Respect Me Not
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… Crossovers from Final Fantasy VII and VIII…
Pairings: SoraxRiku, one-sided SoraxAxel and RikuxKairi, WakkaxTidus, CloudxLeon, AerithxCid and maybe some more…
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything. :sigh:
Chapter 28, Breaking News part II
Tidus looked at Sora, who kept tapping his fingers against the couch nervously. The blonde man sighed wearily, before awkwardly leaning his head against his friend's shoulder. Sora seemed to be too deep in his thoughts to notice the change of position.
Leaning his head on the other one's shoulder, felt so right to Tidus. He lifted his head a little, and nuzzled his nose against Sora's neck, and this was the gesture, that brought Sora back to the reality.
"W-what are you doing Tidus?" The brunette gasped, quickly pushing Tidus away from him. Faint blush crossed his features, as he could feel the blonde's eyes on his neck.
"Oh c'mon Sora. That's what friends do." Tidus chuckled, though his voice didn't sound as reassuring than he had thought, "…You know… Cheer others up by… you know… well… hug and… tell that everything's okay."
Sora sweatdropped, but smiled anyways, "Uh yeah, of course, ehehe." He laughed nervously, but moved to the other side of the couch, just to be safe. He didn't know what was wrong with Tidus, but that thing he had just done just felt… wrong. Riku would probably kill the blonde man if he found out what the other one had just done…
"Sorry…" Tidus mumbled a short apology. He didn't understand what was wrong with him… Sora was one of his best friends, and like a brother to him…
The brown-haired boy shook his head, "It's okay, really." He said and leaned his head on his palms, "…I wonder if Riku's home yet. I… was kind of hoping to spend some time together with him… he hadn't had much time for me, but I can't complain really."
Tidus reached his hand towards, to pat his shoulder, but pulled back in the midway. Maybe getting close to Sora wasn't too clever plan at the moment. So he just decided to shrug his shoulders and say, "Maybe you should try telling him that. I'm sure he'd spend more time with you then."
Sora shook his head rapidly, "No no no! I didn't mean it like that… they're just getting popular and all, so I don't want it all to fall apart just because of me." The brunette giggled, though Tidus hear the fakeness and hollowness in it.
"You're too nice." The taller male said, as he stood up and started to head towards the stairs, "I think I'm gonna take a quick nap."
Sora glanced after him, but didn't say a word. He sighed and looked down at the floor.
He couldn't help but feel worried about Aerith. It was weird for her to act like that… and Sora couldn't think of anything that would make her look that shocked. Except for…
"Oh no…" The brunette gasped as he jumped on his feet. Could it be that she found out about Cloud? And if she did… was something wrong with his big brother?
Sora stumbled towards the kitchen and picked up the phone. He dialed Riku's number and waited for a while. But a cold woman voice informed him that the number he just tried to call was currently out of reach, or the phone may be shut off. The brunette sighed and dialed Leon's number. But the same thing happened again.
He slammed the phone back to its place and groaned. He moved around nervously, his fingers toying his sweatshirt's sleeve. Every part of his mind screamed him to do something, but he couldn't think of anything he could have done. He looked around, as he could feel the panic rising within him.
What if Cloud was back in the hospital, or something?
Suddenly, he had no clue what he was doing anymore. He ran to the door, which lead outside. He dressed up in a black jacket and tied his shoes' strings.
When he stood up, something cold brushed against his hand. He looked down and saw Angelo looking at him. He waved his tail happily and Sora found it impossible to stop the small smile, which came to his lips. He kneeled down and patted the dog's back, "Sorry Angelo, but I don't think that I can take you with me this time."
Angelo bowed his head, as Sora stood up and opened the door.
Soon he was dashing towards the (already pretty familiar…) hospital. It was pretty long way to walk, but he just had to make sure that everything was all right.
Aerith finally pulled away from Riku, as she calmed down a little. She wiped her tears to her sleeve and sniffed loudly. Her body was still trembling, but the silver-haired man could see that she had regained some kind of composure.
"Sorry about that." She said solemnly, after inhaling a deep breath. Riku just shrugged and waved his hand in front of his face. Aerith smiled a little. There were red circles around her eyes, and her black eyeliner had stained her cheeks. Suddenly her smile froze and she slammed her hand in front of her mouth, "Oh no… I didn't tell Sora and Tidus where I was going… I hope they're not too worried."
Riku lifted his eyebrow and folded his arms, "I'll go tell them. I want to… see Sora now anyways…"
The brunette woman kept sniffing quietly, and wiped her cheeks again. She pulled out her car's keys from her pocket and handed them over the Riku, "Here… you can borrow my car…" she said, before turning around and walking to one of the benches and sitting down.
Riku was about to say something, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Leon, who walked past him saying, "Go now, I'll keep company to her."
The silver-haired man nodded, before turning around and heading towards the entrance of the hospital. Some people stared at him, as he walked past them, probably recognizing who he was. He had become pretty popular after all…
As Riku reached the sliding doors, he saw thousands of reporters standing behind it, waiting for him to step out of the hospital, so they could start asking stupid questions. He grimaced a little, before taking few steps backwards and spinning around on his heels. He wouldn't definitely step outside in the middle of those maniac reporters, which resembled more like a group of bewildered bulldogs.
He walked to the counter and looked at the man, who was behind it. He seemed to recognize Riku too, "Ehh… Riku? Is it really you?"
"Yes…" Riku sighed wearily, glancing over his shoulder, seeing that the reporters were now pushing their noses against the windowpane. Then he looked back at the man behind the counter, "…Do you happen to know if there's any other exits in here than that?"
The man glanced towards the sliding doors, planning on asking why he couldn't walk through them, until he saw the large group of paparazzi. He scratched the back of his head, "Well, there is one. I can show it to you if you give me your autograph."
Riku rolled his eyes, before shrugging, "Fine. I just need to get out of here without attracting too many reporters." He mumbled, as he waited for the man come from behind the desk, and starting to lead him towards the stairway.
The man, who was slightly shorter than him and had a dark red hair, stopped right in front of a closed door. He turned around and stared at Riku, "Man, I heard that one of your bandmates are here because of some illness." He stated suddenly, making the silver-haired man's head bow a little.
"That's right." Riku mumbled a short reply, "And I'm just on my way to get his little brother here. So this door leads outside, right?"
The man nodded his head. Riku smiled a little, before pulling out a pen from his pocket and looking at the red-haired man in front of him, "Do you want the autograph or not?"
"Ah, s'okay. I guess you're in a hurry, so don't bother." The man stated, stepping aside, so Riku could open the door and step into the cold night.
"Thanks." Riku said, patting the man's shoulder, before turning around and jogging away.
He managed to pass the noisy reporters easily, and quickly made his way towards Aerith's car. He knew that once he got famous, everyone would want to interview him and take pictures of him… But right now, he didn't feel like being in the spotlight.
Right now, he just wanted to be with Sora.
Sora kept tripping down on the slippery asphalt, which was covered by ice. He cursed a little, as he once again tried to stand up properly. His palms were bleeding a little, and there was a long scratch on his knee. Rolling his bright blue eyes, he kept dashing forward, falling on his face once again.
But this time he didn't try to get back on his feet so hastily. He laid there, his cheek against the cold pavement. He didn't know why, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to the hospital after all. He just didn't want to even think that his brother might be in there… He just couldn't accept it. They were going to find a way to save Cloud… He was sure of it.
The brunette sighed, as he finally stood up. He fought a mental fight against his mind, while trying to force his legs keep walking.
"Damn it…" Sora growled, as he tripped again, this time falling into a large snow bank. Faint cursing could be heard, when he slowly pulled himself out of the snowy prison and inhaled a deep breath.
"Sora?"
The brown-haired man looked up and saw a familiar silver-haired man's face hovering above head. A large smile grew to his lips, as he jumped to hug his boyfriend, nuzzling his nose on his neck, "Riku!"
But Riku just stood there, slowly tying his arms around Sora's waist, bringing him closer to his chest. He buried his face into the other one's spiky brown locks, a pained frown on his features.
"Something wrong?" Sora asked, pulling away little, but the silver-haired man just yanked him back against his body. He blinked his eyes few times in confusion, before returning the hug again, "…Riku? What happened?"
Riku sighed heavily and said, "You should… come with me. It's about Cloud. He's… back in the hospital."
The younger male took few steps backwards, freeing himself from the gentle embrace. He had known it… There was something wrong with Cloud. Sora looked down at the ice-covered sidewalk, shaking his head a little. He closed his eyes and balled his fists, feeling an odd sensation take over his mind and body.
"Sora… Are you okay?" Riku asked, concern reflecting in his eyes.
Sora opened his mouth, ready to say that nothing was okay, but completely different words exited his mouth, "Yes… Yes I am, let's just go…" he replied, and suddenly saw Aerith's car behind Riku. He frowned, wondering why he hadn't noticed it parking right next to him…
"Yeah… Your mom lent her car…" Riku said, as he saw Sora looking at the car behind him, "…So… I guess we should get going…"
Sora nodded, gulping loudly. The taller one smiled lovingly, taking few steps forward, pushing some of the brown locks behind Sora's ear. Then he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against the other one's, while his hands made their way to the brunette's hips.
When Riku's mouth trailed in Sora's mouth, he let out a small sigh of pleasure, slowly rising on his toes, and rubbing his hands against the silver-haired man's back. They both resisted pulling back, but eventually lack of oxygen made Riku part their lips, and leaning his head towards the other one's ear.
"I guess we should go now…" he whispered, before kissing the spot right behind Sora's earlobe. He straightened his back and gave the other one a small smirk, but the gloomy expression stayed on Sora's face. Riku sighed and poked the shorter one's nose, "…C'mon. It's not like the game would be over… and your smiling face is a lot more prettier."
A visible blush came to Sora's cheeks, as he pulled his collar up, trying to hide his face. Riku just chuckled, before turning around and walking to the car. He opened the door for Sora, before walking to the other side of the black car (1) and sat behind the steering wheel.
"…He's going to be okay, right?" Sora said, as he fastened his seat belt, "…He's going to make it, right? He just… can't die."
Riku didn't reply, just stepped on the accelerator pedal.
Sora sighed and looked down at his hands, which were lying on his lap. He sniffed, maybe a little bit more loudly than he had meant. Riku looked at him, his eyebrow rising a little. But still, he said nothing. He just had absolutely no clue what he should say. Because he didn't want to say his exact thoughts…
"Sora… Don't worry about it. Not yet." Riku said soothingly, touching Sora's cheek with his palm gently, "…None of us can tell what might happen next. So we just have to wait and see…"
The brunette sighed, leaning into the other one's touch, "You're probably right…"
Riku nodded his head, pulling his hand back, "Of course I'm right."
Tidus rolled on his stomach, unable to sleep. It was awfully quiet in the house… Maybe Sora had gone to bed also? He shrugged, as he buried his head on his pillows. Even if he couldn't sleep, it didn't mean that he wouldn't be tired. His brain felt like it was dead and his body was numb, yet he just couldn't sleep.
It was annoying. Really annoying. So annoying that Tidus wanted to pull his hair out, but he didn't, because he liked his hair. He really did…
He let out a low groan, before sitting up. He looked around the dark room and sighed. He loved the time he had spent with Sora, Cloud and Aerith… But somehow he missed his father, even though he didn't like his attitude one bit.
He stood up, starting to head towards his room's door.
He was truly grateful that Aerith had allowed him to stay here. She had given him own room and all too… It was like he was part of their family. But then again… He had always thought Sora as his brother… but now it was… well, it was hard to describe, but these feelings were surely growing stronger than only brotherly love.
But he knew that he could never admit it out loud. Riku would most likely kill him… in the most painful way he could just think. Then he'd feed his dead body to hungry wolves and laugh like a maniac… Shivers ran down Tidus' spine as he just thought about Riku watching his corpse being eaten by dozens of wolves.
…But then again, Riku wasn't like that. He maybe was overprotective, but not that overprotective.
…But then again, it was Sora who we are talking about. So Riku might as well do that…
Tidus chuckled nervously, as he ran his hand through his hair. It was stupid to even think such things as that. He didn't like Sora that much. It was probably just a crush… and he had Wakka.
Even thinking about the orange-haired man made Tidus feel sick. He hadn't heard anything from him, since… forever? The blonde man frowned, as he walked out of his room, suddenly feeling rather angry.
He walked down to stairs, lifting his eyebrow as he found it empty. Only Angelo was lying in the middle of the living room's carpet, probably fast asleep. Tidus let out a short laugh, before walking into the kitchen, only to find it empty too.
But instead of worrying too much, he just shrugged and thought that maybe Sora had gone out for shopping or something…
He bit his lip, as he opened the fridge and pulled out a diet cola. They sure had lot of it… It was Cloud's favorite drink, Tidus guessed. He shook his head a little, before slamming the door of the fridge close, and making his way to the living room and turning the television on. He sighed, as he slumped on the couch.
Eventually, his thoughts returned at Sora. He couldn't help it, but the brown-haired man was just too cute for his own good. It was no wonder why Riku loved him so much… He was everything a man could dream of. Nice, caring, cute, lovely, adorable… and so on.
A small smile formed on Tidus' lips. Now that he really thought about it, he probably didn't like Sora that way. He was cute and nice, and tends to attract lots of people.
And he had Wakka already. Yes… Wakka….
"I gotta go home." Wakka said to his bandmates, while scratching the back of his head, "…Call me later, and tell me how's Cloud, ya?"
Everyone looked at the orange-haired man, who was already jogging away. Yuffie lifted her eyebrow and looked at her sister, who also was wearing a suspicious look.
"He's been pretty weird lately." Yuffie stated, glancing after Wakka, who soon disappeared behind a corner, "It's like he'd be hiding something…"
Zexion, who was more concerned about Riku's and Leon's absence, just shrugged. He looked at his wristwatch. Sephiroth had been gone for a good while now too. It couldn't take this long to call some 'backups', whatever he meant with it. He let out a sigh, and looked at Irvine, who leaned his back on a wall, his cowboy hat hiding his eyes.
"Irvine, can you go look for Sephiroth?" he asked suddenly.
Irvine straightened his back and looked at the silver-haired man, but then just shrugged, "Fine. Whatever, I guess I might as well." He replied, before walking away, his hands shoved into his pockets.
Tifa stared at Zexion and seemed to notice his uneasiness, "Riku and Leon left with Cloud, so I guess they're waiting somewhere near the place where Cloud's being operated." She replied, like she would have read his thoughts, "…but I don't know if we should…"
"Oh, c'mon sis!" Yuffie groaned, giving Tifa an annoyed look, "Cloud's our friend, we have right to know what's going to happen to him!"
The dark-haired woman tried to protest, but Yuffie just grabbed her hand and started to pull him towards the direction, where they had seen Riku and Leon the last time. Tifa mumbled something, but her sister just brutally ignored her.
Zexion frowned a little, deciding to follow the two siblings.
Behind a corner, they saw Aerith and Leon sitting on one of the benches, both of them had their heads bowed down and a serious look on their faces. They didn't even seem to notice the three persons in front of them, until Tifa spoke, "Are you okay?"
Aerith looked up and smiled weakly as she recognized Tifa, "…Ah, Tifa… I'm… fine, how about you? Long time no see."
She nodded her head. It really had been a long while since she had seen Aerith last time. When she was little, she used to spend nearly all of her time at Aerith's place, playing with Cloud all day long… They used to share a strong, unbreakable bond… which, for some reason, had weakened through all these years. She wasn't sure why, but suddenly she just stopped hanging around Cloud. Of course they were still friends, not so close anymore.
"Where's Riku?" Zexion said suddenly, as he couldn't see the silver-haired man anywhere, "I thought he was with you?"
"He left to get Sora." Leon replied, folding his arms over his chest, while standing up slowly. He looked down at Aerith, weird look in his eyes. It was something between sad and angry… Something really un-Leon-ish, "…I assume that you'll be fine with them for a while, Aerith. I need to… take care of something."
Aerith nodded, "It's okay, I'll be fine."
The brunette walked away, leaving four people in the middle of a white corridor.
Riku parked Aerith's car behind the hospital, in order to avoid the lunatic reporters, which blocked the front door. He stepped out and waited for Sora to follow him.
"Why did we-…"
"Reporters." The silver-haired man said, chuckling hollowly, before walking to Sora and grabbing his hand, "…But don't worry about them. They aren't allowed to step into the hospital." He said, starting to pull the younger one towards the door, where he had escaped before.
Sora hugged Riku's arm, trying to get as close to him as he could, as they stepped inside the hospital, "…R-Riku…?"
"Huh?" Riku looked down at his boyfriend, as they started to walk up the stairs. He ignored the looks he gained from the red-haired man, behind the counter. He just pulled Sora closer to his side, as they reached the floor, where Cloud was being operated.
"…N-nothing…" Sora replied after a while, never letting go off of Riku's arm.
They spotted Zexion, Yuffie, Tifa and Aerith in the end of the long corridor. Sora looked down at the floor, as they approached them. He knew that his mother would be angry, because even he hadn't told her anything about Cloud's condition…
"Sora!" Aerith cried, and dashed to her son and hugged him, despite the fact that he was still clinging on Riku's arm, "…You shouldn't be here! R-Riku I told you to go tell him, not to get him here!"
Riku shrugged, trying to free his arm from Sora, who was now hugging both of him and his mother, "Sorry. I just thought that maybe he wanted to come too." He mumbled, hoping that the brunette man would decide whether he wanted to hug Aerith or him…
"M-mom, where's Cloud?" Sora asked, as he pulled away from Aerith, but still held Riku's hand, "…What are they doing to him?"
Zexion, Tifa and Yuffie, who were standing behind Aerith, exchanged pained glances. Sora had absolutely no clue…
"Sora, dear…" Aerith said, patting Sora's head, "They are operating Cloud right now. It might take a long while till they are ready. You should just go home and get rest. We'll bring Cloud back home tomorrow."
Riku winced at Aerith's words. He couldn't understand how she could lie to Sora so openly… He knew that the brown-haired man's heart would be crushed, once he found out that Cloud might not be coming back home ever again.
"But, mom…"
"No buts. Riku, will you take him back home?" Aerith said, trying to make her voice sound as strict as possible, but sadness could be heard clearly.
The silver-haired man groaned, but turned around, yanking Sora with him, "Let's respect your mother's wishes and go." He said, walking towards the direction where they had just come from, mere seconds ago.
Sora looked over his shoulder, while Riku was pulling him towards the stairway. He stared at his mother, who mouthed something to him, but he wasn't sure what she tried to say. He wanted to turn back and run to Aerith, hug her and tell that Cloud will be okay. His brother just couldn't die.
The brown-haired woman looked down at her shoes. It felt like a heavy weight would have squeezed her heart. She couldn't believe that she had just said that to Sora. She looked up and saw her son's back disappearing from her sight. Small rivers of tears poured down from the corners of her eyes.
It was all too late to take it back now…
Leon leaned his back on a chair, in a small cafeteria of the hospital. He was sitting in the most shadowy corner he could find, drinking coffee and trying to push away the sad thoughts about Cloud. He frowned, and pressed his thumbs against his closed eyelids, hoping that it would prevent the tears from escaping his eyes.
He didn't want to cry. If he cried, it would mean that he had given up. But he… he never gave up. Not now, at least. Cloud would make it. He just had to believe it, no matter how desperate it all seemed…
Few people glanced him, trying to send him concerned looks, but he just kept his eyes closed.
No one would ever understand how he felt. He had never experienced something as painful as this. It was like he just hoped that everything would stop, and he could make it all better. He hoped that a miracle would save Cloud's life, even though he didn't believe in such things as 'miracles'.
Leon grabbed his cup of coffee, and took a sip of his drink.
Something wet fell down on Leon's hand. He wiped his cheeks quickly, and drank his coffee. Then he stood up, and left some money on the table, for the waiter to pick up. Then he just walked away, his head bowed all the time, his brown hair covering his teary eyes.
Sora sat down on the backseat. He closed his eyes and sighed loudly.
He felt like worry and sadness were going to blow his mind up. He no longer knew what he should think or feel… Cloud might die, and he couldn't do anything… Well, he had had lots of time, but now that the time had finally came, the time had felt like mere seconds. He knew that he should have thought of something, but now… it was probably already too late.
He waited for Riku to sit down beside the steering wheel, but was rather surprised when the silver-haired man opened the door to the backseats and sat down next to him. Sora lifted his eyebrow, "Aren't you going to drive?"
Riku shook his head, "We're not going anywhere."
"W-why not?" Sora asked, looking away from his boyfriend, and glancing out of the window. There were no people around the car. Only dark alleys and a little bit larger street, which lead to the main street.
"Because…" Riku said, inching closer to Sora, "…I think that you should be here and see what will happen to your brother."
Sora felt Riku's cold hand on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't know what he should have said. There were no words left to describe how he felt.
"S'okay Sora, you don't need to say anything." Riku replied to Sora's question, which had never even passed his lips. He leaned towards the other one, "…But since we can't go inside, we might as well do something fun while waiting…"
Sora gasped, as he suddenly found himself lying on his back, while Riku was on top of him, looking down at him with hungry eyes. Never before he had seen that kind of expression on his face, "R-Riku?"
But the other one just shushed at him, before leaning down, until their lips met. Riku slid his other hand, which still was resting on Sora's shoulder, downer. Sora shuddered a little, when he felt a cold palm brush against his stomach, and pulling his shirt up.
Riku smirked, as he heard a small moan from his lover, as he moved his lips to Sora's neck, biting him playfully, then licking the spot that had dim tooth marks. The brunette gasped a little, tying his hands around Riku's neck, nuzzling his nose into his silver hair, while the said one was planting kisses on his shoulders.
"Ri-kuuh…" Sora let out a small sigh of pleasure, "…N-not now… Someone could see us…"
But Riku just ignored him, lifting his upper body a little, so he could slip away his shirt and threw it away. He continued giving gentle kisses to the man beneath him. Sora squirmed a little, but didn't resist much, when Riku placed his hand on his inner thigh and pressed his lips against the other one's once again.
Their tongues wrestled for a while and lips moved against each other's, before Riku hesitantly pulled away.
"Riku, I…" Sora tried to mumble something, as he could feel the hand on his thigh started moving higher, "…R-Riku…"
"Shh…" The silver-haired man said quietly, his face so close to Sora's that he could feel his breath against his lips. He couldn't help but stare at the brown-haired male, who was lying underneath him, moving nervously every now and then. He had always known that Sora was cute… but seeing him like this he looked something beyond cute… those rosy lips and innocent eyes…
"…You're so beautiful…"
(1) I really can't remember if I've told earlier what kind of car Aerith has… so if I've said it's something completely different color, I'm sorry. I just can't remember xD
CC: Riku. My reviewers think that you should be more positive about this story.
Riku: … Do you still think that they think that way after reading this chapter? Or the next one?
CC: Uhh… Well… Ehh… I… :runs away:
Sora: o.o Why's CC running away?
Riku: …So we could be together and then we can -censored-.
Sora: Huh? I don't understand what you're trying to say…
Riku: Ah, your naivety is so adorable. Anyways, since CC left, you guys could leave some reviews while me and Sora are having -censored-.
Sora: Ehh… :decides to ignore Riku: Thank you for reading, and please review!