Title: Love On A Rotten Day

Author: Slashapalooza

Disclaimer: Look! I've got a pencil! A sparkly pencil that sparkles! And says Riku-And-Sora-Make-Hot-Passionate-Love-24/7 on it!

Author's Note: Starting this because Kari has been poking me for, like, ever to get on with it. The long awaited Chapter 14. But first, a few things about this chapter. There is no smut. None at all. Well, okay, maybe just a little. There's loads of lime and implications, but I don't do details.

I'm very sorry. –looks sad and ignores Riku's screamed curses in a zillion different languages-

But.

I did write a lemon (because Kari is evil and blackmailed me with the puppy dog eyes). So, if you want to read it, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. But it's my first time writing one so it may suck!

Also, um, this is not the end of the story. Because lots more stuff have to happen. A lot more stuff. Hee. That is all! On with the fun!

Addendum: To my extreme horror and dismay, this chapter is twenty-pages long. Or eighteen without the lemon. Which is eight pages (or ten pages) shorter than the previous one. Which is bad. Because I have a system – each chapter is at least a page longer than the one before it. But all the stuff that was supposed to happen in this chapter happened and adding in fillers will ruin the 'flow'!

Dammit. Sorry, but this really kind of bugs me. Makes me feel all inadequate or something. Or maybe I'm just in a bad mood. Oh well.

I hope you guys enjoy it anyway, although it ends in a cliffhanger.

Thanks to:

Griever Weapon, SilverEmerald-DAS, hikaruS, greyspark, LordxofxPaopus0809, The Shadows Hide All, Anony mouse, DarkSailorSenshi, Jenni's Heart of Gold, Tama-Kitsune, Swordstuff, Riku, KruezTexture, Thaflaimingphoenix, WhiteLightning, KHFanatic, lilc, Senrae, AllmightyNano1, aiko, ChibiNekoSakura, DevilsThrill, Shattered Darkness, hikkix2, xcrossfirex, BadLuckShuichi, Ice Dragon3, ToysofLove, Haven-Hikari, Ink2, ChocoboLuver724, kuramasgirl13, LaDyPnAi, Queen of the Paperclips, A Warrior in Love, fezz368, KHlover, Rezuna Kitsune of Ice, Anukis-san, Xeora, Green Feathers, mystic-angel1, Insert Bad Cliche Here, LiLi-Sama, cammy-world, Insanehikari, JaninaKeks, MooNBlaDeR, sangariasweetness, Lain of the Weird, Riku's gurl, Kori Tenshi, Nightingale Dragon, Korbin, Hatsuharu, siverrain, Reader, XoBrYtToX, and everybody else who's reviewed in the last couple of days.

Too sleepy to reply to anyone… or do FAQs… or anything…

Date Begun: May 11, 2005

Date Posted: June 7, 2005

Chapter 14: And Everything's Alright

I think about your face and how I fall into your eyes
The outline that I trace around the one that I call mine
Time that called for space, unclear where you drew the line
I don't need to solve this case and I don't need to look behind
Close my eyes
Let the whole thing pass me by
There is no time to waste asking why
I'll run away with you by my side
I'll run away with you by my side
I need to let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride
Until this echo, echo, echo, echo in my mind
Until this echo, echo, echo, echo can subside, yeah
Do I expect to change the past I hold inside?
With all the words I say repeating over in my mind
Some things you can't erase no matter how hard you try
An exit to escape is all there is left to find
(I know I always loved you)
—Trapt's "Echo"

Warmth. Beautiful, wonderful, luscious, soothing warmth.

It was comforting, this feeling… he loved it. A light touch of lips trailing over his cheek while ghostly fingers danced across the back of his neck. It tingled and tickled and filled him with that delicious warmth.

He was caught between leaning in to those phantom touches and brushing them away in order to fall back into the beautiful serenity of sleep.

When those same ghostly lips suddenly began sucking at his pulse point, however, Sora found it very hard to ignore. His eyes snapped open as a light moan escaped his lips.

Riku had been up for quite some time, just watching the brunette sleep peacefully in the bed beside him. Finally, when Sora had begun muttering something about apple pie, Riku had found him simply too cute to resist and had begun to… play.

Sora shivered under Riku's ministrations, turning over to face the older boy and blinking exhausted blue eyes. "What time is it?" he asked, shivering again.

Riku didn't stop kissing Sora's neck for a minute; he slipped his hand over the brunette's waist and glanced at his watch, beginning to suck softly. He brought his lips to Sora's ear and whispered, "6:30."

"Too early…" Sora murmured, pushing Riku away from him and sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and glanced blearily around the semi-tidy room until his eyes landed on his boyfriend. "Why are you so horny in the mornings?"

"Hey, don't insult me and my insatiable sex drive. If you want to help, you could just get naked," Riku retorted flatly, sulking at the loss of his plaything – namely, Sora's neck.

The brunette rolled his eyes and smiled softly, leaning down and brushing his lips against Riku's. He pulled back when the older boy tried to deepen the kiss, his face very serious. "Riku, I'm hungry."

Riku blinked.

"Feed me," Sora repeated calmly, quirking an eyebrow. "What did you think I was going to say? 'Riku, oh wonderful studdly sex god, please screw me right here and now'? Good luck."

Riku sat up, trying not to look as though that was exactly what he'd wanted Sora to say. Instead, he got out of bed and grabbed the nearest shirt, pulling it on. Sora, who'd slept fully clothed, waited by the bedroom door while Riku pulled a pair of pants over the boxers he'd slept in.

Ayumi casually strolled past the bedroom, smiling when she saw Sora. "Finally, you two—" she paused and sniffed. "I don't smell sex."

"There was no sex," Riku said, unperturbed by his mother's bluntness. "Although, Sora did try to rape me—"

"MRS. MASAKI!" Sora cut in quickly, clinging to Ayumi's arm. "Food? Food, good, yes? Let's go to the kitchen and make lots of food! Lots and lots of food!"

Ayumi gave Riku an amused look, then nodded. "Alright, Sora, we'll go make lots and lots of good food."

Riku chuckled as the two headed down the stairs, waiting until their voices faded away. He walked over to the closet and pulled out the slightly beat-up video camera his father had given him before he took off for parts unknown.

Riku hummed thoughtfully. To tape or not to tape. That was the eternal question. As much as he tried to concentrate on this depressing issue, he couldn't stop the thoughts of Sora sleeping peacefully beside him, or of Sora laughing, or of Sora with food filling both his cheeks and making them puff out like a blowfish… just thoughts of Sora.

His Sora.

"Riku! Masakichi is making pancakes and waffles! You can have the waffles and I'll eat the pancakes, okay? OKAY!" Sora's voice erupted from downstairs.

Riku raised an eyebrow, putting his previous debate out of his mind as he headed down to the kitchen. "Who the hell is 'Masakichi'?"

Ayumi grinned. "Sora's given me a nickname since he refuses to just call me Ayumi," she explained as she set a plate of pancakes down in front of Sora. The brunette grabbed the maple syrup and coated the pancakes gratuitously before digging in.

He reminded Riku very much of a Hoover vacuum cleaner what with the way he was sucking up those pancakes and all…

Oh… 'Sucking' in relation to Sora… BAD!

He shook himself out of it and sat down, smiling as Ayumi set a plate of waffles in front of him. He wasn't very hungry (well, not hungry for food), so he merely stuck his fork into the waffles and pushed them to the side to continue watching Sora eat.

The brunette remained oblivious to this scrutiny and was enjoying his breakfast very much. Ayumi was an excellent cook, probably even better than his mother.

Which reminded him…

Sora set down his fork and swallowed the pancakes in his mouth, frowning. What was Seiya doing? She had yet to call him back to the house or make any contact with him whatsoever. Sora suddenly felt like bringing his breakfast back up. It took a miracle to make his mother angry and the fact that he'd managed to do it so easily…

He jumped slightly as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him out of his chair, into a warm embrace. Sora didn't realize he was crying until a tear fell on his hand. He moved closer to Riku and inhaled deeply, trying to calm down.

Riku gave Ayumi the subtle 'go away now' look. She nodded. "But, hurry up. The bus will be here soon."

He ignored the statement and waited for her to leave the room before sitting down and pulling Sora into his lap. He brushed his fingers through those messy locks of hair. "Hey, you want to go somewhere today?"

"Like where?" Sora murmured, his voice shaky. He pressed his face even closer to Riku's chest and sighed.

"I don't know. Let's run away together," Riku continued lightly, rubbing Sora's back to help him relax. "Just pack up some stuff, grab some money, and go wherever the wind takes us. It'd be nice to get away from… everything… just for a while…"

Sora didn't reply.

Riku sighed. "Yeah, I know I'm being silly. It seemed like a good idea when I said it, though," he chuckled a bit, looking at the wall.

Sora pulled away from the hug, looking at Riku intently. "It is a good idea," he said with a small smile. "Yeah. Let's run away."

Riku smiled back. "Okay."

-

Tidus didn't like dreams. His dreams usually involved the last person he wanted to be thinking about at the time.

So, naturally, he'd spent the entire night tossing and turning caught up in a tangled web full of Selphie-induced dreams. And they were the worst kinds of dreams, too.

"Tidus, help me! I can't hang on anymore! I'm gonna fa—AHHH!"
"Selphie! No!"

"Tidus!"
"Selphie!"
"Tidy-Whities!"
"Selphie-Bug!"
"I love you!"
"Aw… Selphie… we're in public!"

"FEEL THE WRATH OF MY
SUPER-GLOMP!"
"Ack! SELPHIE!"

"I hate you, Tidus Mihada! You bastard!"

"Hee… does Little Tidus need a little attention? Let me… take care of that for you…"

That last dream had been what finally woke him up in the end, exhausted and disoriented. And also extremely depressed that there was no naked Selphie hovering over him in bed.

Then again, he'd never seen Selphie naked.

He brushed his hair out of his face and looked at the wall where he had a bulletin board covered in pictures of Selphie, him and Selphie, and ticket stubs from movies they'd gone to see together, receipts from clothes he'd bought her, that cell phone bill he'd paid for her one time.

There were also hallmark cards and silly little presents that were capable of being stuck to a bulletin board and a nice heading: 'Tidus and Selphie For Life'.

He snorted at that.

He yawned and crawled back between the sheets, staring at the ceiling. Well, that relationship was as good as over, just like all of the other ones he'd ever been in.

But why did he care so much? That had definitely never happened before. Seeing girls cry didn't bother him at all. Neither did being hated.

But having Selphie cry because she hated him… something about that hurt. And he couldn't fucking figure out why.

Tidus rolled over onto his side and tried to get back to sleep. With luck, Dream Selphie would still be waiting, naked, for him to come back so she could finish her, uh, task. At least Dream Selphie never confused him this much.

-

"Let's have sex."

Leon didn't pull his head out from under the pillow. If anything, he crawled even further under.

Faced with being blatantly ignored, Cloud frowned and swung a leg over his boyfriend, pushing Leon onto his back. "Leon?"

The brunette grunted, but otherwise didn't reply. Cloud's attempts to remove the pillow were fruitless, so he settled for making himself comfortable and giving Leon a slightly worried look.

"Are you sick?" Cloud inquired, biting his lip. "Is it contagious? Is that why you won't look at me?"

"Get off me," Leon replied flatly. "If I wanted to screw you, I would have done it already. All I want you to do now, however, is get off me."

Cloud looked adorably confused. "Huh?"

Without warning, Leon suddenly shoved him, not seeming to care when Cloud went flying off the bed. Instead, the brunette pulled up the covers and curled up under the blankets.

Cloud stared at Leon's back, still looking extremely confused. Obviously he'd missed something. Or maybe he'd done something to make Leon angry? But he couldn't remember having done anything…

"Leon?" he said in a much more somber voice. "Are you mad at me?"

He'd learned that assuming things with Leon only led to trouble, so the direct route was the best way to go. Cloud decided to stay on the floor, just in case Leon mauled him for going near the bed.

"Not really," Leon answered, his voice muffled by the pillow. "Maybe you should go home or something."

"Go… home…?" Cloud echoed blankly. He frowned. It definitely sounded like Leon was mad at him. Leon probably just didn't want to talk about it.

Well, fine.

"Whatever," the blonde said flippantly, getting to his feet. "Have fun wallowing in your fit of self-induced misery." Cloud walked out of the room and headed towards the stairs, his hands jammed in his pocket and his head bowed.

What the hell had he done?

He suddenly crashed into someone and grabbed them before they hit the ground, identifying the person as Aerith. He steadied her, then glared at the wall for a moment.

It only took a three-second assessment. "Fight with Leon?"

"Yep."

Aerith gave him a sympathetic look and walked on to her room.

Cloud rested his back against the wall and then slid down to the floor, glaring at his shoes now. He was in a very dark mood and the only one capable of bringing him out of it was the one who'd pissed him off in the first place.

Then again, that was just how things went sometimes. Especially things with Leon. It was at times like those Cloud wondered what would have happened if he'd stayed with Aerith instead.

-

Sora had never run away from home before. He wasn't even sure if Riku was serious. But, given the circumstances, he couldn't wait to run as far away as his legs could take him.

They'd grabbed their bags for school, but, instead of books, their bags were filled with clothes, toiletries, a change of shoes, and bags of dry cereal. Sora was nervous as hell, but the sight of Riku checking the bus schedule helped him relax.

As long as he had Riku, he was fine.

Riku jogged back over to Sora and took his hand. "How about we go to Hokkaido? The country air might be good for us."

"Are we coming back?" Sora asked, voicing his fears and looking up at Riku trustingly. The older boy brushed Sora's hair from his eyes and smiled softly.

"Of course. As much as I want to, I'd never kidnap you from your family," he said reassuringly. "Now, come on. The bus will be here any minute."

Sora pulled some cheerios from his backpack and started to eat, resting his head on Riku's shoulder and yawning. It was still way too early.

Riku wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, causing a small smile to make it's way onto Sora's face. "Riku?"

"Hm?" the older boy answered, staring out at the road.

"Thanks," Sora said quietly. Riku looked down at him for a moment, then kissed his forehead softly, running his fingers through the spiky locks. Sora's smile widened as Riku poked him in the side, and he squirmed. "Stop that!"

Riku grinned. "Hey, it got you to smile, didn't it?"

Sora blushed, turning to look at the road, then hopping up. "Bus! Bus! I call the window seat! I hope they have a good movie!"

Riku laughed, getting up as well and waiting for the bus to pull up in front of them before following an excited Sora on. His mother was going to kill him for this. Skipping school to drive out to the country?

Oh yes. He was dead, dead, dead, dead, dead. She'd lock him in his room, tie him to his bed, then put a naked Sora just beyond his reach.

Although, he would definitely break the ropes to get to such a beautiful sight.

Sora took a seat near the back so the bus driver wouldn't get suspicious about what two high school boys were doing taking a bus during school hours and beamed, kissing Riku on the cheek.

"On to adventure!" he cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Bonsai!"

Riku copied his motions, laughing. "Bonsai!"

Sora crawled into Riku's lap and straddled him, wrapping his arms around Riku's shoulders and kissing him deeply. He pulled away, smiling, a blush on his cheeks. "Have I ever told you how great you are?"

"Not nearly as much as I tell myself," Riku answered, wrapping his arms around Sora's waist. They weren't the only ones on the bus. There was also an old lady sitting in the seat across from them.

But she was obviously either asleep or blind. One couldn't tell with those sunglasses over her eyes and all.

Blind or not, Riku didn't really care much if the hands sliding under Sora's shirt were any indication. Sora blushed.

"Riku! She could see—"

"She won't. Not if you're quiet," Riku murmured, leaning down and kissing the crook of Sora's neck. The brunette shivered and melted into a pile of mushy goo, at Riku's mercy. Riku was quite delighted.

After all, it was a long, long way to Hokkaido.

-

Seiya took a deep breath to brace herself for what she was about to do. What a horrible wife she'd seem like. What kind of wife wasn't even aware that her husband was in intensive care? If she didn't get laughed at, she'd be subject to some serious scorn.

This was all her fault anyway. She should have been suspicious when the letters stopped coming. She'd just figured that he was fine and they weren't sending anymore money because the last payment was enough to cure him.

That plainly showed just how wrong a person could be.

She got directions from the front desk and stepped into the elevator, staring at the wall. Once this visit was over and done with she had one more thing to contend with.

Sora. She was already feeling guilty for chucking him out of the house like she had, but she'd just been so upset she hadn't been thinking.

That was a trait that ran in the family. Well, she'd call Sora up later and tell him to come back home, then make it up to him the only way she knew how.

With chocolate!

The elevator opened with a ding and Seiya stepped into the emergency room, bracing herself and sighing.

-

Selphie hadn't left her room since she'd gotten home from her date last night and it was making her parents terribly nervous.

She'd come inside, in tears, and raced up to her bedroom, promptly locking the door and refusing any and all chances to talk. Her parents were worried.

Luckily, Selphie was not inside her room alone. Kairi had long since climbed up the tree in her yard and vaulted through the open window – injuring herself in the process. Now Kairi sat on the edge of Selphie's bed, her arm still numb, but determined none-the-less.

"So he had Leon and Cloud check up on Sora while you guys were out on your date?" Kairi said, absolutely outraged.

"Uh huh," Selphie answered, a few more tears escaping her eyes. "It was like I was getting in the way or something. So I ended it, once and for all. I don't even want to be his friend anymore! I don't want to feel like this ever again!"

Kairi nodded sympathetically, patting Selphie's head. "I understand. You cry all you want, dear."

Selphie glanced at Kairi out of the corner of her eye as the redhead stood up and poked her numb arm. Nope. She still couldn't feel a thing. Oh well.

"Where are you going?" Selphie asked, sitting up slightly.

Kairi walked back over to the window and put a foot through. "I'm going to go kill that Mihada bastard."

She glanced down at the street below and smirked. Tidus was walking past the house with his hands jammed in his pockets, purposely trying not to look in that direction.

"HEY MIHADA!" Kairi shouted. "CATCH!"

With that, she jumped out the window.

Tidus watched the psychotic girl fall for a moment before cursing and running forward to catch her. They fell backwards onto the grass. Kairi had knocked the wind out of him, but she was still alive.

Tidus glared at her. "Why the hell were you jumping out of the third story wind—OOF!"

Kairi kissed her bruised knuckle and glared at the boy she'd just punched. Tidus' lip was bleeding.

A small price to pay.

Tidus touched the wound gently, then glared at her again. "Thanks. I've always wanted a swollen lip."

Kairi's fist struck again. Tidus now had a black eye as well.

Before she could do any more damage, he rolled them over and pinned her to the ground, pulling a headband – which she recognized as Selphie's – out of his pocket and tying her hands with them.

Once he was satisfied that she wouldn't be able to escape, he got off her and stood. Tidus glanced up at the window, where he saw Selphie looking down at them before she disappeared and pulled the curtains closed.

"Obviously, you heard about last night," Tidus muttered, looking down at the irate redhead who was glaring up at them with rage to rival a serial killer's. He almost flinched.

"Obviously. How could you? And here I was thinking you were nice, but then you—" she cut herself off and frowned, thinking.

"You'll be apologizing forever, then."

Her look softened. "Oh, Tidus…"

The blonde stared at her, unnerved. Either she was PMS-ing, or she was always this psychotic. He was willing to bet on the last one. Who in their right mind went around throwing themselves through windows? What if he hadn't caught her?

"'Oh, Tidus' what?" he asked warily, looking back up at Selphie's window with a blank expression on his face. There was silence behind him. Tidus ignored it. "Well, whatever. At least you can't hit me anymore with your arms all tied up like that."

"All tied up like what?"

Tidus turned around to see that Kairi had freed herself and was now rubbing her arm and looking at him. He blinked.

"How did you…?" he began, then paused when he saw her poke her arm. "What happened?"

Kairi flushed. "I may have injured myself jumping into Selphie's room from that tree over there. I landed on a chair and hit my arm and now it's numb."

Tidus rolled his eyes. It was official. Kairi was out of her mind. He just seemed to attract crazy people. At least Selphie had been crazy in a good way.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. "I'll take you back to my house so my mom can take a look. She's a nurse."

He glanced back up at Selphie's window again, only to see her peering through the curtains. His expression softened, but only briefly before it turned blank once again.

Kairi was staring at him. "Tidus—"

"Let's just go," Tidus muttered, heading back home.

-

Leon blinked in surprise as he opened his bedroom door and spotted Cloud sitting on the ground in front of him. The two stared at each other evenly.

"Didn't you storm off in a huff two hours ago?" Leon asked, finally breaking the tense silence. He raised an eyebrow and leaned against the doorpost.

"Didn't make it past this spot," Cloud replied expressionlessly. He sighed. "Can I spend the night?"

Leon continued to stare for a moment or two longer before he shrugged and stepped to the side so that Cloud could re-enter the bedroom. "Sure."

The blonde made no reply, flopping down on the bed and staring at the ceiling while Leon silently shut the door.

"Did Aerith go out?" Leon asked to distract himself from the obvious tension in the room. "I haven't heard her… heavenly voice for hours now."

"I think she's studying. She walked into her room while I was out there."

"I see."

The silence stretched on. Even Leon was becoming uncomfortable. And that was a Herculean task, considering peace and quiet were two things he lived his life craving for. He cleared his throat, glancing away when Cloud turned to look at him.

"Are you going to tell me what crawled up your ass earlier, or what?" Cloud asked, sounding mildly irritated. "I don't want to sit here and stare at the ceiling all day. I have a life. Sure, 99.9 percent of that life includes you, but, hey, I can live without."

Leon raised an eyebrow, ignoring the pleasant way his stomach clenched at those words. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. Geez, you act as if you didn't know that already."

"Well, maybe I didn't," Leon retorted defensively, folding his arms. "Maybe I thought you were only in this for something else."

Cloud sat up on the bed, raising an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like—"

Leon was cut off as the door opened, revealing a very stressed out Aerith. She pointed at something in her workbook. "It's like they're speaking another language!"

"Maybe that's because that book's in English," Leon replied flatly, back inside his shell. "Do you mind?"

"Mind what? You guys weren't doing anything interesting." She froze. "Uh, n-not that I was, er, listening in or anything…"

Cloud and Leon exchanged looks before Cloud sighed and stood, walking over to Aerith. "Come on, then. I'll help you out."

Leon watched them go, closing the door behind them and then falling back on the bed, desperately needing some aspirin.

-

"I can't believe we drove all the way to Sapporo City! And on a school day!" Sora whined as the bus drove away, leaving the two boys in front of the Prince Hotel. "Well, actually, school night now."

Riku glanced up at the sky. It was dark and the stars were starting to come out. Getting to Hokkaido had taken longer than he'd thought it would, although he supposed he was to blame for that.

The old lady hadn't been blind and she'd woken up to find two shirtless boys making out in the bus seat across from her. She'd spent an hour lecturing them, then three more lecturing the poor bus driver.

They were lucky the bus driver hadn't kicked them off on the spot.

"Your mom is going to kill you! This was all your idea!" Sora continued, pointing at Riku. The older boy didn't seem to be listening, though. He was now looking at the hotel. "Riku! Would you pay attention when I'm yelling at you?"

"How about we stay here the night?" Riku asked, pointing at the tall, lit building. "I brought some money. It should be enough for one night."

Sora gaped. "Are you crazy! We've got to go home! It's 9 P.M., Riku! We're probably in so much trouble and you're thinking of checking us into a hotel!"

"Well. Yes," Riku said simply. "That was the last bus back to Aomori. We're stuck here until morning."

"AND YOU DECIDE TO TELL ME THIS NOW?"

"I was… preoccupied on the bus, okay?" Riku argued, grabbing Sora's shoulders and turning him around. "Just go. I'll take all the blame from our mothers tomorrow. Tonight, we're staying here."

Sora muttered a wide array of colorful curses under his breath, some things Riku hadn't even been aware he knew. And, as fascinating as it was to listen to, it meant Sora was mad at him, which wasn't a good thing.

Oh well. He could worry about that later.

He booked them a Standard Twin Room B in the tower for 18,000 yen and led Sora into the elevator. The brunette had finally stopped cursing in favor of looking around the hotel in wonder and amazement. It truly was a sight to behold.

"Riku… I smell food…" Sora murmured, sniffing as the elevator doors closed. "…And now I don't."

Sora didn't get an opportunity to say much else, considering Riku had pinned him up against the elevator wall and had fused their lips together and all. Not that Sora minded.

The other five occupants of the elevator, however, did.

It was a great relief to everyone when Riku pulled away to announce that this was their floor and pulled Sora off the elevator.

-

Seiya entered the hospital room where they were keeping her husband and nearly collapsed to the ground.

He looked an awful mess with tubes everywhere and a machine hooked up to his arm. It was exactly like those hospital scenes in the movies and, while Seiya had always enjoyed a good drama, seeing her own husband like this was almost enough to break her.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the bed. The nurse had said she only had twenty minutes before visiting hours were over. It wasn't her fault she'd gotten so nervous she'd ended up riding the elevator up and down until she worked up the courage to finally come in here.

Seiya reached over and brushed his matted her out of his face. "Oh, Jiro… I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have taken Sora with me on that business trip or called a babysitter or something."

Naturally, the man didn't respond.

She opened her mouth to say more, but couldn't find her voice. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

A dull motion in her pocket alerted her to the fact that someone was calling. Not taking her eyes off her husband, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

"RIKU AND SORA ARE GONE! GONE GONE GONE GONE GONE!"

"Ayumi?" Seiya shouted, holding the phone away from her ear. She lowered her voice and turned away from Jiro, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"Riku and Sora didn't go to school today! They're M.I.A. I'll kill 'em! If they're not dead, mugged, raped, robbed, beaten, or maimed, I'LL KILL THEM!" Ayumi related, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Seiya frowned. "Missing? Where could they have gone?"

"I don't know! They haven't called! They didn't go to school! They didn't even tell me anything about this! Oooh, I swear to God, I'm going to—"

Seiya pressed a hand to her forehead. "Oh, this is all my fault. I'll call Sora on his cell phone. Try to calm down and I'll call you back if I get any word from them."

"Tell them I'm going to KILL them!" Ayumi said as her parting words before hanging up the phone. Seiya put the phone back into her pocket, then walked over to the bed, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her husband's forehead.

"I love you," she murmured, standing and walking out of the room, a determined look on her face. She was going to find those two and when she did…

She'd KILL them!

-

Kairi's arm felt much better after Tidus' mother placed some ice on it and wrapped it in a bandage. She, personally, felt the bandage was unnecessary, but Mrs. Mihada had insisted on it. Now, she was sitting in the living room and waiting for Tidus to come back from taking a bath.

His house was much nicer than she'd given him credit for. She did wish his mother hadn't left them alone, though. Surely, she could have gone grocery shopping later?

Tidus came down the stairs (fully dressed, thank god) in a yellow t-shirt and jeans, a towel around his neck. "Feeling better?"

"Much," Kairi admitted, shutting off the TV. "Thanks. Knowing me, I probably would have ignored it until my arm fell off."

"I'm well aware of how stubborn you are," Tidus muttered. His mother had cared for him too so the swelling in his eye and lip weren't as bad as they could have been. He'd surprised Kairi there and told his mother that he'd fallen.

It almost made her feel bad for what she'd done. Almost.

He took a seat on the other end of the couch, his feet up on the table and staring at the black television screen.

"So," Kairi said slowly. "Let's talk."

Tidus didn't reply.

"What's going on with you, Tidus? You're either a good guy gone bad or a bad guy with a slight good streak, but either way both you and Selphie are suffering," she continued, despite the silence. "You can't keep breaking her heart like that."

"Selphie and I are over," Tidus muttered dully. "It was never going to work out anyway. She's too good for me. And until I get my revenge on Sora, I'll never be good enough for her."

"Here's a wild idea!" Kairi said with mock enthusiasm. "How about you don't get your revenge on Sora?"

Tidus gave her a flat look before smiling humorlessly. "You're cute. So cute. If I hadn't already found a girl I'm in love with, I'd date you instead."

Kairi blinked at the emotionless tone. "…Was that sarcasm?"

"Duh."

Frowning slightly, Kairi looked back at the black-screened television. "You're very difficult, you know."

"Please don't start analyzing me again. Just sit there and be quiet. I know it's hard for you, but try, for my sake," Tidus snapped in irritation, narrowing his eyes at her. Kairi glared back, slumping down in the chair and folding her arms.

She would not let Tidus get the satisfaction of silence.

She spent the next thirty minutes coughing, whistling, sneezing, shuffling and making as much noise as she could without words.

-

"I really hate you right now, you know that, right?" Cloud asked as he flipped through Aerith's English book, frowning in concentration. He was somewhat fluent in the language since he'd taken the class already.

Didn't mean he liked reading/speaking it though.

"What did I do?" Aerith replied, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "If I need help, I need help. I could get Leon's help instead if it bothers you so much."

"Nah, he's testy right now," Cloud said, sighing and pulling out a sheet of loose-leaf. "I was about to find out what was wrong when Ms. Mary Sunshine, AKA you, decided to come barging in."

Aerith huffed. "Well, I'm sorry if I interrupted you and your sex toy."

"He's not my sex toy," Cloud protested. "It's vice versa."

Aerith rolled her eyes and tapped the English book. "Would you concentrate, please? I don't want to do bad in this class. I'm a Student Ambassador. What if we get an English exchange student?"

"Who cares? Americans are weird."

Giving up, Aerith flopped down on the bed.

Cloud pushed the English book away and stared at the wall. He hadn't heard any noise from Leon's room since he'd left. Either Leon was asleep, brooding, or dead. Cloud hoped it was the first.

Leon was adorable when he was asleep.

Smiling softly, Cloud stretched. "I'm tired. I think, for once, I'm going to go home. I haven't seen my bed in a few days."

"That's for sure," Aerith snorted from the bed. "But you didn't help me at all!"

"Well, you can't expect everyone to go around doing everything for you," Cloud replied sweetly. "Goodnight, beautiful."

He ran out the door and closed it just as something heavy and breakable shattered against it.

-

The room was beautiful, just like the rest of the hotel, and with a view of the city. Sora spent an entire ten minutes staring down at the bright lights of Sapporo City before Riku joined him, slowly sliding his arms around Sora's waist from behind.

The brunette leaned in to the touch, turning his head to the side to kiss Riku's cheek and beam. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Mhmm," Riku murmured, gaining a sudden interest in exploring every inch of the skin on Sora's neck. "Very pretty."

"Y-you're not even… looking…" Sora protested, squirming a bit under Riku's teasing touches. "Riku!"

It was obvious the older boy wasn't paying attention to a single word he was saying, so Sora fell quiet and let Riku continue showering his neck with love and affection. He didn't mind at all, really, and besides, it felt nice having Riku's arms around him like that.

Sora turned around in Riku's arms and kissed him deeply, catching the white-haired boy off-guard for a few seconds, before Riku quickly recovered and kissed him back.

It wasn't too long before Sora pulled away, beaming at Riku briefly before running over to jump on the bed. "I love this hotel! Can we stay and get married to the hotel, Riku?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Riku said with an amused smile, walking over to the bed. He pulled Sora to his feet, then sat down and dragged the younger boy down into his lap. Riku immediately wrapped his arms around Sora's waist and resumed his earlier actions.

Sora mewled softly, arching his back. "You're very affectionate today."

"Can't help it," Riku answered, nipping at Sora's collarbone. "You're too adorable to resist."

"Riku…" Sora murmured, shifting slightly. "Ah… um… Shower!"

Riku blinked as Sora suddenly got out of his lap, face bright red. He raised an eyebrow. "Sora, considering we haven't even fucked yet, I hardly think it appropriate for us to be taking showers together."

"No—not—argh! Me take shower, you just… just… argh!" Sora pouted, whirling around and grabbing a towel as he stomped into the bathroom, muttering about white-haired sex gods with insatiable libidos.

Riku sighed. "Soooooora, I'm loooonely."

"So use your left hand or something! I'm taking a bath!"

"Hff," Riku huffed, laying back on the bed. "He could at least take pictures while he's in there."

-

Seiya stood outside the hospital, chewing her pinky fingernail as she tried ringing Sora's cell phone. She'd taught him not to go anywhere without it. Hopefully, that had stuck.

It rang for a while – too long, if you asked her. Every moment that ticked by made her more and more nervous. When Sora finally answered the phone, rushing water in the background, she felt dizzy with relief.

"Hello?"

"Sora?" she asked, leaning against the wall of the building. "Where are you?"

The water sound got louder. Seiya imagined she must have interrupted him in the middle of a bath.

Well la-dee fucking da.

"Why the hell weren't you in school today? Is Riku with you? Where are you two? I swear to God I'm going to—"

Sora hiccupped nervously. "Er, h-hi, Mom. Er, um, well… you remember how I've always wanted to go to Hokkaido?"

"YOU WENT TO HOKKAIDO?"

"…Yes," Sora said meekly. Seiya's left eye was twitching spastically.

"Why?" she asked as calmly as she could. There was a long period of silence. Knowing Sora, he probably didn't know why he'd done it. She rubbed her temples. "Is Riku with you?"

The water stopped. "Um, yeah. We took a bus up here. We'll be back tomorrow. We're in a hotel in Sapporo City…"

Seiya's eye started twitching again.

"Listen, Mom," Sora said quietly. "I'm sorry about… about the letters… I just… you had so much other stuff to worry about and I didn't want you to be sad. I thought I could handle it, and I was wrong, and I'm really sorry."

Seiya closed her eyes, breathing slowly. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears when she reopened them. "It's okay," she breathed. "Just… get home safe, okay?"

"So you can kill me?"

"Yes. So I can kill you," Seiya replied with a grin. "Try not to have too much fun with Riku, now! All alone in a hotel…"

"MOM!"

"I'm only telling the truth…"

Sora made an exasperated noise. "I'll see you tomorrow! Goodbye!"

"Bye, Sora." Seiya closed her phone and closed her eyes once again, taking another calming breath. At least they were safe. They were safe and in another district, but at least they were safe.

She smirked. There was no way Sora was coming back a virgin.

-

Tidus was blatantly ignoring the girl standing in the doorway of his kitchen as he pushed the photograph into the garbage disposal, finding small comfort in the loud, grinding noise.

He'd gotten sick of Kairi's constant noise and movement and jumped off the couch, walking up to his room for something to take his silent anger out on. His eyes had landed on the mementoes from his relationship with Selphie.

Now, here he was, stuffing it all into the garbage disposal and saying his final goodbyes. Selphie didn't matter. No, she didn't matter at all. In fact, she was loud and annoying and whiny and demanding and attention-seeking and such a fucking martyr and…

Really cute and funny and sympathetic and always there for him, even when he fucked things up and…

He stiffened. No. That was over now. Selphie didn't matter. All that mattered was that asshole Sora and getting revenge from the heartbreak and humiliation and everything.

"Tidus…" Kairi said quietly. "Don't you think this is a bit extreme?"

"Shut up," Tidus replied, dropping in the ring she'd given him for no good reason other than 'it'd made her think of him'. She was always doing stupid things like that.

Stupid.

"Tidus—"

"I said shut the hell up, Kairi. You think you're so damn high and mighty, but I've got a newsflash for you. I don't need a goddamn psychiatrist, okay? So either shut up or get the hell out of my house," Tidus shouted, glaring at her murderously.

Kairi looked teary. "I was only trying to help…"

"Well, don't. I don't deserve to have friends like you."

Kairi blinked, unsure whether that was an insult or a compliment. Tidus turned back to the sink and dropped a postcard in.

"What was that?" Kairi asked hesitantly, walking over and sitting up on the sink. Tidus didn't look at her.

"Selphie had to go to Tokyo for a week. She sent me seven postcards from all seven days, express mail," Tidus deadpanned. He dropped a golden heart pendant in.

"And that?"

"She got Tidus and Selphie engraved on it."

"…That?"

"I took her to a festival and paid for us to take pictures in one of those booths. I kept half, she kept half."

"It sounds like you two were really close," Kairi whispered, pretending not to take notice of the drop of water sliding down his cheek. Too bad you have to push everything that's good away.

-

Sora stepped out of the bathroom, cursing his own stupidity. He'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes into the bathroom with him, so he was left to wrap himself tightly up in his towel and hope Riku didn't try anything.

Ha. Right.

His eyes swept over the room, searching for any sign of the white-haired boy. And find him Sora most certainly did.

Riku was sprawled out on the bed, just like he'd been when Sora had first gone to take his shower. However, in preparation of his own shower, Riku had discarded his shirt. Sora couldn't help but stare at the firm muscles of Riku's chest and arms, swallowing deeply.

Why did Riku have to be so damn sexy? There had to be some kind of law against that.

The older boy seemed to finally notice that he was being watched and rolled onto his side, propping his head up with one arm. An easy smile made its way onto Riku's face as a single lock of hair fell against his cheek.

"Should I get you a bucket for your drool?" he asked in amusement, raising an eyebrow at the distant look on Sora's face.

The brunette was in another world entirely, the picture of Riku perfection imprinted in his brain for lonely nights to come.

Riku smirked. "Oh, I see how you are. You only want me for my body."

Sora swallowed again, watching Riku's hand move to brush the offensive lock from his face. The white-haired boy then rolled onto his back again, his arms cushioning his head.

"Earth to Sora," Riku said in a sing-song voice, not bothering to glance in the brunette's direction. "Wakey, wakey. Earth to—oof!"

Sora pounced, knocking the air out of his aquamarine-eyed lover. He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against Riku's, his hands moving of their own free will. Riku stifled a snicker and wrapped his arms tightly around Sora's body, pulling the slightly damp boy down on top of him.

Sora pulled back slightly and took a deep breath, grinning. "Have I ever told you that I think you're hot?"

"Yes," Riku answered, his hand slipping under Sora's towel to trail teasingly up the brunette's thigh. "Have I ever told you that I think you're not wearing anything under this towel?"

Sora shivered under the tantalizing touches, pressing himself even further against Riku. "I-I… y-you might be r-right…"

"Might be? Why don't I just find out for myself?" Riku's smirk widened as his hand continued up, up, upwards until he brushed against a very sensitive part of Sora's anatomy, causing the younger boy to groan and buck his hips. Riku's face was the picture of innocence. "Oh, look. You aren't wearing anything under here."

And this is where the lemon would be if fanfiction-net didn't have morals.

Riku kissed Sora's chin and smiled sleepily. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Sora?" There was no answer. "Sora?"

He looked up, only to find that the younger boy was fast asleep. Riku smiled, rolling over and pulling Sora against him, enjoying the feel of a warm body against his own.

Sora sighed happily, deep asleep. Riku couldn't help but smile.

Meanwhile, the video camera that had gone unnoticed by Sora as he pounced whirred onwards, capturing the very private moment on film.

-

Slashy: I bet you all hate me, don't you?

Sora: No! -points at Riku- I hate him! How could you do this to me!

Riku: -dodges flames- Ah! They burn! I'm not an asshole! Really!

Slashy: Yeah, but Chapter 15 hasn't come out yet, so they don't know the reasoning behind your actions. Which means, until I update, you're an asshole.

Riku: Damn you, woman! Get to your computer and type!

Slashy: No time. Tests coming up, you know. Must study and all that.

Sora: -crying in the corner-

Riku: -sighs and puts on anti-flame suit-

Slashy: Yeah, so finals are coming up so I don't know when I'll update next. I'm really sleepy. And I want my Kari.