Title: Love On A Rotten Day

Author: Slashapalooza

Disclaimer: I don't own Riku and Sora. I just borrow them to be my muses and force them to make out. As if they mind. Also, the name of Sora's mother comes from uzumakisama, whose stories you should go read!

Author's Note: I'm so glad people like this story. Reviews mean quicker updates.

Date Begun: October 12, 2004

Date Posted: October 12, 2004

Date Edited: December 16, 2007

Chapter 2: In Which It's Riku Day

'Welcome to Duloc, such a perfect town. Here we have some rules, let us lay them down. Don't make waves, stay in line. And we'll get along fine. Duloc is a perfect place.'

Sora rolled over in bed, groaning as he awoke to the sounds of his musical alarm clock. It played a new song every day, each one guaranteed to get stuck in his head or your money back. He'd gotten it as a present from Kairi and, for the past month, he'd gotten such songs as 'I Know A Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves' stuck in his head without fail. It was a very effective clock.

'Keep your feet off the grass. Shine your shoes, wipe your...'

"Face," Sora murmured, reluctantly opening his eyes.

'Duloc is, Duloc is… Duloc is a perfect place!'

"Sora, honey, you're going to be late for school! And shut off the alarm clock! It's getting on my nerves!" Seiya Harada called good-naturedly from downstairs. Muttering incoherently to himself, Sora rolled out of bed and began pulling on his clothes, his messy hair extra-messy from just waking up.

His room was a mess, he reflected blearily as he found one of his shoes behind his lamp and the other under his desk. He'd clean it and everything, really, but he didn't want to. Sora was of the opinion that his room didn't need cleaning until he couldn't find anything and he found things better when the room was a mess.

With a yawn, he shuffled down the hall to the bathroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and attempted to tame his hair. Failing that, he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Seiya beamed at him, a smile so bright it made him wary. The fact that she was holding something behind her back didn't help.

"Guess what?" she asked, smiling widening.

"Half the town blew up and we're all going to die?"

"No."

"Elvis is alive?"

"Nope."

"You got lucky last night?"

"Sora!"

Shrugging, Sora sat down in front of his bowl of cereal and gave his mother one of the cute, carefree grins he was famous for. "So what then?"

"Somebody's got a lover!" Seiya pulled a bouquet of flowers out from behind her back and shoved them under his nose. Sora crossed his eyes to look at the array of flowers, each with a card attached to them and his name written on the cover.

Sora blinked in confusion, taking the flowers from his Mom and reading the cards. "Blue Camellia – You're a flame in my heart. White Camellia – You're adorable, perfected loveliness. Fern – Secret bond of love; Fascination. Gloxinia – Love at first sight. Red Rose – I love you."

His face was, by now, redder than an apple. He set the flowers down on the table and looked shyly at his mother, who was trying unsuccessfully not to crack up.

"Mom, stop laughing at me!" Sora whined, trying to stop blushing. Who could have sent him those flowers? That message? Somebody was in love with him? Sora wasn't really the kind of guy people fell in love with. He was more the kind of guy who watched people fall in love in movies and longed for it, then blushed and sidestepped the issue when it happened in real life. Not that it ever happened in real life.

He pouted thoughtfully. Who could possibly be the one who had sent him the flowers? Who even would? The only people he knew of that had ever been even remotely interested in him that way was Kairi, until he'd told her he was gay, and Tidus, whose reputation had caused Sora to run screaming in the opposite direction. Maybe he was trying again?

"Sora…"

If it was Kairi, what was he supposed to say to her? She knew Sora was way into guys. He'd never really been into girls in the first place. They were too chatty and gossipy and were always talking about boys.

Sure, Sora did the latter a lot, too, but that was completely different. And, sure, Sora hadn't really had a chance to test out his sexuality since he'd declared it, but, again, that was irrelevant. He'd never be interested in Kairi that way.

"Sora."

But why would Tidus try again? He knew Sora had no intention of ever saying yes to him. Tidus hadn't known a thing about him when he'd asked Sora out. He'd only seemed to be asking because everybody knew Sora was gay and who was he to think Sora would be interested just because he was a guy?

Anyway, Sora didn't see the point in dating someone he didn't love and, given Tidus' reputation, it was highly unlikely he was in love with anyway. Tidus was kind of a jerk. And Tidus had a girlfriend that Sora felt very, very sorry for.

"Sora!"

He blinked, staring at Seiya in confusion. She looked very amused. "You're late for school."

"DAMMIT!" Sora shouted, falling off the chair and making the flowers fly everywhere in his rush to get out of the house. It didn't matter. The flowers were probably just a stupid joke that would die when they did. He shouldn't read too much into it. He'd only be disappointed.

"Should I put these in water for you?" his mother asked as he grabbed his coat. Sora turned and took one last look at the flowers.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, thanks."

And then he was gone.


Flowers sent and received, Riku thought to himself as he leaned against Sora's locker. He'd had to ask around to find out Sora's address, then look up flower symbolism on the internet, and then choose the right flowers to get his 'feelings' across. He'd belatedly decide to attach a card with the symbolism on each flower. People said that Sora was dense as well as a romantic.

There could be no mistaking what he was trying to get across. He'd bragged a month, but how hard could Sora be to get in the sack? It sounded like getting rid of him afterward would be the problem. His conscience complained at the route his thoughts were taking, but Riku stifled that. He'd had to stifle his conscience forever if he was really going through with this.

He straightened as Sora approached, so lost in thought that he didn't even seem to see Riku standing there. Now that Riku could get a good look at him, Sora really did look adorable. His hair was an endearing mess of spikes, his skin was tanned and looked soft to the touch, and those eyes. At least he wouldn't have to close his eyes and pretend he was with someone else.

Shrugging those thoughts away, Riku smirked as he met Sora's now-confused eyes. It was kind of hard not to notice someone standing directly in front of your locker.

"Uh…" Sora said slowly. "Um… hi?"

Riku adopted his 'I'm sexy and seductive and you want to screw me here and now' voice. "Hello. Sora, right?"

The boy in question looked twice as bewildered as before, then frowned. The frown came out as more of a cute pout, however, and Riku had to restrain himself from going 'aww.'

"No."

"No… what?"

"No, I don't want to date you."

Sora reached up a hand to move Riku out of the way, which Riku easily gave in to with a chuckle. The brunet began taking books out of his locker and ignoring Riku (as if that was possible).

"A little overconfident, aren't we?" asked Riku with a sly smirk. "Who said I was going to ask you out?"

Sora blushed, but he didn't say anything in his own defense. Riku watched him with smug interest, catching a flicker of red trapped between Sora's spikes. It took him a moment to identify it.

"Do you know you've got a flower on your head?" He pulled the petal from Sora's hair and held it up to him. Sora looked from the rose petal to Riku and back again, then slowly reached out to take it. Riku made sure their fingers brushed across each other before he let Sora have it.

Sora put the flower in his locker and shut the door, his blush returning as he turned to face Riku. "If you're not going to ask me out, then what do you want?"

"I just wanted to get to know you a little better, that's all," Riku said in what he hoped was an honest voice. "I saw you in Geometry and just couldn't keep my eyes off you. You're very cute, you know."

Sora looked indignant. "Don't call me cute!"

"Why not?"

"Because I hate it."

Sora's voice sounded so vehement that Riku decided to drop it for now. Sora stared at him as if searching for ulterior motives, but Riku's smile had lost some of its smugness and was now simply amused. Hesitantly, Sora smiled back.

"So-ra!" Both boys looked up to see Kairi approaching in a flurry of irritation. "I thought we were supposed to walk to school together. I waited at that bus stop for you for hours!"

Sora coughed. "I, uh, I was a little late so I ran to school."

"What made you so late, huh?" Kairi asked, putting her hands on her hips and frowning.

"I… got some flowers from a secret admirer…"

Kairi stared. Then she blinked. Then she broke out laughing. Riku watched Sora bristle until Kairi finally managed to calm herself long enough to ask, "No, seriously, what made you late?"

"What's so funny? I could have a secret admirer if I wanted to!"

"Someone has a crush on cute wittle Sora?"

"Don't call me cute!"

Kairi seemed about to tease him some more when she caught sight of Riku for the first time. "I-I… y-you… er… hi… Riku."

"I'm going to go ahead and guess you two aren't dating," Riku said with a thoughtful frown. "Otherwise, the thought of someone liking Sora wouldn't be so funny. Which, by the way, it isn't."

Kairi turned red, much like Sora had been a few minutes ago. "We're not—I mean, it isn't—let's go Sora!"

She grabbed Sora's arm and dragged the boy away. Sora looked back at Riku with an apologetic smile and Riku shrugged in response. There'd be plenty of opportunities to track down Sora during the day. And finding out that he and Kairi weren't dating was just another load off his conscience.

He waited until the hallway was completely empty before taping a red rose to Sora's locker and heading off to his next class. Phase one was complete. For now.


"He's good," Leon commented to Cloud as they leaned against the wall opposite the direction Riku had just gone in. The compliment just soured Cloud's mood. He knew how hard it was to get one out of Leon.

"He's lucky. Idiot brunet's taking a liking to him since day one," Cloud grumbled. "I don't know why you invited him to the table in the first place."

"You're just jealous. You want me all to yourself."

"Whatever!"

Cloud wasn't about to admit to Leon that the whole reason he was so against Riku joining their group was because Leon had invited him. Leon hated any and all interaction with other people. It was something he and Cloud had in common. The only other person who'd ever been invited by Leon was Cloud himself.

He'd been proud of that, seen it as a bond the two of them shared. But not anymore. Not since Riku came to the school.

"He's not going to have too hard a time of this," Leon said, brushing imaginary dirt off his leather jacket. "Might not even take him the whole month."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. We'll see about that.


Riku. Riku, Riku. Ri-hee-ku.

The silver-haired boy refused to get off of Sora's mind. He'd given up on trying to think of something else. Riku was as permanent a fixture in his thoughts as when his next meal was. What was Riku up to? He had to be up to something. Sora had seen him sitting at the popular kids' table. All of them hated him—except maybe Selphie, who didn't hate anyone. If Riku was their friend, shouldn't he hate Sora, too? Or at least be pretending to hate Sora to get in good with his new friends?

Maybe they'd rejected him?

Sora brightened at the prospect. Maybe Riku really did want to get to know him better. Sure, he wasn't happy about being the second choice, but, hey, he didn't blame Riku for wanting to be popular. If Sora wasn't so assured that he'd be a loser for the rest of his life, he'd probably try and be popular, too.

Of course, that happy train of that was immediately tempered by another, darker thought. What if Riku had given him the flowers? What if it was Riku who was trying to make Sora fall for him so that he could throw it back in his face?

Not, of course, that Sora was actually going to fall for him. All Riku had done was tease and confuse him. Sora hated to be teased and confused. Besides, Riku totally wasn't his type. Sure, he was gorgeous and had silky silver hair and intense green eyes and a body to die for. But none of those things had any practical use in a relationship.

Plus, Riku had the disturbing side effect of making Sora think like Kairi and that was just unacceptable.

"Sora, pay attention!" Kairi hissed, poking him in the forehead. "I need your help here."

"Sorry. Just thinking…"

"That's a new thing for you, isn't it?"

Sora pouted at the joke. He had no idea why everybody seemed to think he was dumb. He thought all the time. Sure, it wasn't about stuff like the Pythagorean theorem or Newton's Laws of Motion or whatever, but he had more important things to think about. Like whether or not Riku was trying to pull one over on him.

"Anyway," Kairi continued once she thought she had Sora's attention. "Like I was saying, what are we going to do about the dance?"

The spring dance was in a month or so and Kairi had, against Sora's will, volunteered the two of them to be the official dance committee. Sora hated dances; he always ended up going with Kairi, who'd spend the whole night pouring drinks or talking with her friends or dancing with some boy or another or hanging with Sora out of pity. He never had a good time and because he wasn't having a good time, then he'd rain on her parade. She'd never let him stay home from them, either, which just made dances even less desirable to him.

He sighed. "Can't we just give everybody a lollipop and tell them to get lost?"

"Um, okay, no. We've got to make this dance the best ever." Kairi blushed. "For Riku."

"Riku. Riku, Riku. Ri-hee-ku," Sora murmured, tapping his pen against his notebook. "Why are we centering the dance around him?"

"Because he's sexy."

Sora inwardly agreed, but there was no need for Kairi to know that. "Can you focus for, like, two seconds please?"

"I am focusing, thank you."

Sora rolled his eyes as she wrote Riku at the top of her paper. And he'd thought he was obsessed. Riku seemed like the kind of guy who was well-aware that he had this kind of effect on people. He'd probably be delighted that Kairi was giggling and writing his name in hearts and girly things like that. Watching it just gave Sora another reason why he wasn't into girls: give them a glance and suddenly you're married.

Finally, he reached over, took the notebook, ripped out the page, and tossed it over his shoulder. "We are not holding a Riku Appreciation Dance, Kairi. No way."

"I think that's a great idea," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Kairi and Sora simultaneously shivered and looked over at Riku as he pulled out a seat, turned it around, and sat on it backwards. Kairi bit her lip and tried to look cute while Sora just pulled it off naturally with the deer-in-headlights look he was wearing. Where had Riku come from? How could they not have heard him coming? Why'd he have to be so—so—Riku!

"Uh. Um. H-Hi, Riku. I wasn't… serious about the… you know…" Sora stammered, looking away.

"I still think it's a good idea. I mean, who doesn't appreciate me?"

"Somebody needs some antibigheaded lessons."

Suddenly, warm breath brushed over his ear. Sora's face flamed as Riku whispered, "Are you going to give them to me?"

He was too flustered to even formulate a response. He really hadn't meant for Riku to hear that. And, even if he had, did Riku have to respond like that? He felt like his face was on fire and knew that if he opened his mouth he'd do nothing but squeak.

"So… what're you two up to?" Riku asked with an innocence that didn't fit his actions.

"We're on the dance committee and we're trying to find an original theme for the spring dance next month," Kairi said shyly, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "Have you, um, got a date yet?"

There was a brief silence during which Sora, his stomach sinking a little, looked to Riku for his response. He knew he should be happy for Kairi—and for himself, since he didn't have to go if she went with someone else—but he didn't want her going with Riku. Maybe he wanted to go with Riku. He didn't, of course, but maybe he did. Or something. His head was hurting way too much to figure out why his throat felt so tight.

"I'm gay," Riku said bluntly.

A huge weight fell off Sora's shoulders, but the way Kairi's face fell made him feel guilty for being happy. After all, Kairi had liked Riku first. And Sora did not like Riku!

Kairi's smile didn't reach her eyes when she finally pulled herself together. "Why don't you and Sora go, then?"

Sora swallowed. On the one hand, he thought that was possibly the most brilliant idea ever. But, on the other hand, considering the way he kept jumping from one extreme to the other as far as Riku was concerned, he didn't think it was a good idea for him to agree to go anywhere with Riku until he figured out where his head was at.

Besides, it was obvious that if he went with Riku, then Kairi would go and watch them and feel sorry for herself because all the guys she ever liked were gay. Sora was too good of a friend to let her be a matyr.

"That's okay, Kairi," he said quickly. "I promised to take you, remember?"

She immediately picked up on what he was doing and narrowed her eyes. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Sora, you didn't."

"Yes, I did!"

They continued to bicker until Sora forgot what they were even arguing about in the first place. He ran his fingers through his hair and stood, frustrated. "Oh, forget it! I'm going to the cafeteria." He grabbed his bag, remembered Riku was there, and glowered. "Don't you follow me!"

Kairi grabbed her bag as well, equally frustrated. "Nobody wasn't going to follow you!" she snapped, storming out of the library ahead of him. Sora glared at her back, then stormed out after her. She'd gone to the left so he went to the right. He'd apologize later, when they'd both had a chance to cool down. Until then, he pitied anyone who tried to talk to him.


Riku, in the aftermath of the fight, was sulking. Had they seriously just gotten up and abandoned him? After ignoring him to fight about who wasn't going to the spring dance with him? How did that make any sense? He hadn't even gotten the chance to ask Sora if he'd like to go. The dance may have been a month away, but people were always more likely to get laid at post-dance parties.

With a small sigh, Riku left the empty table and went to go find some other way to occupy his time until study hall was over. A flash of white caught his eye; there was an envelope on the group. He easily assumed it had fallen out of Sora's bag since it had Sora's name on it.

Curious, Riku looked around the mostly empty library to make sure there were no witnesses, then opened the envelope and unfolded the letter inside. His eyes widened in shock.

Sora, he thought, feeling a wave of guilt. Oh my god.