Author: Imhotep Ardeth Bey
Rating: PG-13
Comments: The songs are not mine. At the end of every chapter is the true artist behind the lyrics in which I have used. Some lyrics I have used may be from alternative or punk-rock songs, but try to imagine they are being sang, because Riku and the Destiny Boys are POP singers. This chapter is a little short, too: the next one will be longer! This story is Alternate Universe meaning that any canon Final Fantasy characters who may act slightly out of their character are excuseable due to the situation.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, FFVII, FFVIII, FFX, and FF X-2 don't belong to me...if they did, why would I be writing fanfics? I could make my own games :D
Once the setting changes to a different country, any dialogue spoken in Japanese will be underlined, and anything in English will be regular font.
♪Take my clothes, my socks, my shoes away
I wanna be naked everyday
I'd wear nothing but my birthday suit
Just a chance to be with you
I'd make loving you a living
I'd be a chair that you could sit in...♪
Ignoring the tap on his shoulder that he was feeling, Tidus Sujakni kept his eyes closed as he quietly sang along to the latest Riku song on his MP3 player.
"Mr. Sujakni...? Mr. Sujakni?" A female voice chirped annoyingly close to the blonde boy's face, causing his eyes to shoot open and her to take a few alarmed steps backward. The headphones were slipped off his ears as Tidus stared at the woman expectantly.
"Y-your milkshake, Mr. Sujakni." The woman stuttered unprofessionally, and Tidus couldn't help but find her nervousness almost flattering as he took his specially ordered chocolate milkshake.
"Thank you." He offered to her with a small smile, but stopped when he eye caught sight of his...how could he put this rationally...scandelously naked whipped cream."...but where's my strawberry? I asked for a strawberry."
The stewardess' nervous features suddenly became alarmed, and she bit her lip in worry.
"I'm...I'm so sorry, Mr. Sujakni! I'll get you three right away!" The promise was practically called over the woman's shoulder as she hurried away to do his bidding. Outwardly, Tidus smirked; having a famous blitzer for a father (asshole or not) did have its favorable advantages.Headphones replaced, he closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat, obviously not hearing the cry of protest from the person behind him. After all, whoever it was, they could move: he was Tidus Sujakni.
"Ouch!" Sora cursed to himself pointlessly as the chair in front of him succeeded in temporarily crushing his legs. Thankfully, the passenger in front of him shifted at that moment; his legs were free, and repositioned to better fit the obviously demanding boy in front of him. Vaguely, he witnessed a stewardess practically sprinting to the side of his tormentor, four delicious-looking strawberries, strategically organized on a plate, and decorated with a mint leaf. Correction: change that to extremely demanding.
In order to distract himself from his now limited moving space, Sora absent-mindedly pulled out his carry-on items: his letter from Val Industries, ticket stub, a seperate letter from his mother, and picture of his mother and father. Vaguely, Sora's eyes grazed over the almost forbidden image of his father: from the familiar brown hair, down to the blue suit that he had been wearing when the picture was taken. He looked so poised, so happy, so genuine...Sora couldn't wait to meet him. Next, his eyes easily glided over to the familiar form of his mother, the grin from her picture contagious as Sora couldn't help but smile along with her, even as the lump formed in his throat.
Come on, Sora...you've been apart for what, ten hours? He mentally berated himself, but the nostalgia still came, nevertheless. He fondly remembered their final goodbye at the airport.
"Sora...are you sure that you packed everything? Toothbrush, socks, underwear, pictures...you did remember pictures of me, right?" With a trembling lip, Sasha Fukisku followed her son anxiously to his airplane terminal. "You didn't pack pictures, did you? Oh, my baby wants to FORGET ABOUT ME!"
Despite his reddening face, Sora smiled reassuringly at his now wailing mother.
"Mom, I packed so many pictures of you that everyone's going to think you're my girlfriend. Calm down...it's only America." He comforted her, but she seemed to be set in her ways.
"No, Sora! You packed your underwear, right? I don't want you running around like those hooligan commandos! Do you have your dictionary...?"
"Mom!" Sora's face must have lit up the room with its florescant, tomato red as he reached over and placed a hand on his mother's shoulder in as comforting of a manner as he could muster. "The plane is about to leave. I'll call you as soon as I get there. I promise I'll be thinking of you."
Despite his calm appearance, Sora could feel his eyes watering, and his throat closing. To save himself from further embaressment, he pulled his mother into a loving hug, before pulling away and kissing her on the cheek hurridly, a small blush still visable on his face as he cleared his throat.
"Sora, before you go." His mother broke the awkward, choked silence between them. Pulling out a letter, she placed it into his hand tentaively. "This letter is for your father. I want you to go see him, while you're in the states. I'm sure they'll allow you that much, won't they?"
Mutely, Sora nodded and pocketed the letter, before casting another, less restrained look at his mother. He must have looked absolutely pathetic, because she pulled him into another hug, and gave him a big, motherly kiss.
"Above all else, have fun, sweety." She advised him fondly, before pushing him lightly towards the terminal door; Sora didn't have to be pushed twice. He walked quickly to the door, and entered as quick as possible, without a look back. He didn't want his mom to see him cry.
Absently, Sora pocketed the picture once again, and cast a look at his surroundings to distract himself. He wasn't going to cry again.
Although Sora had never ridden a plane before, he wasn't exactly sure what people had always been making such a fuss about; riding a plane was just like riding in a car, except first class was equipped with individual televisions on the back of each seat (which Sora was currently unable to use, due to the uncomfortable positioning of the boy in front of him) and excellant steward and stewardess service, which he was also unable to take advantage of because they were all bending over backward for the same boy who had restricted Sora's foot space. He would not let it damper his mood, however: on the contrary, his mood was lightened by the ding of the seatbelt light, and the Co-Captin's chipper voice over the loudspeaker.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, within ten minutes time we will be approaching Los Angeles air terminal. We advise that you return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts at this time: thank you for flying with Tokyo airlines, and we hope you enjoyed your flight!"
At this, Sora couldn't help but grin, even as his ears popped painfully. He was in America: America, where he would join with VAL industries, and become what he'd always wanted to be: just like Riku.
As the plane came to a halt at the terminal, Sora quickly gathered his letters and complimentary "Tokyo Airlines" pamplet (he had memorized it on the way, just in case the plane were to crash into water, land, or they were forced to evacuate mid-flight) and hurried to exit the plane along with the rest of the passangers. His eyes itched in anticipation for the sights of America; his ears strained for the first sounds that America could confront him with.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Came a screeching noise from somewhere, startling Sora back a few steps into a surly-looking buisnessman. The man grunted at him, but said nothing, and Sora darted his eyes for the source of the strange noise. There: a small, five year old girl stood, screaming what seemed like gibberish to his ears at an older man, who Sora assumed was her father, or caretaker.
"You told me you'd get me a pink one, you got me a red one!" The small child screamed angerly, the gibberish running into one of Sora's ears, and out the other. What was the problem with this girl? Was she hurt? Should he help her? Without looking like he was staring, he watched the situation with interest: the small girl's hands were curled around what seemed to be a red-colored, portable DVD player. "I don't want the red one, you're so mean!"
The older man's hand was on the small girl's shoulder in a second, as though consoling her, however his voice was quieter, seemingly trying to quiet the screeching gibberish queen down as well. The action happened before anyone, including Sora, could even register what was happening until after it was done; the small girl stomped her foot, let out a scream, and threw the machine onto the ground with more force then Sora had even thought possible coming from a child of that size and age. The DVD player shattered helplessly, parts scattering, almost as if they were trying their best to escape the frightening girl.
That girl...just threw a DVD player to the ground? But why! Sora wondered, absolutely confused. Focusing his attention away from the strange duo, he looked around the airport hopefully, finally registering the sights, the sounds, and the smells of an American airport. Around him, strange, colorful symbols jumped out at him, like a carnival or an arcade game; endless gibberish chatter echoed around him from children, adults, teenagers, babies. The sight of many colored faces was almost overwhelming for him as he cast his eyes around, trying his best to drink it all up in one sweep of dark blue. A man with a dark brown face smiled a pearly while smile as he spoke; his companion, pale white skin, with red hair.
Maybe I should move...Sora finally decided, seeing as he had been standing in the same place for a good five minutes. A few steady steps...yes; walking in America was the same as Japan. A small bit of excitement formed in Sora's stomach as he walked quickly to the nearest shop: a magazine store, which also sold candy and other snack foods. His eyes lit up at the snacks, but first headed towards the magazines, in hopes of catching a glimse of Riku on a cover.
Indeed, Riku was on many covers: a few accompanied by his celebrety girlfriend, Kairi. Sora had read all about their relationship in one of his magazines back at home: the two had started dating a month ago, Kairi being the lead singer of a four-person girl group titled "KYRP". It was obvious that the K stood for Kairi, but the YRP...Sora had never looked very far into it.
Next to the magazines was the American-themed t-shirts and merchandise. They seemed to contain anything a person could collect: sweatshirts, key chains, post cards, snow globes...
Maybe I should get Mom a snow globe? He thought to himself absently, picking up a snow globe and shaking it. The scene was a city, with the caption "Los Angeles" like a colorful neon sign above it. When shaken, the city was rained on by dozens of colorful confetti, making it seem as though the party was now in full swing.
Still holding the snow globe (his idea to buy it for his mother still in mind) Sora began to browse the other merchandise with less interest, but still a definite enthusiasm. By that time, however, the shop had become slightly crowded; without warning, a man's shoulder came crashing into the small of Sora's back, causing the snow globe to fall from his hands, and onto the hard, solid floor.
The smash was deafening.
"Hey!" Sora called increduously. "The least you could do was say that you're sorry!"
The man in question did not even turn around at Sora's voice, however he did recieve a few strange looks from the people around him.
"You gunna pay for that, kid?" A man was speaking loud gibberish behind him, but Sora ignored it professionally: by now, he had at least become accustomed to the gibberish around him, and aware that none of the sounds were directed at him. "Hey, kid!"
A rough hand was on Sora's shoulder in an instant, causing him to jump in surprise, and hindering him from walking any further. Cautiously, he turned around to face the owner of tha hand.
"You break it you bought it, kid!" The man babbled to him worthlessly, and Sora couldn't help but look confused.
"What?" He asked hopefully, and the man glared at him, causing Sora's will to fade, slightly. English...English...what words did he know that were English?
"Uh...Coca Cola?" He tried hopefully, but that statement seemed only to further infuriate the man. Taking a glance at the shirt and nametag, Sora assumed that he was the keeper of this shop. "Los Angeles?"
The words felt strange coming off his tongue, but somehow, after saying them, he felt as if he fit in better, even slightly. The shopkeeper, however, was not amused, nor did he congratulate him.
"You think this is funny, do ya!" He bellowed, and Sora's eyes widened slightly. Being yelled at in gibberish was definitely uncomfortable. Suddenly, another hand on his shoulder startled him once again.
"I'll pay for it." Another gibberish-speaking man, although with a slightly smoother voice, seemed to be consoling the shopkeeper. After a moment, strange looking papers were exchanged between the two, and the hand on his shoulder led Sora's slightly shock-paralyzed body to a nearby chair.
"I don't speak any English!" Sora stated to the man in frustration. The man, who turned out to be a suave-looking American in a black, official-looking buisness suit, shook his head at Sora and murmered in his gibberish; Sora recognised the shoulder of his suit as the one that had knocked into him, and caused the entire commotion with the English-speaking shopkeeper. Apparantly, he did not speak any more Japanese than Sora spoke English. He motioned for Sora to stand, however, and follow him. Sora was a bit hesitant, but...what other choice did he have? He spoke no English, and obviously nobody here spoke Japanese: he had to follow the man.
The two walked a bit in silence, Sora following a few respectable feet behind the other man as they passed many resteraunts, shops, and people. Once or twice Sora thought he heard talking that he could understand, but could not stop to check: the man continued walking at a fast pace, and Sora had to keep up. Finally, the man stopped, and Sora trotted up to his side, looking up at him expectantly. The man smiled encouragingly, and pointed towards the desk helpfully. Sora couldn't help but grin up at the man as he bowed slightly, uttering a quick "Thank you!" before hurrying towards the desk. When he looked back, the man was gone.
"Excuse me..." He started to say at the desk, before a voice stopped him.
"Sora Fukisku?" A stern, official-sounding voice summoned, and Sora looked over expectantly. The voice seemed to come from a tall, angry looking gentleman to his left: the man's arms, clad in a deep red trenchcoat, were crossed impatiently over his chest, and Sora was positive that if the man's eyes had not been covered by a small pair of sunglasses, they would have been staring at him with annoyance.
"Yes! Yes, that's me!" Sora practically exploded, bounding over the man in a fit of relief and excitement. "Finally, someone who speaks my language!"
When he saw the look on the large man's face, however, he immediately toned down his smile, and looked uncertainly away from the man's reflective sunglasses to the boy standing behind him: shimmering blonde hair barely brushed the edges of the other boy's forget-me-not blue eyes, accented his tan skin, and seemed perfect for the muscular, masculine build that he hid underneath his modest t-shirt.
Suddenly, Sora felt very plain, scrawney, and unimportant.
"We've been paging you for the past twenty-five minutes." The stern voice interrupted his thoughts, and Sora's eyes were suddenly caught in ones of honey brown in a challenging stare. "We don't have time to waste. We're expected to be seated in the meeting room of VAL Industries in ten minutes, which we will undoubtedly have to be late for, thanks to your lollygagging."
Lolly-gagging? Sora wondered briefly to himself, but decided to drop it, for fear of confusing himself even more then the swarmed, English airport already had. The other boy's blue eyes caught his own, and rolled upward: Sora couldn't help thinking that it looked as if a pool of water had suddenly capsized, and rolled to the top of his eyes, instead of the bottom.
"Don't mind Auron." The blonde boy's voice, as Sora had expected, held an aire of confidence, and flowed gracefully from his tongue: as if he had practiced those words many times before, although it was obvious that he hadn't. "He's just grouchy. He's actually a pretty nice guy once you pull the stick out of his ass."
Amist Sora's quiet chuckles, the large man, now labelled by Sora as supposedly "Auron", cast a fleeting glance back at the two adolescents, before gesturing with a flick of his hand for them to follow him out of the automatic, gliding doors.
"I do speak Japanese, you know." Was his simple response, although a small, barely noticable smirk graced his features directed towards the blonde. The smirk was returned, although slightly more teasing.
"I know." Was all the boy spared to their elder, before turning back towards Sora with a charming smile that caused butterflies to flutter in his stomach.
No wonder they picked this kid. Sora couldn't help thinking to himself as he examined the confident, attractive exterior of his companion. The boy seemed to radiate charisma, and his strait white, charming smile had sent even Sora into a slight swoon. Somehow, Sora figured that it wouldn't even matter if this boy couldn't sing: he could charm the audiance so much that they wouldn't care whether he was singing or not.
"My name's Tidus." The blonde continued obliviously as the three stopped in front of a large, shiny black limo. Sora looked around the lot expectantly, before casting Tidus a slightly confused look.
"What are we waiting for?" He asked quietly, so that Auron (who seemed the type to scold him for such a question) couldn't hear him. Tidus simply smiled his usual smile, and pointed to the door of the limo, which had yet to be opened. At this, Sora nodded in understanding: perhaps they were waiting for him to open the door, because he was the last person to arrive. Determinedly, he began to take a step foward, and reached for the door handle...
Swat!
...only to be barred in his place by an almost lightning quick arm across his chest. Guessing from the strangely manicured nails, he didn't even have to look at the face to know that it was Tidus, and he, with the reflexes of a professional blitzer, had stopped Sora from taking even one step closer to the limo.
"Fact number one, Sora." Tidus started, and Sora wondered how the other boy had learned his name so quickly, or at least, remembered it. "It's obvious that you're not used to such treatment, so I'll fill you in: never open your own limo door."
Feeling slightly better about his obliviousness, Sora simply nodded, and watched as a uniform-clad driver's opened the limo door for them, and the three climbed in: Sora, as professionally as he could.
"So, Sora, how was your airplane ride?" Tidus asked conversationally as he, seemingly knowing limos like the back of his hand, was already sipping a cola from the cooler near the door. Sora smiled at his new friend's obvious effort, and even wider when Tidus gestured to the cooler suggestively, as though silently asking, "Would you like anything?"
"Grape, if you wouldn't mind..." A grape soda was tossed his way, and he absent-mindedly tapped the top of the can as he continued, "The airplane ride was easy, and the workers were very helpful."
A quiet, polite laugh escaped Tidus' lips, and Sora was slightly taken aback: had he said something amusing, and not known it?
"You thought those workers were helpful?" The blonde repeated in a slightly sarcastic tone, and provoked a questioning look from Sora. "You try not getting a strawberry with your milkshake...which I specifically asked for, you know?"
The image of a stewardess, rushing frantically to the side of the individual in front of him, four large, delicious-looking strawberries on a plate with a mint leaf...aha. It was all falling into place now. Sora, however, opted to say nothing more about the trip, and instead sat quietly and sipped his cola with as much grace as he could.
---
"Now, we're only minutes tardy for the meeting, so we can still fit into the casually late category. Once we enter that room, you speak only English, understood?" Auron's commanding voice brought nervousness into Sora's stomach as his eyes widened considerably in panic.
"Tidus..." He tried, and turned, his own frantic eyes meeting with the cool, calm blue of his companion. The other boy seemed to sense his distress.
"What is it?" He asked, his voice hushed as they walked quickly through the carpeted hallways of VAL industries. Their footsteps made little to no sound, and Sora was once again appreciative of Tidus' cool understanding.
"Tidus, I...don't speak any English." He whispered hurridly to his companion, and, although there was a slight widening of the ocean-blue eyes, Tidus made no other indications that he was surprised or upset by the news.
"Didn't you take it in school?" He tried his best to console Sora's obviously troubled state, but when Sora shook his head, he looked slightly troubled as well.
"I failed." Sora stated simply, and Tidus bit one of his flawless pink lips and raised one of his blonde eyebrows in thought.
"So did I." Was his only reassuring statement, however as they reached the door to their conference room he grabbed Sora's shoulder and pulled him closer, causing Sora's heart to beat faster at their close proximity. "Follow my lead when we get in there, okay? I'll help you."
Gratitude swelled within Sora as he felt like hugging the blonde boy but, upon realizing the inapproriate nature that this action would be upon entering a conference room, he chose to simply stare at the boy in admiration.
"Thank you." Was all that he had time to mutter before Auron knocked quietly on the door, before turning the knob and entering the room, gesturing for Tidus and Sora to follow.
"Pardon our tardiness, Mr. Valentine." He apoligised in a respectable voice that sounded new, and strange coming from the gruff man in front of him. "We hit a bit of traffic on our way here that left us unfortunately delayed."
"Excellant. I'll be sure to fire the driver." Came a new voice from the head of the table, and Sora felt his eyes instinctively move towards the voice.
The man at the head of the table, radiating power and a dignified manner, shuffled his papers and cast his slightly frightening red eyes around the room with scruitiny. Sora remained silent as the man's voice drifted over the head of the room's occupants, like music notes drifting and lingering in the air, making its listeners regret a missed word.
Gently, he felt a pinch at his back signalling that Tidus wanted him to follow his lead to the chairs specified. As the two passed the head of the rectangular table, Sora's eyes drank in the man's appearance: attached to the blood-red eyes was an eerily pale face, and long, jet black hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. When Sora was allowd a closer look, he saw that it was tied with a maroon, velvet ribbon to match his coat jacket of a similar color -- which he had yet to remove despite the heat. Underneath the jacket was a crisp black, open collared shirt, with no tie.
Creepy guyequals important. Sora concluded automatically as he settled himself into one of the soft, cushioned seats situated around the table. Vaguely, he felt Tidus shift beside him, and the boy's clear blue eyes focus on the speaker with an intense, motivated stare.
Sora, however, being unable to understand any of the words spilling gracefully from the pale man's mouth, chose to focus his attention elsewhere.
The man standing beside the head of the table was a stout brunett: unlike the dignified head of the table, this man's light brown eyes swept over Sora with a sort of nervousness, and panic when he had walked into the room: their eyes had locked for a single moment, before nervous, twitching eyes had moved away from him and onto their next victim. Unlike his excessively garmented superior, however (at least, Sora assumed it was his superior, due to the difference in attitude and stance) this man wore a simple brown suit, and white shirt with a matching brown tie. Talk about boring.
"Pay as best attention as you can..." Came the smooth, confident voice of Tidus, in a whisper in his ear. Sora bit his lip, but nodded to his helpful companion, but Tidus seemed still concerned as he heard a pen click, and the paper that he had not noticed before this moment being written on with Tidus' strait, even writing. In Japanese, Sora noticed.
So, Tidus was translating the gibberish for him; if Sora wasn't afraid of what the others in the room would think of him, he would kiss his blonde savior...and perhaps give him some pocky.
Pocky... Thought Sora nostalgically as his mind wandered happily to the pocky in the cuboard of his house: the pocky that he'd forgotten to grab on his way out the door. Darn...should have grabbed that pocky...
"Are there..any questions?" The musical voice continued, oblivous to any mind-wanderings of his non-English-speaking attendants. Beside Sora, Tidus nodded, and his voice brought the daydreaming boy out of his pocky-enduced stupor.
Wait a sec...
"Mr.Valentine...with all due respect, I'm curious as to why you went through the trouble of recruiting members of your band from Japan, as well as the United States." Asked Tidus' familar voice, but Sora's eyes widened slightly as the realization hit him.
Tidus was speaking in English.
Good English.
Hadn't the other boy agreed to his failure in the class? Had Tidus learned English just from listening to the strange man at the head of the table speak? Mentally, Sora kicked himself for not paying more attention: after all, he could have learned as much English as Tidus had, if only he'd been listening.
"Ah...excellant question, Mr. Sujakni." Mr. Valentine, or who Sora assumed was Mr. Valentine, due to Tidus' adressing tone towards the man, answered back. "I've recruited two members of this group from Japan, simply for the sake of diversity. I thought if I brought two talented, English-speaking Japanese boys here," The man beside Mr. Valentine visably twitched, but was ignored as the speaker continued, "then we would have the perfect mix of pure-bred American boys, and the Japanese boys that girls seem to be fawning over these days."
Seemingly satisfied, Tidus once again nodded beside Sora, but spoke no more English as he hastily copied what the man had spoken moments before. Another voice, this time new, came from across the table from Sora, and surprised him slightly.
"What exactly would be the variety of the tour schedule, considering the international members?" The voice asked, its deep and confident sound commanding that Sora listen, despite his ignorance in the language. The boy speaking was close in comparison to Tidus (however different in nationalities that they were) with straw-colored blonde hair and bright, almost florescant, blue eyes. His eyes were currently focused on Mr. Valentine in what Sora would describe as a challenging stare to match his equally challenging, and well shown through his black t-shirt, muscle.
Mr. Valentine made some short response to the blonde's question, before adressing the group as a whole in an almost hurried manner as he gathered his papers together neatly.
"Now, I'm unfortunately due for another meeting, so I will leave you in the care of my assistant, Sakano, " with the hand not holding his stack of papers, Mr. Valentine gestured towards the brown-suited man before he stood from his chair. Red, velvet pants adourned hi bottom half, and somehow Sora wasn't surprised. "But first, let's have some introductions. You..." With one black, leather glove upon his hand, he pointed at Sora. "Why don't you start us off?"
Sora felt a pinch at his side (courtesy of Tidus) and looked up hurridly to find his eyes meeting with those of his four teeange companions, the firey red of Mr. Valentine, and the twitching, shocking brown of Mr. Sakano.
Oh no oh no oh no... Sora mentally panicked, his stomach doing jumping jacks as he moved his own blue eyes to lock with Tidus' desperately.
"Tidus..." He whispered hesitantly, hoping that the other boy would either tell him by everyone at the table was staring at him, or at least help him out of his uncomfortable and potentially embaressing situation. Did they know that he didn't speak English? Was he going to get kicked out? Granted, the looks that he was recieving were not looks of scorn, or anger: more looks of curiosity, and worry.
"I said, please tell me your name." Mr. Valentine repeated calmly to Sora: with the voice finally being directed towards him, Sora couldn't help but squirm as his breath caught in his throat. Now he couldn't speak at all...he was having a panic attack...
"Mr. Valentine, if I may." Came Tidus' voice beside him, and allowing the breath to once again flow through Sora's throat and out of his mouth, were he let out as quiet of a cough as he could. Mr. Valentine's scrutinizing eyes moved towards Tidus in a slight annoyance, which made Sora's stomach cease in its jumping jacks...but start in on the tap dance.
"I've learned from my time with my fellow Japanese companion, which was quite a bit of time considering our long flight together -- filled with friendly conversations, jokes, laughter, and shared dreams, that this boy beside me has one of the largest drives to succeed that I have ever witnessed in my short, however experienced, seventeen year old life. He, much like the rest of us in this room, was recruited for his excellant singing abilities, which he had the decency to grace me with on our way to VAL industries. I believe that the only fault holding my dear friend back from becoming one of the strongest parts of our new group would be his lack of English." Mr. Sakano made a loud choking noise at those words, and it seemed that Mr. Valentine's mouth was opened to speak, but Tidus bravely held his hand up to silence them both as he continued. "A problem that can be easily remedied, if you'll allow me to say so, superiors."
Mr. Valentine's mouth was still open to speak, however this time he seemed impressed with Tidus' impressive speaking abilities, and charisma. His eyes once again focused upon Sora, who blushed and looked towards his lap in roder to avoid the searching red orbs.
"Mr. Sujakni...your companion sang with perfect English on his demo tape." Mr. Valentine inquired, his eyebrow raised as he leaned forward on the table, resting his weight on both arms and staring fixedly at the brunett, as though waiting for his eyes to move up once again and lock with his: as though to read into his very soul. "How is it possible that he can speak no English, when we heard little no to accent in his singing?"
"Sora." This time, it wasn't Tidus' soothing voice that spoke, but Auron's as he came up behind Sora and placed a hand on his shoulder, signalling for him to look up. He did so, nervously. "You sang in English on your demo tape...how could you sing English so well?"
Although the question wasn't meant to be forceful, Auron's squeezing hand on his shoulder was definitely forceful enough for both his words and his actions combined.
"I am Riku's biggest fan." He stated simply, and reluctantly cast a glance at Mr. Valentine, as though checking to see whether or not he could understand him. "I know all of his words by heart, even on interviews, so I memorized his accent...even his speaking accent."
Auron stared at him for a moment (and Sora was briefly afraid that the large, frightening man was going to strangle him) before he adressed Mr. Valentine and Sakano to relay Sora's words. Mr. Valentine looked thoughtful, while Tidus seemed to look intrigued.
"Ask him to quote something that Riku has said...in English." Mr. Valentine offered, and Auron nodded as he adressed Sora once again.
"You said you've memorized everything Riku has ever said...say it now. Anything." One of Auron's eyebrows lifted in a challenging manner, and Sora almost smiled, if it wasn't for the severity of the situation. Clearing his throat (and trying to avoid all of the eyes upon him) he lifted his eyes to Mr. Valentines once again, this time confident by the thought of his idol: Riku always made him confident.
"Someone always told me..." Sora started cautiously, and, upon seeing a satisfied nod from Tidus at his progress, continued confidently. "...to always follow your dreams. I believe it was Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell who sang the unforgettable lyrics, 'ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no vally low enough, ain't no river wide enough': this, to me, is how one should be when following their dreams; don't let anything stand in your way." Internally, Sora sang the short jingle that played when the host of the show thanked their guest for coming out this evening, and a small smile lit up his face as Riku's gorgeous face thanked the host for having him...and now to our sponsers...
"That was amazing." Mr. Valentine's voice interrupted Sora's blissful images of Riku's silver hair, gently brushing his shoulders as he turned his head towards one side of the audiance and waved thankfully. "Simply amazing. That doesn't outweigh his lack of Enlgish knowlege, however...we can't have him walking around quoting Riku wherever he goes."
Tidus chuckled professionally beside Sora, and lowered his arm around his Japanese companion's shoulders in a friendly manner.
"Mr. Valentine, my proposition is simple: allow Sora to stay in the group, and I'll have him speaking English before our first concert." The blonde's arm tightened around Sora's shoulders in anticipation of the response: one of the first signs of anxiousness that he'd seen from his calm, collected friend. Mr. Valentine gave the two a searching stare, before he gave a small, almost unnoticable nod.
"I'll be checking up on you." Were his only words before he turned away from the duo, causing Tidus' arm to loosen in relief as Mr.Valentine's eyes focused on the rest of the group once again, this time in an impatient manner.
"No time to learn all of your names, I'm afraid: I'll leave that up to my assistant, Mr. Sakano. I'll rejoin you for your first sound session at nine o'clock tomorrow morning." The obivously hurried buissnessman was already halfway to the door as he spoke, and waited anxiously for the door to be opened for him. Mr. Sakano jumped to the task and performed it dilligently, and in a heartbeat the pale man was gone.
"Alright, so..." Mr. Sakano started, speaking for the first time since Sora and his companions had entered the room. His voice, as Sora had imagined, was jumpy and inconsistant, frequently loweing in volume, then sparking alive at the slightest word. "Let's have some names, shall we?"
The blonde that had previously asked a question stood from his chair, and gestured towards himself pointedly.
"My name is Cloud" He started simply, before pulling his chair back underneath himself and sitting once again. The young man beside him followed the blonde's example.
"I'm Irvine." Came a slow, crawling drawl. The sound of the voice was interesting to Sora's ears: a different twang then what he had become accustomed to hearing in the incessant babbling around him. "Irvine Kinneas."
The young man's voice was startlingly unlike Tidus, or even Cloud's: while there was still an aire of arrogant confidence, it wasn't commanding or strong -- it instead held a silky sort of rolling sound, like a tire driving over smooth, undented pavement in the fall. He, much like Mr. Valentine, wore a heavy jacket despite the rising California heat; the jacket, furthermore, was lined with a sort of furry material that matched the tan of his jacket, and constrasted well with the chesnut brown of his long, pulled back hair...which, Sora noticed, had a few strrands coming loose to hang in front of his face in a stubborn, yet attractive style. On the table in fromt of the brunett, a dark-brown cowboy hat rested respectfully, and seemed that only when atop the young man's head could the outfit be considered complete. This particular member of the group chose not to sit once again, however, and chose instead to amble pointlessly to gaze out the large, side window of their conference room. Guessing from the smile on his face and the whimsical look in the gazing light-brown eyes, Sora was almost positive that, much like himself, Irvine was also unfamiliar with the city of Los Angeles.
"Great!" Sora was interrupted from his analization of the cowboy at the window by Tidus' all-too-familiar voice, often the target to draw him back into the world of the living from his dream-world. "My name is Tidus, and this is Sora." Sora felt Tidus' hand clap onto his shoulder, and he sent his friend a small, grateful smile.
Should I be concerned that he is constantly touching me? Sora wondered to himself idly, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself as his eyes settled on the final member of the group, the only one that had not spoken (nor did it seem that he planned on doing so in the near future without being forced). The silent teen indeed had the looks of a quiet loner: his hair was a snowy white, along with his eyebrows, and his eyes were the largest that Sora had ever seen on a real human being -- large, sad, and a dark, harmonizing brown in color to match his light pink, frowning lips. Part of Sora wished that he could speak English: at least to make conversation with his fellow group-member, and cheer him up.
"And you?" Mr. Sakano seemed to have noticed the final young-man's silence remotely close to when Sora had, and was taking charge. The large brown eyes blinked at Mr. Sakano for a moment, before the pink lips half-smiled apolegetically.
"My apologies." Came his soft, slightly quavering voice and it seemed that everything in the room, whether it had before been moving or not, stopped in its tracks or purpose in order to listen to the words exiting the young man's mouth. "My name is Baralai. It's wonderful to meet you all."
The four English-speaking occupants of the room nodded in recognition of his compliment, while Sora simply looked confused, and tapped Tidus' hand (which had yet to leave his shoulder) to get his attention.
"Did they say I could stay?" He asked finally, impatience getting the better of him as he looked up at his friend anxiously from his cushioned seat. Mr. Sakano made no comments about the change in language: either he spoke Japanese, or had no qualms with hearing it spoken around him. Tidus' bright blue eyes rolled for the second time that day, and Sora halfway expected water to spill out of the blonde's eyelids due to his water-blue eyes capsizing twice in one day. Despite his eye-roll, however, his blonde friend nodded, and flashed his dazzling white teeth in his characteristic charming smile.
"On one condition." Tidus stated seriously, the hand on Sora's shoulder hindering him from celebration as the blue eyes met with his: a stare filled with confidence, while, at the same time, masked insecurity. "I've got to teach you English in three weeks."
For a few beats, all Sora could do was stare at the blonde in disbelief: his mouth was open slightly, as thought he were about to speak, but couldn't quite get the words out that he wanted to say. Finally, when Tidus was about to repeat the statement he was interrupted by the only two words that Sora could get out of his mouth, and the two words that had enveloped his brain at the news.
"Oh, shit!"
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Papers cluttered the bed in a darkened room: so darkened, in fact, that even the light of a candle only illuminated the space inches around it, and left shadows lurking eerily in ever corner and crevice that the light could reach. The bed, several times too large for only one person to sleep, was indeed the resting place of but one teenager, however his sleep was troubled by the news that his manager had recently faxed to the hotel room where he was currently residing.
VAL Industries search is complete. They have their band. Two from Japan, one from Kentucky, one from San Fransisco, and another from Boston. That makes five. You do the math.
The news from his manager should not have disturbed the young teenager as much as it had: his bright, attractive green eyes scanned the compositions that his writers had given him to memorize for the next day's recording session. This new band shouldn't pose much of a threat against him...
Then why... Thought the shadowed figure as he ran his fingers through his soft, smooth silver hair in slight frustration and tiredness. Why is this bothering me so much?
With a shake of his head, Riku Daijori -- the last name that hardly anyone knew, but the first name that seemed to be on every magazine and every pair of lips that owned a radio or television -- gathered the papers together into a neat pile, and placed them on the table beside his soft hotel bed with finalization. With one small breath the candle that had once illuminated the space around it went dead, and silent, and Riku climbed underneath the covers for another restless night. His eyes drifted closed, but before they were fully shut the moonlight shone on a single line from the compositions beside his bed pointedly:
...when I reach for you, your love lifts me up...
The line seemed photographed into his memory as sleep overcame him at last.
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Music used in this chapter is "Cadillac Dress" by Soul Decision.
The song lyric that Riku sings is "Where You Are" by Rascal Flatts.