Warnings: There still are mistakes in grammar, I think. Also Shounen-ai, which means malexmale love. NOT FOR KAIRI FANS! (or Naminé) Also, there might be some drug using, self-destructive activities and maybe some character deaths…
Pairings: SoraxRiku, one-sided SoraxAxel, WakkaxTidus, CloudxLeon, AerithxCid and maybe some more…
Disclaimer: Oh, dream on. I'd never own something like this.
Chapter #4, Cars In The Pouring Rain.
Butterflies flew in Sora's stomach that morning, as he walked through the school gates. He scanned his surroundings, making sure he wouldn't see Axel near around. He sighed, as he noticed there were no redheads around. He still wasn't quite sure what had happened yesterday, but he didn't want it to happen again either.
Sighing in relief, Sora started to walk towards the school building. He should find Tidus before Axel would show himself. He walked past the other students, searching his blonde friend with his gaze.
Soon he gave up. He had only few more minutes before his class would start, so he decided to go get his books from a locker, then head towards the classroom. He noticed some girls glance him and giggle furiously. He frowned and ignored the glares, couldn't say whether those were mocking gestures or not.
As soon as he reached his locker the bell rang. Sora cursed, and quickly opened the door and took his chemistry books, before slamming it shut. He turned around and saw Kairi and Naminé giggling. He raised his eyebrows to the two girls, "Umm… Hi?"
"Hi Sora…" Kairi said, holding something behind her back. "I think you'd like to see this…"
Sora glanced the black sketchbook in Kairi's hands. He shook his head, "That's not my sketchbook, sorry…" He mumbled and walked past the snickering girls.
"Oh nonono… This isn't a sketchbook…" An evilness in Kairi's voice made Sora shiver as he turned around. "This' a photo-album…"
"A photo-album?"
"Yes… you wanna take a look?" Kairi shoved the book into Sora's hand and ran away, Naminé following her. "You can keep it! I have thousands copies from those!" She laughed, before disappearing behind a corner.
Sora stared to the place, where he last saw the brunette, then the book in his hands. With trembling hands, he opened it, his eyes widening. He quickly flipped through all the pages, gasping for air. "No… No way!"
Cloud walked down the street. He was heading towards Riku's place, where they were supposed to meet, and talk about the band business. Dark clouds gathered to the sky, covering the sun. Cloud looked up, and a drop of water fell from the sky, and dropped to his nose. The blonde man groaned, as hard rain started to hit the ground.
He quickened his pace, and pulled up his hood. He was too busy to curse the rain, that he didn't notice a small Chrysler stopping next to him.
"Hey, Cloud!"
Cloud looked the white car next to him. He narrowed his eyes, trying to peer the driver, but it was nearly impossible to see anything through the thick rain.
"Wanna ride?" The door opened, and Cloud climbed in, didn't really care whose car it was. He just wanted to get out of the rain. He closed the door, and glanced towards the direction of the driver, "Tifa?"
"Yup, it's me." Dark-haired woman smiled and started to drive. "Why are you so surprised?"
"I didn't know you have a car…" Cloud looked around the car. "I didn't even know you have driving license…"
Tifa laughed, and kept her eyes on the road. "This isn't my car. It's my father's… he doesn't notice if I borrow it for a while… And where do I need I driving license, since I can drive this well without?"
Cloud let out a helpless noise, and gave Tifa a scared look, "You really don't have… A driving license? Oh my god, I'm going to get myself killed! Let me out of here!" Cloud fake sobbed.
"Ahahaha, like you'd like to go back into the rain? Anyways, we're heading to the same direction." Tifa shrugged. She drove pretty well, even without a driving license. But even if she did well this far, Cloud peered out of the windows, making sure they wouldn't crash on anything.
"Where's Yuffie, by the way?" Cloud asked suddenly, as he looked at the back seat, but found it empty, "I thought she was in Riku's band also…"
"Yeah, she is. But she said she'll be coming with his boyfri… errm, I mean Leon." Tifa whistled, and Cloud raised his eyebrows. Why did name Leon sound so familiar? "Leon? Who's that?"
"I don't know really… Yuffie says, he's a friend of her. He's going to play a guitar with her." She explained, while playing with her hair. She frowned, and continued, "He's pretty odd… never speaks much. But he's cool."
"Oh." Cloud said and looked out of the window. Rough rain continued to drum the roof of the Chrysler, as Tifa drove to a parking place, outside of a block of flats, where Riku lived. Cloud opened the door and stepped outside. Tifa followed him, and locked the doors.
"I wonder if Sora's okay…" Cloud said suddenly. "…He hates the rain."
"… It's because of what happened when… You know… He died."
"Yeah." Replied Cloud plainly, and looked up, rain hitting his face. Tifa sighed, and folded her arms. "Are we going in, or are you planning on standing there for rest of your life?"
"No- Let's go."
"WHAT? HOW COULD ANYONE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"
"Ah, Tidus, don't be so loud!" Sora covered his ears, as Tidus' voice echoed in an empty bathroom. The reason for the blonde boys screaming was found in a black photo-album, what was full of pictures about Axel pinning Sora into a wall. Tidus quickly glanced all of the pages, but there was only one picture repeating itself.
"Really Sora… Why did someone take these pictures?" Sora shrugged, and looked down. "I don't know. Kairi gave me that…"
Tidus' blue eyes flamed and he started to tear the pages off, "Why, that dirty little bitch… She won't get away with this… I swear…"
"That's no use." Sora stated sadly, but Tidus continued to terrorize the album. Sora sighed, and grabbed Tidus' hand, "-Really, Kairi said she had thousands of copies from that. So…"
"WHAT?" Tidus' head snapped up, and he threw the book to a wall. The scary look in his face scared even Sora. "… No one picks fights with my friends… She'll pay…"
Sora inhaled a deep breath. Yes, he was happy, because he had such a friend as Tidus, but he didn't want him to get into troubles because of him. He folded his arms and frowned. It was a mistake to show those photos to him.
"No, Tidus really. I can handle this by myself, okay?" The brunette insisted.
"But Sora…"
"I'm not a baby anymore. Maybe a while ago, I couldn't stand up for myself, but I've changed. Things have changed." Sora narrowed his eyes, and the blonde opened and closed his mouth, trying to decide whether or not to say anything. He sighed and sat on a sink.
"Okay Sora. I'm sorry. I guess I've been underestimating you. Of course you can do it by yourself." But even if he told he understood, his voice sounded betrayed and down. Sora sighed, regretting for saying such things to his friend- Tidus was just trying to help him.
"No, I'm sorry." He gritted his teeth, "…You were just trying to help, thanks… But I wanna clear this out by myself? I don't want to drag you into all of my problems…"
"I… I understand." Tidus replied quietly, never looking up at Sora. The said one reached out his hand and touched Tidus' shoulder. He patted it gently, sighing heavily. Tidus looked over his shoulder at Sora, and smiled. "Hey, I understand you want to solve this by yourself! You don't need me to mess around. But if you need any help, just ask me, and I'll kick Kairi's ass, okay?"
"Haha, I bet you will. Thank you Tidus. You're a good friend."
"I know, I know." Tidus nodded rapidly and looked at a clock, hanging on a wall. "Oops, gotta run! Selphie's waiting! See ya!"
"Yeah, bye." Sora mumbled, and watched as Tidus left. He rubbed his temples, and turned to face the mirror. His reflection was as usual- messy hair, bright sky-blue eyes and baggy clothing. Sora tried to straighten his hair, but in vain- it stayed in its spiky state, no matter what he did. Sighing he gave up.
Tiredly he continued to stare his own reflection. He still had twenty minutes lunch break left, which meant he had nothing to do. He wasn't hungry, and he had forgotten his lunch to home anyways.
"Nice pictures you have here." Suddenly someone said behind him, and he saw in the mirror a reflection of a redhead man, who was holding a black photo-album. "I didn't know you liked it that much. But I'm glad you did…"
Sora spun around and narrowed his eyes to Axel, who stood there smirking at him. "Go away Axel! I didn't take those pictures, you idiot! Someone was watching us!" But Axel smiled even wider.
"That's good. Then everyone knows that you're mine." The redhead winked and threw the album to Sora, who gasped in disbelief. "W-Wait! I-I'm not your boyfriend!"
"Not yet maybe… but I'll make sure you'll be… soon…" Axel said, before exiting the bathroom. Sora bit his lip and held the album closer to his chest. He was afraid that Axel really meant what he had just said. This was all so confusing to the innocent Sora, who never had experienced true love in his life.
"…I wish Riku'd be here…"
"Kairi…"
Kairi looked at Naminé, raising her eyebrow. It wasn't everyday Naminé started the conversation. She was an awfully shy girl, but still Kairi thought her of one of her best friends.
"Yes?" She asked, while eating her lunch. Naminé took a deep breath, thinking a way to express her thoughts.
"Wasn't that what we did to Sora… a bit… harsh?" She stated shyly, looking down at her sandwich all of the time. The brunette girl shrugged, "Maybe. But he deserved it. Without him, Riku'd be mine in no time. But now, Riku barely even notices me…" she sighed.
"… I see…" Naminé said.
Kairi groaned, and put her fork down, "Really, Naminé, if you don't want to continue this, I can do this very well without you. But I'm gonna win Riku's heart, no matter what! Riku's mine, MINE!" her voice rose suddenly, and everyone in the cafeteria turned to look at her.
She gave everyone death glares, and pointed her middle finger. She turned back to Naminé and continued, "So, what will you do? Wanna quit?"
"N-no… I'd never betray you!" The blonde girl's voice shuddered. Kairi rolled her eyes and leaned her head on her palm. "I know you wouldn't. That's why you're my friend."
Naminé nodded weakly. "Yes… friends…"
Tifa knocked to a door of Riku's apartment. Cloud watched up at the ceiling, waiting for Riku to come and open the door. Few seconds later, the door opened, but instead of silver-haired young man there was standing a brunette, dressed up in leather. Cloud's eyes widened, and he pointed the brunette man, "Hey, I know you!"
Leon's eyebrow raised and he looked at Cloud, "I remember you too, shorty."
"D-don't call me that!"
Tifa watched the two men arguing from aside, amused. She folded her arms and chuckled, "You know each other?" she asked, and looked Cloud, then Leon.
"Know him! Of course I know him! He's an ill-mannered man, who thinks he's much taller than me!" Cloud narrowed his eyes to the brunette, who rolled his eyes. Tifa laughed, "But he is taller than you!"
"Gaah, whatever! What are you doing here anyways!" The blond man cried and gave Tifa a warning glare. "Don't tell me you're a member in Riku's band…"
"He is." Riku said and walked from behind Leon. He eyed the two peoples standing at his doorstep and smiled. "You're soaked. Come in, I'll get you something dry to wear."
"Aww, thanks Riku! You're so sweet!" Tifa clapped her hands, and walked inside, dragging Cloud after her. Leon gave an amused smile to the blond, who poked his tongue out. Riku, who watched the scene grinning from ear to ear, before he went to find dry clothing.
Wakka and Yuffie were already sitting on a couch in Riku's living room. Tifa sat next to her sister and Cloud next to Tifa.
"Hi Cloud!" Yuffie said cheerfully, "How's it going?"
"Fine." Cloud replied, staring at Leon, who came to the living room. The brunette man walked to a corner, ignoring completely the other peoples in the room. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned his back on the wall and closed his eyes. Cloud snorted. What an arrogant bastard…
The redhead man raised his eyebrow to Cloud. "We haven't met before, have we?"
"I don't think so… Nice to meet you… I'm Cloud."
"The name's Wakka." Wakka chuckled, eyeing the blonde man, from head to toes. "Hey, do ya have a little bro? With blonde hair?"
"No. I have a brother though, but he's not blonde." Cloud replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Naa, I just met a kid one day… He looked pretty much like ya…" Wakka scratched his head, and leaned his back on the couch. Cloud smiled and said, "It must've been Tidus. He's going to be my stepbrother, once my mom and his father will be married."
"Really? Congrats, I think." Wakka laughed. Yuffie frowned, "I don't think Tidus looks much like you… Well, you both have blonde hair and you both are always worried about Sora, so I guess there's some resemblance…"
"Teehee, it's so cute, how Cloud's always worried about his little brother…" Tifa added and giggled with Yuffie. Cloud narrowed his blue eyes, but didn't say anything. It was true he cared about his brother, and a relationship between him and Sora were better than most siblings had.
Riku walked to the living room, and threw two towels to Cloud and Tifa, who caught them. "If you wanna some clothes, just ask, okay?"
"No, I don't think I need." Tifa said, and Cloud nodded in agreement.
"Okay, since we all are here, I guess we just go to the business then, right?" Riku smiled and everyone nodded. He sighed and sat on a armchair.
"I guess you everyone know your role in this band? Wakka, drummer. Cloud, keyboarder. Leon and Yuffie, guitarists. Tifa, basso. And I, of course, am the singer." Riku smirked, "… I have already written some lyrics. But, I haven't made tunes for them, since I thought I'd leave some work for you guys also." Everyone grunted.
"… Erm… Anyways, you wanna see the lyrics?" Riku asked, and immediately everyone's expression lightened (Except for Leon, whose face stayed at the normal state all of the time)
"Uhm… It's not the best song I've made…" he mumbled, as he gave Cloud a paper. He read it quickly then gave it to Tifa. "That's pretty good Riku." He commented, and Tifa nodded rapidly.
"You really have some talents, Riku…" Tifa said and handed the paper to her sister, who took it. She eyed it for a while, her eyes widening all of the time, "This' amazing! I never thought you could write something as creative as this!"
After Wakka and Leon had read the lyrics, everyone had to agree, Riku was an awesome lyrics writer. "Wow, Riku, ya really are an amazing character!" Wakka said, and rubbed back of his head absently.
"Thanks. But as I said, this' not my best one… But if you're waiting something happy from me, you may wait for rest of your lifetime." Riku laughed and folded his arms. Cloud looked at him quizzically, "I see you point. This' kind of dark, but that's why I like it."
"Uh-hm…" the silver-haired man rolled his eyes. He looked out of the window, and saw the rain pour hardly down. Cloud also looked towards the window. "Oh, damn… Is it okay if I leave now?"
"Why?"
"It's Sora… his schools ends soon… And you know…"
"Yeah." Riku nodded sadly, "But I can go. Uh, I mean I'd really like to talk with him anyways… And I promised to get him out for a lunch someday… So if you don't mind, I could get him from the school?"
Cloud chuckled and waved his hand, "Haha, yeah whatever. I know what you really want… But I guess it's okay."
"Okay, then everyone! We'll see tomorrow then? At Wakka's garage- we'll practice there." Riku eyed his band members, as he stood up. He didn't stay and wait for reply, but went to his door and grabbed his umbrella and jacket, before dashing out of the door. Wakka and Leon watched confused the others in the room.
"What was that all about?"
Sora walked out of the school's doors. He shivered, as he stepped into the cold rain. He hated the rain. There was nothing that he hated more than rain. Or maybe thunder storms… He cursed lightly, as the drops of water hit his face, as he walked towards the school gates. "Damn this weather…"
He hugged his arms, trying to regain some of his body warmth. His hair fell down on his face, covering his eyes. The water on the ground splashed, as Sora walked quickly down the streets. Some cars drove by, splashing the water onto already wet Sora, who narrowed his eyes to the vehicles.
A car drove into the sidewalk, startling poor Sora, who jumped backwards. A familiar black Volkswagen blocked the road, and the wet brunette grinned and shook his head. Riku always had to show-off with his driving skills. Sora ran to the car and opened the door, and jumped in, closing the door right behind him. The silver-haired man smiled as he watched Sora.
"I thought you'd need a ride." Riku stated, and reversed from the sidewalk. Sora sighed happily and nodded, "Thanks Riku. I hate when it rains…"
"I know that." The driver replied, maybe too quickly, as he drove down the road, "So, how's everything?" Riku asked, and looked Sora, who stared out of the window.
"Everything's okay. Just little boring without you around so much anymore."
Riku chuckled, "So you've missed me? Aww, Sora, you know, it just have been not more than three or four days since we last saw…"
"I-I didn't say I missed you!"
"Well, Sora… I missed you too." Sora raised his eyebrow, and eyed Riku, who sighed heavily, "I'd really love to spend some more time with you, like we did, before Saturday. But I promise, the things will settle, and we can be together again!"
"You made that sound like we'd be a married couple or something…" Sora replied skeptically, as he fixed his eyes out of the window again. Riku chuckled.
"You think so? Well, I guess we don't have to practice that part when we get married." The aqua-eyed man chirped, causing the younger boy to gasp in disbelief. The reaction from him caused Riku to laugh hard. Sora pouted and folded his arms, didn't realize how cute he was looking.
Riku tried to regain his composure, "S-sorry Sora… You're just so funny when you pout like that." He managed to say between light laughs. Sora frowned, and pouted harder.
"I hate you Rikuuu… You're so mean…" He mumbled and poked the other man's shoulder.
Sora looked out of the window again, trying to ignore Riku's hoarse laughing. He remained quiet, leaning his forehead against the cool windowpane. Sora frowned, when Riku drove past the road, where they should have turned, to get to Sora's house. The brunette looked quizzically the driver and raised his eyebrows, "Riku, you're driving to a wrong direction! My home is on the opposite way!"
"Oh please. I'm not taking you home." Riku chuckled and continued to drive calmly. "… Remember the promise I made?"
"Umm… That one you said in the phone? That you'd take me out for a dinner or something?"
"Exactly that one."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"We're going out. Now. Period." Riku stated, sounding serious. Sora gasped and looked down at his wet clothing, then back at Riku, "B-But I'm soaked! I can't go to anywhere looking like this! We'll have to stop by my house!"
Riku sighed, and placed his hand on Sora's shoulder, but didn't look at him, "Look, Sora. If that bothers you that much, we just have to pay a visit at a mall. I've always wanted to buy you clothes- you don't have very much sense of fashion, no offense."
"N-no we c-can't do that!" Insisted Sora, who bit his lip nervously. "I'd cost you too much… Uhm, I don't deserve anything like that… And I have a sense of fashion too!"
"Haha, whatever." Riku laughed, but in a mere second his expression changed to serious again, "But trust me, you deserve everything I even could thought of buying. No, you deserve much more than that." The silver-haired man turned his head towards Sora, smiling wearily, "…So many people have misunderstood you. They can't see how cute you really are!"
Sora blushed, and hid his face into his hands.
"Aww, don't hide your cute face Sora…"
"I am not cute…" Sora mumbled into his hands.
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'm not cute." Sora took his hands of from his face, but after saying his sentence he hid it again. Riku snorted, grinning madly, "Yeah right, believe what you want. To me, you'll always be cute. Even if boys aren't meant to be cute, you're still cute in a boyish way."
Sora kept his hands covering his red face, and didn't say anything. Riku didn't enjoy the silence, and put the radio on. Linkin Park's Somewhere I Belong were playing. Riku started to hum along the tune, obvious about Sora, who was listening very intently.
"I wanna heal, I wanna feel, what I thought was never real, I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long (erase all the pain till it's gone)…"
Sora could do nothing, but admire Riku's angelic voice. He had heard Riku's singing thousands times before, but never he get tired of hearing it. Riku was like a rockstar already- he could sing, he looked cool and handsome, plus he was full of himself, like every famous people. Sora chuckled and turned his head to look his friend, who continued to sing.
"Riku…" Sora said, reaching out his hand to touch Riku's arm. "Have I ever told you, you sing like a real rockstar?"
"Yeah, but I'd like to hear it more often…" The silver-haired man winked and smiled as Sora's hand gently brushed against his shoulder. "And I am a real rockstar, after all."
Sora smiled a genuine smile and tilted his head little to his left, "You maybe right… But to me, you're always going to be Riku. An idiotic asshole Riku, who's my best friend ever. Don't forget that."
"Okay, and you'll always be a cute, blushing schoolboy Sora to me. Never forget that either."
"H-hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Ahahaha!"
Aerith sat by the kitchen table, polishing her nails. The door opened, and her older son walked inside, rubbing his temples. Aerith gave him a worried glance, "You okay, hun?"
"I'm fine… just little head ache, nothing big." Cloud replied, while he took his shoes off. "I'll just take some Aspirin." He continued, never stopping massaging his forehead. Aerith sighed and turned her attention back on her nails.
"Where's Sora? I thought his school ended a while ago?" She asked, but didn't look up at Cloud.
"Oh, he's with Riku I guess. I don't know, he said he wanted to take Sora out for a lunch or something…" The blonde man said, while searching through the selves for the painkillers. "Mom, where's all of our medicines?"
Aerith pointed towards the box behind a microwave, "There, darling. Can't you even remember where we keep our Aspirins?" she giggled.
"I guess not…" Cloud said with strange voice. His mother, however, didn't seem to notice the weirdness in her son's actions. She looked at her –now- red nails.
Cloud poured some cold water to a glass, and took a pill. He sat down with his mother and swallowed the medicine. Aerith leaned her head to her palms, looking at her son. "Say, you look like something had happened? Didn't meeting with Riku go like you planned?"
"No, it's not that…" Cloud muttered, "I just… I guess it's this headache… I have had pretty much lately."
Aerith messed with the blonde's hair and said, "Oh, my poor little baby." She snickered, as Cloud snorted, shoving the hand away from his hair gently. "Oops, some of my nail polish stained your hair!"
The blonde man ran to the bathroom, and looked at his hair- his perfect hair had red stains in it! He ran back to the kitchen and gave Aerith his best death glare.
"If you wouldn't be my mother, you'd be dead right now."
CC: To Sunshine Pie, yes there will be CloudxLeon. Mwahahaa…
Leon: Hurray…
Cloud: You don't sound so happy. Am I not good enough?
Leon: Whatever…
Cloud:pouts:
CC: Erm… Yeah… I wanted to add this chapter some SoraxRiku and SoraxAxel, but just didn't fit in… Maybe in the next chapter we see more of them. Too much sitting in the cars in this chap… .
Cloud: I wanna see CloudxLeon!
Tidus: And I wanna see TidusxWakka
CC: … Okay, thank you reviewers, you once again made me very happy :D And continue to review, please!