

"How about when you try again, if you hear it talking, you remember that kiss? Think that'll help?"

Riku blinked, swallowing. "...Maybe," he muttered.

Lulu stared at Sora. "What was that?" She wondered. Sora looked up, paused, and then smiled cheekily, face flushed.

"Um...makeshift therapy?"

She sighed. "I suppose whatever works, works," Lulu murmured. "At least Riku's not having an aneurysm now."

Tidus gave Sora a thumbs-up. "Way to makeshift make-out, Sora."

Roxas snorted. "Makeshift make-out...heh."

Sora blushed, smiling nervously. "W-Well, like Miss Sykes said, whatever works works, right?" He hugged Riku around his waist, nuzzling his chest. "Besides," he said, looking up at him, "I'll be sitting right there watching, and we'll all be rooting for you. So don't freeze up again, okay?" He kissed Riku's cheek. "I know you can do it."

The ten-minute Recess was over shortly after. Riku was called back up to the witness stand. Auron blinked his eyes, peering down at him in the seat where he was.

"Riku, I presume there will be no further outbursts, unless you want to revoke your choice to testify?"

Riku swallowed, looking at Auron, and fleetingly seeing Ansem cross his vision. "I..." Sora squeezed his hands together in his lap, gazing at him calmly. "...I'll testify."

It was Ansem's turn to be crestfallen, and Luxord sat down with a hand lifted up to his chin as he thought. Lulu once again approached the stand.

"Shall we try this again, Riku?" She asked, gently. Riku nodded his head.

"Yes."

"Again—I only have one important question for you." Lulu folded her hands in front of her skirt, as seemed to be a customary gesture for her. "Were you ever, at any point in the past four years, raped or abused?"

Riku's eyes were very bright, like he was ready to cry as he had when Sephiroth raved about Ansem in Cloud's house. But he swallowed, and no tears showed in his eyes. He looked past Lulu, at Sora, and saw the brunet was still giving him a very calm, very collected gaze.

Riku clenched his fists in his lap. "Yes."

Some people in the crowd murmured very silently as Lulu sighed with relief. "And the person who raped you—is he in this room today?"

Riku nodded more surely this time. "Yes, he is." Though his voice was still trembling. He flinched from the waist down, because he could feel Ansem's amber eyes burning him with their vengeful fire. But at the same time, Sora's ocean orbs were soothing him with waves of comfort.

"Can you point him out to the court?" Lulu asked.

Here Riku hesitated. Again, he was feeling that sense of two sides to the outcome. He swallowed, looking at the two people on the opposite sides of the room who were influencing him the most at that moment.

Hesitantly, his hand lifted up and stopped...

...And he pointed it straight at Ansem, looking dead ahead at him, and for the first time that day, the two of them met with glares that were equal in their ferocity.

"It's the Defendant." He clarified.

"Thank you, Riku. Thank you very much." Lulu was telling him, "Good job," with her eyes as she went to sit. Riku's heart was thudding in his chest already, and he sighed heavily, his hand quickly thrusting back into his lap. Sora was beaming at him, nodding proudly.

But now it was Luxord's turn, and unfortunately, Ansem's attorney didn't have any agenda to be quite as gentle as Lulu.

Immediately, the blond-haired gambling lawyer stood up and approached so suddenly that Riku almost coiled back in his seat. And upon the same instant, Tidus and Roxas began to look worried, while Sora bit his lip and tightened his hands in his lap. It's okay, Riku, it's okay—just don't freeze up!

"Tell us, Riku, during the times you spent with Ansem, is it possible that you were ever sexually excited or aroused?"

The question was completely invasive, and a complete curveball, and the look of horror on Riku's face showed that Luxord had done a bang-up job knocking him off his feet when he'd just started to get comfortable.

"Your Honor, objection!" Lulu cried, looking just as shocked as Riku.

"Mister Kramer, that was out of line." Auron growled. "The Jury will disregard that question, and Riku does not have to answer that."

Riku was once again back to being terrified, though. Tidus grit his teeth. Shit! That was a scare tactic! It didn't matter how illegal the question was, as long as he snapped the fear back into him...

"I apologize." Luxord's tone was dripping with imitative sympathy. "Let me ask another question." Luxord put his hands on the railing, looking at Riku. "Are you sure that you're not lying about the alleged non-consentual sex between you and my client?"

Lulu grit her teeth. You intimidative bastard, she snarled. "I object! Your Honor, he's badgering the witness!"

"Mister Kramer, rephrase your questions or pick new ones, otherwise your client will have to find a different attorney!"

Luxord drew back deceptively slowly, arms crossed. "Riku," he said quietly, "Are you telling the truth under oath when you say that Ansem raped you?"

"Yes!" Riku cried, eyes still wide. "O-Of course I am!"

"So at no point in time were you ever enjoying sexual intercourse with Ansem Atercor?"

Riku shook his head frantically. "No!" He bit his lip. "W-Well..."

Luxord tilted his head. Jackpot. "Well, what?"

"I-I..." Riku fidgeted, biting his lip. He looked desperately to Sora. Luxord blocked his view two seconds later, and he stared up at the blond in fear.

"Yes, or no, Riku?"

"Your Honor!" Lulu cried.

"Yes, or no?" Luxord demanded.

"Mister Kramer—"

Riku shot up from his seat, trembling. "HE RAPED ME!" He shrieked, eyes fiery and hard. "I hear voices in my head because of him, dammit! Nothing he did to me was EVER consented by me! NEVER!"

Luxord drew back. He'd expected for Riku to break down and crack, but instead the plot had backfired, and it threw off his whole game. Auron had to hit his gavel down a few times to quiet the court room.

"I will have order!" He growled. He now snarled firmly to Luxord, "Mister Kramer, sit down. You are through cross-examining the victim. I will hear no more out of you."

Riku slumped loudly back into his seat, breathing hard, his fists shaking. Auron sighed.

"I'm afraid I see a need for another short Recess. Thirty minutes' rest, and then it will be the defense's turn to present their case." Auron smacked down the gavel with a loud thump, and this time, it was Sora who was running up to the witness stand and hugging Riku where he sat.

"Oh God, he was terrible to you!" Sora murmured. "Riku, are you okay?"

Riku just stared ahead with blank eyes, trying to control his breathing. Sora shook him. "Riku? Riku, are you okay?"

"He'll be fine, son." Auron said, looking down. "He's just in shock, I think. I'm trying to be kind." He waved them off. "You'd best make what time you can of this Recess."

Sora nodded, thanking him generously and leading Riku out of the seat, taking him outside and hugging him tightly, rocking him, while Tidus and Roxas tackled him with hugs and showered him with praise. Sora glared at Luxord whenever the attorney looked at them, pissed at him for frightening his lover. How dare he do that to Riku, he thought, how DARE he!

That settled it. Ansem wasn't winning this case. Not in a million years.