Isangoma, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I do own this laptop that I wrote this one-shot on, at 2:42 in the morning on a Friday.

Warnings: Yaoi. LeonRiku and implied AxelRiku if you squint. Disturbing images. Not for the too light of heart. But it's not that bad. Really.

Isangoma means healer. But it can also mean witch doctor, which I thought was fitting enough to work. Random word I found one day.

I'm not sure where this short little story popped out from. I was going through old things that I didn't deem worthy enough to post up and I found this scrap with a line of the story. I planned to write it out, I really did.

Thing is, I had no idea how to make this a chapter story, and I didn't really know how to develop on the idea. So it'll remain as a one-shot unless I decide otherwise. It crept me out, so in the morning I edited it into somewhat normality.

It was actually going to be a 500 word drabble. xD But it got a bit out of hand, I guess. And it's pretty rushed.

Enjoy, and ignore the typos. (On that note, I really need a beta. Anyone interested?)

Isangoma

"We're all born insane. Some of us stay that way."

"Calling Doctor Leonhart… Please hold."

Crappy elevator music that was adapted to the telephone. The tile floors were a basic, shady white – the type builders always used to line places like this. One of the boxes was cracked, a dark streak of black lined with filth and dust filling the fracture.

It was a beautiful thing. It was imperfect. The psychiatrist had a lovely office.

"Calling Doctor Leonhart… Please hold."

A quick mumble. "He's not picking up." and a "Most likely busy." haunted his eardrums.

"Calling… I'm sorry. The number you have dialed is currently out of service. Please try again later."

That annoying serial number tone they put at the end of every infuriatingly rude operator message. It pissed him off so badly.

The spiky redhead ripped through the cone of ice cream he was eating. A bit too much salt in this batch. It helped him relieve his energy while he listened to his lover's doctor try to get through to his colleague.

The bastard wasn't picking up.

Having finished his cone, he turned to face his other – his Riku – who was still eating his own, carefully twirling his tongue to keep the edges from dripping. Youthful eyes looked to his own verdigris green shade curiously.

Axel smiled, different from his usually easygoing grin. The place they always went to made all their ice cream by hand. And the couple was good friends with the owners since childhood.

There was something endearing about having something old-fashioned that had been made by people they had known so long.

"Sir, I'm sorry. The doctor isn't picking up." A pause as the short-haired man noted the duo's clasped hands. "Would you like me to keep trying, or attempt to reach another one?"

"No, keep trying. Thank you." Axel nodded. "Only the best, right?"

"Doctor?" Riku turned. The two watched him. "Axel? Do you need a doctor?"

Axel shook his head and pressed his fore head to Riku's. "No, love. It's for you."

"Hello. Can I help you?" The lady at the desk had a friendly tone. She had unsoiled doe-brown hair that well in slightly altered waves.

"Yes. I'm looking for the room Doctor Valentine is in?"

"Ah, yes. He was expecting you. You can take the elevator to the eighth floor. Room thirteen."

"Eight thirteen. Thank you."

As he left to walk the short distance to the elevator, he wondered why Vincent had asked for him specifically. He disliked the city life – there was too much bustle and people bumping into other people without a care.

And the streets were gray, having been trampled on by a countless populace with dirty shoe undersides.

Bang. "Oof."

Did he mention people bumping into others?

"Watch it." He was younger than Leon himself was, with a narrower face. Piercing green looked up into his own gray, then slid down and settled on a place near his shoulder.

"Doctor, hm? In that case, I'm sorry. My fault."

The younger man helped him up, picking up his bag and handing it to him.

"Thank you." Leon figured he should be polite. It was an accident, and accidents were easily forgotten after all.

"No problem." He stopped as he settled his gaze on that spot near his shoulder again. His name tag. "Doctor Leonhart, is it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Ah." The redhead turned to walk away. "Take care of him, okay?"

"It's my job." Leon wasn't sure why he himself replied so quickly or why he didn't question who the man spoke about. It was like instinct.

The brunette watched the black-clad figure stroll down the hallway, casting a glance backwards and holding up a hand in departure.

"This is Riku. He's going to be your patient, aren't you, Riku?" Vincent had an offhanded way of speaking. He spoke to the younger teen in a careful manner that confused Leon.

"…I suppose so." The teenager replied. He was sitting in one of those plastic chairs that all hospitals had. Not that they were in a real hospital, no.

Just a place for those of hurt mentality. Delicately put.

"Riku, this is Doctor Leonhart. He's going to take care of you for a while. Is that okay?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. Wasn't the physician the one who was supposed to be asked if he had time? Not the one being looked at…

"Yeah. Okay."

"All right then. He'll be with you in a moment. Leon, could I see you in the hallway?"

The brunette made an agreeing noise in his throat before he was shuffled out into the hallway by the usually brooding intern with young features and dark hair.

"The kid needs help."

"He looked fine to me. What's wrong with him?"

"Riku's a strange case. He can be absolutely normal sometimes – perfectly normal. And even when he isn't he is." Vincent looked at Leon's expression. "You don't understand, do you?"

"Not at all."

"You'll find out, then."

"All right, Riku. You can call me Leon. We're going to spend a lot of time together for a while. Is that all right?" Basic psychology talk. Make the person feel as if he had an amount of control over any situation.

"Mm."

It was the first session. On a Thursday, at ten in the morning. Too early for late-night partiers, to be sure.

Riku's room was rather bare. There was a plain floor, an overlay of white. Riku's shoes sat next to the door, brand new sneakers of black and green that contrasted to the flooring. Leon's own were on his feet.

"So is there anything you want to speak about?"

"Shouldn't you pick what we talk about?" Good point.

"Want to tell me about yourself?"

That session was like having a civil conversation with his friends. Leon honestly couldn't see what was wrong with the kid.

It was Sunday. Four days since.

"Do you wonder sometimes, Leon?" Using him name made the question seem so much more personal. It was the first time his patient had addressed him personally. He paid attention.

"About what, Riku?" Using a person's name helped pierce their mind. Helped them open up – or at least gave the illusion that they were doing so.

"About…everything. Living. Dying. That there's a higher purpose?" A questioning glance of pure honesty. A head tilted let loose silver strand that fell haphazardly over the teen's shoulder. "It seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? That we all live, grow up, explore, and then die again?"

The teen was more talking to himself.

"Of course, there's that whole thing about religion. Finding yourself. I never quite believed in that shit, Doctor." A pause. "I'm sorry if you do."

So, he had manners after all.

"Then there are all those things we can't do anything about. Fires. Tornados… Diseases. More are discovered practically everyday, right?" He looked to Leon for confirmation.

He nodded.

"We're pretty weak, aren't we?"

And Leon couldn't help but agree.

And it all went downhill from there.

Tuesday.

He was running late. His car got stuck in the traffic of the city – which he still wasn't used to – and his apartment that his company had supplied him with was decently far away.

Riku was in a weird mood. But he was oddly cheery. He had seen the same redhead walk away from establishment while parking his car.

"I was thinking…" Of course he was thinking. There was nothing else to do in this lousy room that governments stuck people in. Leon swore; the white must eat up a person's personality pretty quickly.

He noted to pick up something to brighten the surroundings, or dull it in this case, as he made a noise in his throat to acknowledge the teen.

"…It would suck to get killed by yourself."

"Suicidal people, you mean?"

"No, I mean…like if you had a twin. Or you were looking in a mirror." A hum. "Doppelgangers could kill, then."

Leon left that day rather shaken.

"Hey, I'm leaving tomorrow." Riku said, cheerily (almost) for the first time Leon had met him.

"Good for you." Leon replied. He was truly fond of the kid – and glad that he had met him, even if he was officially uneasy for the rest of his life.

It was a good dream, that night.

He would make it happen.

"You know, I wrote a story once."

That was interesting. "Oh? What was it about?" Rule #17: Keep the target talking.

"I can't remember it all – it was quite vague, I think. But there was a person. He had brown hair and bright, excited eyes that were a little off-sight." He stopped, obviously wondering if Leon was listening.

"So he didn't have perfect vision?"

"No, but his hindsight was wonderful. Twenty-twenty, you know? But he didn't like that – so he chose to ignore hindsight, so he ignored foresight, too."

"What did he do?"

"He asked people to swallow their tongues."

That was so utterly disturbing. He couldn't figure out how they had gotten to this point of conversation.

"He couldn't figure out how to do it, you see. It turned out he was too cowardly to do so, in the end."

Riku paused, eyes oddly glazed.

"What was his name?" Is was all Leon could do to not pick up his things and walk out the door.

"There's a guy like him that stays in the…room across the hall." Riku pointed a finger out the open door. (It had taken a while for Leon to feel safe leaving the door open. Once he was sure that Riku wouldn't make a break for it.)

Leon was careful to walk well away from the other door when he left.

The hair of the child – child, because that's what he still was – resembled his clipboard. And his gun.

It was the all the same silver.

Strange how things could end up like that.

Riku's possessions were few. There were a few scattered toys – Leon couldn't tell if they were even Riku's, they were suited for much younger kids.

At least, that's what Leon had thought before he found a redhead with spiky hair sitting at the teen's beside, watching Riku sleep while holding a faded black teddy.

Black, because it contrasted with the white walls. Like the kid's shoes and the older teen's long trench jacket.

Leon closed the door and canceled the session for that day.

You have to trust to open up.

"Is that your family?" Riku asked, holding Leon's wallet in one hand and the end of the photo roll in the other.

"Yeah. Not sure where my mom went, but my old man's been taking care of himself pretty well."

"Oh. That's good." Another pause. "Are you okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Riku shrugged, and then shook his head.

A smile.

A smile turned into a grin turned into a laugh turned into a sheer giggle that was unnatural on any sane human.

"You're insane."

"Riku…"

"The world's insane. I didn't set the fire I didn't start the sky I didn't split – Mother… Mother?"

Leon didn't know what to say.

"Mother…? Would you love me now Mother?" A sharp grin accompanied by diluted eyes. "The grass is gone now, Mom. He's okay, see? I didn't break him, I didn't break him."

Leon ended the session for the day. He pretended he didn't see people in long coats walk into the room he had just left, the one behind them carrying a needle.

He ignored the fact that there were ties and clasps at the edges of Riku's bed.

"That was the worst. What did you say to him?"

"Nothing! I didn't say anything at all. He just looked at my wallet and started…" Leon thought about the pictures he had in there.

Leon was a psychiatrist. A damn good one. But this time, he was worried.

He drank a cup of water that night, and didn't gasp for breath when a few droplets were caught in his throat. He didn't give himself, the world the satisfaction of having control over him.

Or perhaps he was looking into it a bit too much.

When he held a hand to his neck afterwards to steady himself, he could feel his pulse trembling.

"We're pretty weak, aren't we?"

Yeah.

"You're an insignificant speck in the fabric of life, darling." Another pause, because they seemed to make fun for the kid. And he wouldn't deny someone who…couldn't feel any of it. "Get used to it."

A world that a person younger than him had opened his eyes to. In which everyone else was insane and he was a stranger standing idly by.

Leon hardly went out in public anymore. The child he had met was a prodigy, whom had surely taken his place among the reserved. If he believed in things like that, which he wasn't sure of because the silver-haired teen wasn't there anymore to tell him whether it was right or wrong.

He had so many questions.

"People like being close-minded. It makes them feel better."

There was a flash and an abrupt scene change.

"Thank you for taking time to talk with Riku. You've really helped him a lot."

"Really? He hasn't seemed to change at all since the first session."

"…Well, he never even talked to any of the other counselors."

Leon smiled sadly. "I guess they just weren't listening."

A nod and a shuffling of papers.

"Thank you. You really made a difference in the end."

Leon woke up in a sweat that night. He looked at the digital clock, because the clock with hand ticking away on his other side didn't glow in the dark and required concentration to read. Glowing red, boxy numbers read 4:11AM. On a Saturday.

It was too early. And it was a horrible dream – false hope was the worst anyone could hope for.

Nightmare. Nightmare.

The next day was amazing. Breathtaking.

Vincent had talked to him before he came into the room.

"I think that attack yesterday was a real breakthrough."

"Why? What changed?"

"I'm not too sure… Everyone else is really taken aback, too. But he just seems different. We ran some checks – everything's perfectly normal."

Leon didn't know what to say. Riku, apparently, had a lot of opinion on the matter.

"I'm fine now, you know? They ran tests."

"Tests?"

"It means you don't have to come anymore." Riku smiled, a true honest smile that brought out the shining in his eyes.

"They said I'm cured." Unbroken to begin with? "So I can leave soon."

"Ah." Leon nodded with a faint smile on his face that spoke of being comforted. "Is anyone coming to pick you up?"

"Yeah." An enthused nod. "My boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

"Do you mind that?"

Being with the kid for so long and just talking had opened his eyes. And he hadn't been streamline since he had first walked into the room.

"Not at all."

"I had a question for you. I wanted to ask it for a while, but wasn't really sure of how to…bring it up."

A raised eyebrow and a questioning look. "Shoot."

"…Well… Leon…Leonhart? Isn't that a bit redundant?"

The kid had a point. He didn't know what he had been drinking when he made up that name.

"It's a nickname, actually."

There was a pause as the nurse ducked in, grinned sheepishly when she realized she had the wrong room number, winked at Leon and left.

"So? Aren't you going to tell me?"

"It's Squall."

"Axel!"

"Hey Ri." A brushing of cheeks and an embrace that was really more like a hug.

"Ready to come home?"

"I…get to go home today?"

"Yup." A grin as he took in the silver-haired teen's expression of shock. "I set up your room for you and stocked up the fridge with all your favorites." He took his other's small duffel bag from him, hanging it from his arm.

A tilt of the head. "Blueberries, too?"

"Course." Axel nodded and pushed a strand of silver out of Riku's face and tucked it behind an ear.

"Riku!" Vincent called. "Come pack up." He ruffled the teen's hair when he walked over. "Sorry it was on such short notice. Axel wanted to keep it a surprise."

Leon looked over at the red-haired teenager, who was smiling from ear to ear.

They went together well.

When Riku left, Axel turned to Leon.

"You were his psychiatrist, right? I have to thank you."

"It's my job." Where had he heard those words before?

There was a laugh. Pure amusement was rare. But the redhead looked so happy.

"I'm a bit jealous of you, you know." Axel said, twirling Riku's duffel bag in one hand. The ease of which he did so spoke of the lack of things Riku had with him in that room.

"Jealous? How so?"

"Well, you were his doctor. You'll probably understand him in a way I never will."

Leon grinned, albeit a bit forced. He was reluctant to share, but someone who had stuck to the silver-haired teen for so long deserved it. "Just listen a bit harder."

It had taken three months. Riku had been there for six.

Yaay, happy ending! Confused? Yeah, I am too.

Axel has respect for doctors, because those are the people who were helping Riku. That's why he apologized when he saw Leon's name tag.

Vincent came out of nowhere. I never imagined him as a doctor. But…well, I might replace him with someone else as soon as I think it.

Leave a comment and I'll love you forever. Hated it? Review anyway.