I'm so sorry that it took so long and it's so short too. I'm very very and sincerely sorry. I was having my vacation this week so I wasn't home to do this. Sorry. And oh yeah, Ayeshagirl, you're right. Curse you:) Don't take that personally, I was only shocked to know how bad I am at making things mysterious.

Love Is Blind

Chapter Five

Yesterday, all everyone could talk about was that mysterious character who came to the island. Riku listened to his friends talk as well but did not contribute. He rather worry about his own horrible trouble.

Riku could hardly stand it. It's hard to be near Sora without seeing Kairi. And Sora hadn't asked Riku for a fight, a race, or anything. Riku had lost years' of Sora's companionship in less than a week. Unfair.

Riku sat on a log around his friends. They were still talking quite enthusiastically about the possibilities of the new islander. A murder? A vampire? An alien? All sorts of ideas crept up into their imaginations.

"You know guys, that what you people say can not possible be true," Riku stated finally.

Wakka looked at Riku. "Of course we know, Riku. And what took you so long to speak up?"

"Scared?" Tidus suggested with humor.

Riku ignored it.

"You know, why don't we check it out?" Wakka proposed the most horrible idea in his entire life.

"Yeah!" Tidus agreed enthusiastically.

"No!" both Selphie and Kairi exclaimed.

"I don't want to bother that guy," Selphie said with a hint of fear in her voice.

"And I'm sure he doesn't want to be bothered," Kairi stated.

Sora laughed slightly. "Guys, I'm sure he's just another normal person."

"Then let's go," Wakka urged. "Com'on, what's the worst that can happen?"

"He could kill us," Selphie whined.

"Not with us here to protect you," Tidus indicated, meaning quite frankly the boys.

"No, I don't want to go," Selphie declared with a pout.

"Fine then, you don't have to go," Tidus said. "The rest of us will."

Kairi rose to protest, "I don't think we should go either."

"Then you can stay too, Kairi," Tidus answered.

"Ya, me, Tidus, Riku, and Sora will go," Wakka said matter-of-factly.

"No," Kairi started to say and then she turned to Sora, "you can't go either. Something bad might happen."

Sora smiled. "Nothings going to happen, Kairi."

"Come on, let's go already," Tidus said dying to know what/who has inhabited the other side of the island.

"Ya," Wakka said while getting up. "I want to get back before dark."

Both Tidus and Wakka got up. "Come on, Riku," Tidus said down to his silver-haired friend.

Riku looked up. He hasn't been listening to the conversation that carefully. He was merely zoning out. But he got the gist that his friends wanted to go meet this new islander and seeing that there couldn't possibly be any danger in this, Riku stood up.

Wakka looked at Sora who was still on the ground next to Kairi. "Sora?"

Sora started to get up. Kairi tried to stop him by grabbing his arm. "Sora! It could be dangerous."

Sora waved her off. "I promise I'll come back to you when I'm done," he said sweetly with a smile.

Riku could feel the lump in his throat harden. Did he really have to stand seeing this all the time?

Kairi reluctantly let go of Sora. She knew that she couldn't restrain him if he said something like that.

Tidus and Wakka flashed some smiles and started to walk. Riku followed and Sora toiled along.

Kairi sat back down with Selphie and began to talk, chatting about if the boys get hurt and then going on about Kairi and Sora's relationship again.

On the way there, Riku said nothing. He looked about his surroundings which contained wild trees and rough-looking bushes. The other side of the island was untamed. All sorts of unidentified plants grew. There were insects but no animals.

Tidus and Wakka talked animatedly about what they would discover. Sora just listened. But he felt somehow odd. The brunet had been with Kairi the past few days and he felt somewhat odd not having her around. Then there was Riku's presence. He acknowledged how uncomfortable he felt around him now. Riku didn't talk at all, nor smile. Well, he rarely does but Sora could feel a rather distressing aura coming from Riku, something that made him feel sorry. Since he had patched things up with Kairi, Sora had not been around his best friend. Instead of waking up and looking for Riku like he usually did, he went to Kairi's. Instead of fighting and competing with his friend, he was holding hands with Kairi. And instead of feeling happy like he should, he was feeling rather cheerless. He was saddened to his friend so distant. The blue-eyed boy could sense the coldness and aloneness of his friend. Riku had absolutely no expression on his face. Sora felt guilty now that he thought about it, he had practically abandoned his friend.

Now that he was thinking, he couldn't help thinking about the times he and Riku had fun together. They weren't actually together for the past few days but Sora had had fun and being with Kairi was great too. But in thinking, he found that it was different from the fun he had had with Riku. Somehow, it was not as good. He couldn't understand it; he had felt fine until now.

Walking through the forest was not long, and it was not that hard either. After all, the island was small and they knew their way around, having been exploring the island when they were ten.

They arrived at the old house before the sun started to set in colors of autumn. All four boys hid themselves behind the bushes and trees near the house. The house itself was broken up and torn. The windows were broken, the roof chipped, and the wood rotting away. The image was one word: uninhabitable.

Wakka and Tidus lead the way to the nearest window so they could peek through it. Quietly, Wakka stole a glance inside the house, hoping to see the mysterious guy. He saw nothing. However, the place did not look as he suspected. The inside was practically clean. It was not furnished but clean; no spider webs, no broken pieces of wood, no seaweed, no moss, no wild plants that could have grown there throughout the years. The inside and the outside looked entirely different.

The other boys looked through the window as well and were as shocked as Wakka was. But since they did not see the guy, they tried to walk around back so they could look through the other windows. They walked quietly. Their steps made no noise, not even a rustle. They held their breathing so that they would not be detected. They crouched and tried to hide themselves but the backdoor suddenly opened. They recoiled, their hearts ready to jump out from their chests. They turned their heads towards the opened door. Before them was a tall man, about six feet, with white-like hair. His eyes were that of burning yellow. He was tan and looked considerably strong. His clothes were strange but not as strange as the look on his face. He didn't seem surprised to find the four boys spying. He didn't look angered either. He showed no emotion what-so-ever. He stared at the boys plainly, his eyes scanning from Wakka, Tidus, Sora, and landing on Riku.

Riku could feel danger from this man. And he was looking at him. Riku didn't move. He couldn't find the strength to even if he wanted to. The man's gaze was weakening him.

Sora found himself staring at Riku's distressed expression and glaring at the man. He did not like how the man was staring at his friend. He found his eyes narrowing and his lips which usually held a smile now held a frown. Why wouldn't he look away? Why is he staring at Riku? Was he planning something? Damn it take your eyes off of him!

Then finally, the man stopped. He returned his focus to all four boys. "Now, what were you four doing?" The man's voice was low and powerful.

Tidus regained some from the shock. He spoke up, trying to be polite. "Sorry, um, sir, we were just wondering through the forest. You know, exploring and then we came up to this old house which we thought no one was living in," he lied.

The tall man's lips curved into a grin. "And I thought you four were spying," he said knowing fully that he thought right and letting the boys know as well. "But now that we now it's a mistake, I will exchange my name for yours," he said, his voice was calm but it made the boys uncomfortable.

"Tidus," the blond mumbled out first.

"Wakka," Wakka said in his accent.

Sora took a little but more time to register whether or not to tell this man his name. He certainly did not like him, his judgment resting upon the man's unwelcoming stare at his silver-haired friend. But he finally decided and he said his name reluctantly with a puff.

Riku felt strangely weak in front of this man. But he managed to say his name without people noticing his shaky voice, which was exactly how he felt. Riku was hardly afraid of anything but he knew that this man was too frightening to ignore.

After Riku said his name, he could have sworn that the man repeated it with his lips. But right afterwards, the man said, "And I am Ansem."

The boys did not reply or say a thing. Right away they knew that that name will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

That man spoke again after he knew that his name had sunk into the minds of the four boys before him. "It is getting late. I would suggest you all go. You never know what might happen out here." Then the last part he said almost to Riku alone. "I'll be seeing you."

Riku felt the words bring him chills. He certainly did not want to see that man again.

Sora noticed Ansem's words and disliked it almost as much as he despised the man who spoke it. No, you will not be seeing us again. And you will not be seeing Riku again.