Title: Separate Lives
Author: Slashapalooza
Fiction Rating T: 13+ Unverified. Contains content not suitable for children. Suitable for teens, 13 and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.
Disclaimer (To The Tune Of Take Me Out To The Ball Game):
Riku and Sora fanfics
Make me squeal really loud
Put them together I beg of you!
I hear screaming and moaning from that room and
Please keep loving this fandom
The S/K shipping is dumb
Because SHE IS A STUPID BITCH
And we R/S shippers have FUN!
Author's Note: Heh, did you like my song? Let's see. Oh, right, I finally have a chapter plan for this story. And. Well. All I can say is… the Plot is evil. In fact, I think we should kill the plot right now. Not only do they not have sex at all in this story, but they also only kiss three times (without getting together I might add) and when they do get together… oh, wait, I really shouldn't ruin the story for you all. But, well, damn.
Riku: -glares at the plot-
Sora: -crying-
Plot: I love you, too.
Addendum: Oh, I'm glad you guys all picked up on that joke I threw in there! I found it at You guys are all so smart! Hee hee!
Also, chapters I'm really going to enjoy writing? Chapters four, seven, eleven, twelve, thirteen, sixteen and twenty-one. I think. I'm still re-writing things.
P.S.: This chapter is un-beta'd. Starberrie is still busy and I can't very well post LOARD until I post this. There's a system! A system! Well, that and I still haven't finished chapter 14.
Thanks To:
Emerald Enchantress - Nope. Other than randomly popping up to glare at Riku because she doesn't approve, Kairi isn't in this at all.
Jenni's Heart of Gold - Should I check your forehead for a fever? Obviously, you are either quite sick, or maybe you haven't read any of uzu's fanfics lately. I'm nowhere near as good as her!
KHlover - Yep. Tidus has 12 brothers and sisters. I can't remember if there's the same amount of girls as boys.
KyokiXKurama - Oh, don't feel bad for Tidus. He's thinking of forming his own basketball team or something cool like that.
Sunshine Pie - I've been going to private schools all my life! I needed Kari to help me out with all this public school stuff. How pathetic am I? P.S. I HATE THESE DAMN UNIFORMS.
XxX Chains XxX - You know, I seriously like my third person point of view better, too. First person is hard!
Animekittnyan – Sora's a bastard because his father raised him to be a bastard. Don't worry. With Riku's help, he'll grow to realize what a jerk he is and what a jerk his Daddy is. And then he'll get his heart broken. As for that second part… I like rich, spoiled brats?
And also thanks to RikuxSora, xcrossfirex, Shadow-Angel-of-Silence, DevilsThrill, PSYCH0tic, Momochi Zabuza, jaz7, Ben Jackson, kalizuta, LaDyPnAi, Elly Yuki, ChibiNekoSakura, Darkness Falls, no one special, Green Feathers, ChibiYuffie1, hikkix2, minamotogirl, MooNBlaDeR, LiLi-Sama, Staryday, Legolas19, kmwsweetness, kuramasgirl13, Riku's gurl, Tama-Kitsune, RuN-Fr0m-h3r3, Cafe Noir, WhiteLightning, Harauharu.
Date Begun: May 5, 2005 (CINCO DE MAYO!)
Date Posted: May 29, 2005
002. The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
Sora shuddered as he stood at the bus stop and waited for that big, yellow abomination to come and pick him up. His father hadn't been kidding about the limo thing, much to Sora's dismay. In fact, they went all out.
Sora was wearing one of his oldest white t-shirts and some jeans with holes in the knees (where the hell had his father found that!). His backpack had been manhandled until it looked old and ratty and his sneakers were extremely dirty.
But Sora had a tendency to do that to all white articles of clothing so that was okay.
He was positively miserable. He didn't want to go to public school. Public schools were dirty and icky and filled with poor people who couldn't afford good dental hygiene or bath water. At least, that's what his father had told him and since Sora had never spoken to a poor person before, he had no way of disproving it.
Therefore, it had to be true.
He sighed as he saw the bus ambling towards the bus stop. He wasn't anywhere near Destiny Islands. In fact, he was on a street corner somewhat near to the land bridge that connected Destiny Islands to the Mainland. All apart of his 'pretend you're poor' image.
It was absolutely embarrassing. Sora had half a mind to sue his father. It was possible. He did have his own lawyer, in case of emergencies. Sora's emergency numbers growing up had been for the butler, the nanny, the lawyer, and the FBI.
The bus came to a stop. Sora wrinkled his nose. The bus wasn't yellow. It was practically black. When was the last time that thing had ever taken the time to drive through a car wash or something? And they expected him to get on it? No way in hell.
An annoyed voice snapped him out of his self-pity. "Hey, kid, you're holding us up."
Sora looked up. Then he screamed. What was a giant, hairy hippopotamus doing driving a bus! That's it! Poor people were weird and scary and evil and were going to mate, multiply, evolutionize and kill all the rich people, then wallow in their own—Wait. That was a woman, not a hippo.
Woops.
Looking sheepish, Sora carefully stepped onto the bus and looked around. There were kids seated in almost all of the surprisingly clean seats, but Sora spotted an empty seat in the back and sat down by the window.
Now, if he could just survive the bus ride and then his first day of school, he'd be able to go home and plead with his parents again. All he had to do was take deep breaths, don't touch anything, and stay calm.
Most importantly, he would not talk to any of the evil, nasty poor people.
"Hey."
Or maybe he would…
Sora jumped, clapping a hand to his heart and turning his head so fast he got whiplash. There he saw boy with snow white hair and blue-green eyes, who was wearing a regular blue t-shirt and jeans. Compared to him, Sora looked poor.
"Um, yeah. My name's Riku. Riku Masaki. Could I sit here?" He asked, gesturing towards the rest of the bus and looking amused. "There's nowhere else."
Sora wrinkled his nose, raising an eyebrow. Well. He may have had to talk to poor people, but there was no way he was sitting with one until they got a few things straight. Sora was not getting involved in any illegal activities on his first day of school. "Are you a rapist?"
"Um," Riku said, slightly thrown off guard. "…No?"
"Are you sure?" Sora continued, pouting thoughtfully.
"Er, yes?"
"Oh, alright then. Sit."
Blinking in confusion and slight amusement, Riku took the seat next to Sora and shook his head, brushing the silky white strands out of his face. "You're a little strange in the head, aren't you?"
"Just a little." Sora admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head lightly. Riku chuckled and shook his head again. He dug through his backpack and pulled out a beat-up black sketchbook, opening it up and starting to draw.
Sora watched him for a moment or two before deciding spoke again. "Are you a convict?"
"No." Riku answered without looking up.
"Drug dealer?"
"No."
"A gangster?"
"No."
"Pimp?"
"…No."
"Shoplifter?"
"No."
Sora fell silent, seemingly satisfied. At least he wasn't sitting with one of those crazy poor people. His father had warned him about them. Selling drugs in the bathroom – or taking them. Giving out answers to standardized tests. Having sex in empty classrooms.
Oh yes. Nobody could say Sora was ignorant. He knew all about their evil ways!
Riku blinked as he noticed the devilish smirk on Sora's face. The brunette was snickering maniacally under his breath. Riku raised an eyebrow and took the time to look Sora over. Ripped jeans, messy shirt, dirty backpack.
He couldn't help but feel that rush of pity that he so hated to get from others. This kid looked like he was the poorest of poor. Riku was afraid he'd start lending out money if Sora wore the same thing to school tomorrow.
Besides, Sora was somewhat cute. And those eyes…
Blinking those thoughts out of his head, he glanced down at his sketchbook only to realize that his hand had been drawing without the presence of his mind. And he'd been drawing Sora.
He quickly snapped the book shut as the brunette turned and raised an eyebrow at him.
Riku coughed, shifting uncomfortably. "Um, so, Sora, you're a new student, huh? How come you're coming so late in the year?"
Sora looked back out the window and muttered incoherently. Riku barely managed to make out the words, "…kicked out of school" and "…bastards…"
The older boy chuckled lightly. "You got kicked out of school? What'd you do?"
"Flunked out of my classes," Sora said with narrowed eyes. "What do you think I did? You poor people and your perverted—" He seemed to realize what he'd just said and began stuttering, "Um, I mean… I didn't do anything."
Riku raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. Instead, he opened up his sketchbook again and let the crazy boy continue is insane ramblings.
Sora groaned and rested his head against the glass of the window. Good job, Harada, he thought, you're blending right in, now.
Riku blew his snow white bangs out of his eyes and stared at the boy standing at the front of the room. After their… interesting bus ride, Riku couldn't help but find Sora amusing.
Sora's cheeks were red and he looked very sheepish. No doubt, the last thing he wanted was to be standing before a group of rude students who were whispering about him. He looked like all he wanted to do was blend into the background.
Cute.
"Um… um… my name is Sora Harada," he said in a low mutter. "I'm, um, fourteen years old and, er, I'm not rich!"
Riku couldn't help but join in the laughter that erupted after that.
"Well, duh." Someone called out from the back. "Your clothes are evidence enough of that."
Tidus exchanged glances with Riku, then raised his hand. "You wouldn't happen to be related to the Destiny Island Haradas, would you?"
Sora flushed darkly. "Um, no. I, um, think they're mean, evil, rich, money-having people. Yeah."
Mr. Obana coughed, trying to hide the amused smile on his face. "Right. Okay, why don't you take that seat in the back behind Riku, hm? Riku, raise your hand."
"He knows who I am," Riku drawled lazily, stretching and putting his head down on the desk. "We've met."
Mr. Obana laughed, then pretended to look horrified. "Dear god, you didn't molest him did you?"
Riku gave Sora an amused look, a fake sultry expression on his face as he purred, "Not yet."
Sora was blushing so hard, he was afraid he'd stay red for the rest of his life and then he'd get entered in one of those freak shows as the Amazing Lobster Boy who couldn't stop blushing—
But he was getting a bit side-tracked.
He walked past the snickering students to the back of his room, sinking down in his seat and pulling out a notebook to hide his red face with. Riku turned in his seat, smiling softly.
"Hey, we were just kidding, you know? I'm not going to molest you." Riku reassured him, the smile widening. "I promise."
Sora met Riku's eyes over the top of his notebook and blushed all over again, disappearing behind the book once more.
Riku chuckled. "You're weird."
Yeah, Sora thought darkly, well, you're poor and that's way worse.
"You're kidding, right?" Tidus asked, his voice incredulous. "It's one thing to let Wakka sit with us, but the new kid is, like, freakish. And look at his clothes. How could his parents let him leave the house like that?"
Riku rolled his eyes. "Tidus, he's a poor, unfortunate soul. The least we could do is take him under our wing and—"
"You think he's cute, don't you?" the blonde cut in, giving Riku a knowing look. When Riku didn't deny it, Tidus scoffed. "You're so predictable."
"Hff. The fact that I find him cute doesn't mean anything. He's straight; I can tell." Riku said, trying not to pout. Tidus would start mocking him and claim that he looked more like a puffer fish than a sad puppy in need of cuddling.
Riku could start on what Tidus looked like when he made of his different faces, but he had manners.
"Fine, fine," Tidus conceded at last. "But I don't like this. There's something really off about that kid."
"Uh huh." Riku had spotted Sora over by the vending machine and had stopped paying attention to what Tidus was saying. He quickly headed over to the brunette, who was now pounding on the machine.
"Stupid… piece of crap… want my Cool Ranch Doritos… grr…" Sora muttered, hitting the machine even harder. "Stupid things worked at my old school… then again, this one is really—" he finally took notice of Riku's presence and blinked. "Er?"
Riku chuckled and, with one intricately maneuvered strike from Riku's hand, the bag of chips fell down. He pulled it out and handed it to Sora, looking as friendly as possible. "Hey, Tidus – this is Tidus – and I were wondering if you wanted to eat lunch with us."
Sora's eyes switched from Riku's calm smile to the suspicious scowl on Tidus's face. Sora frowned right back. "You and Tidus?"
"Well, mostly me," Riku amended, jabbing Tidus in the stomach to get the blonde to loosen up. "Ignore him. He's constipated."
"Um… that's nice…" Sora said, eyeing Tidus carefully. "As sweet as that offer is, I'm afraid I can't."
Riku frowned. "Why not? Are you eating with somebody else?"
"No," Sora corrected, holding his cool ranch Doritos protectively. "I just don't want to eat with you two. In there. With all those roaches and cafeteria food that could be someone's recycled hand without us knowing."
"The cafeteria food isn't that bad," Riku argued, seemingly unfazed by Sora's first comment. "Don't you think the Health & Safety board would have said something about that?"
Sora rolled his eyes. "How would they know?"
"Riku," Tidus said with a sigh of irritation. "I think it's pretty obvious he doesn't want to eat with us. I, however, am hungry. Let's leave Mr. Creepy to go rot in a corner."
Sora glared at him. "Mr. Creepy? What about you, Mr. Fanny Pack?" He pointed at the article hanging around Tidus's waist. "I don't know if you were aware of this, but those went out of style with bonnets and Mary Janes."
"Oh yeah? And, what, did you roll in mud before you came to school or is it that your parents can't afford to feed you?" Tidus retorted.
"Ha. This coming from somebody who lives in the worst part of the neighborhood ever? Wow, I am so wounded."
Riku blinked, watching the two exchange insults back and forth and feeling an impending headache coming on. Okay. Sora didn't want to eat with him. But he sure did seem to like instigating him a lot.
Tidus clenched his fists. "That's it, you brunette baby! You want to take this outside?"
"I'm sorry," Sora said in a snobbish tone that fit him much too well for Riku's liking. "But I'm too straight for you."
"THAT'S IT!"
Riku quickly grabbed Tidus's collar and tugged him back before he was able to land a punch anywhere on Sora's body. The brunette's eyes flicked over to meet Riku's. "Why'd you stop him?" he asked, frowning. "Aren't you pissed at me, too?"
"Not really, no," Riku answered, ignoring Tidus' shouted protests. "I've learned that the way a person acts generally says a lot about their home life. No offense, but it sounds like your parents taught you to look down on others. That's not cool."
"You looked down on me first!" Sora announced fiercely, a glare firmly in place. "You're taller than me, dammit!"
Riku blinked. Then he started laughing. Even Tidus had forgotten his anger and was letting a few chuckles escape his lips. Riku finally let go of Tidus' collar and allowed the blonde to stand on his own.
Shrugging, Tidus turned. "Let's go. If he doesn't want to eat with us, he doesn't want to eat with us."
"Yeah, alright," Riku said, albeit extremely reluctantly. "Catch you in class, Sora."
"Bye bye, welfare victims!"
Tidus tensed up, but Riku grabbed his shoulder and steered him towards the cafeteria. Irritated, Tidus muttered, "He has the nerve to call us welfare victims when he looks like my mom after an all-nighter. Pfft."
Leon was exhausted.
Teaching wasn't something he'd particularly wanted to do when growing up, but after he headed to college, he could see nothing else that interested him.
Besides, one glare from him was more than enough to shut up any rowdy bunch of students. However, he hadn't had a free period to himself all day until now and he planned on savoring it, dammit.
He poured himself a cup of coffee, no sugar added, and took a sip as he looked at his companion. Yuffie Ayanami was the very enthusiastic gym teacher and also one of his childhood friends. The frown on his face as he looked at her didn't bother her at all. She'd be scared if he was smiling.
"…and then the ball flew over and slammed into my head!" Yuffie concluded, laughing much too happily for anybody who was beamed in the head with a basketball. "It was hilarious! I was dizzy for a while two minutes."
"That's nice," Leon said calmly, taking another sip of his tea. He glanced at the bulletin board where the principal was prone to leaving notes for the teachers and raised and eyebrow. "We have a new teacher?"
"Mhmm," Yuffie confirmed as she rummaged through the fridge for some chocolate cake. "New student, new teacher. It's a day of wonderful surprises, don't you think?"
Leon glanced at the note again. "Yeah, whatever."
"You know what? You need to smile more," Yuffie said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him. "I haven't seen you smile since… since high school!"
"Well," Leon stated, his eyes darkening considerably. "A lot of things have changed since high school."
Yuffie smiled sympathetically. "You miss him, don't you?"
Leon didn't even bother to acknowledge her question. He merely took another sip of his coffee and sighed. He walked over to the table and took a seat, pulling out tests papers and starting to grade them.
"Well, if you miss him so much then you shouldn't have accused him of sleeping around in the first place," Yuffie said placidly, going back to digging through the fridge.
Leon made a noncommittal noise, focusing all his attention on the tests.
Yuffie, having found her cake, hopped up onto the table and sat on it cross-legged as she watched him work.
Leon glanced up at her. "Don't you think you should act a bit more professional?"
"I'm a gym teacher!" Yuffie said with a laugh. "Being 'professional' means being hot, sweaty, and loud. Kind of like sex."
Leon choked on his coffee.
Giggling, Yuffie hopped off the table and pretended to sashay her hips as she walked towards him. She knew Leon was as gay as the sky is blue, but she just loved to get him flustered. They were so comfortable with each other that there were never any awkward moments after her little 'seductions'.
She leaned over him in the chair and placed her hands on either side of him, smirking. "Don't you think?"
Leon, who had finally regained the ability to breathe, was now glaring stonily at her. "Don't I think what?"
"That being a gym teacher is kind of like sex?"
"Are you trying to confess to being a pedophile, Coach Ayanami?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow as Yuffie toyed with a lock of his hair. He had his composure back and he'd be damned if he let her catch him off guard again.
"Well, considering I'm four years younger than you," Yuffie teased, trailing her fingers up his chest. "Then wouldn't that make you the pedophile?"
Leon opened his mouth retort, but the teacher's lounge room door opened and a shocked gasp followed. "Oh, uh, I didn't know there were… er… sorry…"
Yuffie started laughing, while Leon merely looked as calm as he could, turning to see who had walked in.
His jaw dropped.
"Cloud?"
Sora sighed as he stared up at the sky. He was outside in the school yard, which couldn't even hope to compare to his prep school's. However, he had managed to find a fairly decent patch of grass to lie down on, which was where he was now.
He frowned slightly. He'd made it half-way through school already and he'd gathered that he really couldn't stand that Riku Masaki.
"No offense, but it sounds like your parents taught you to look down on others. That's not cool."
Hff. How dare he judge Sora like that! Some people were just so snobby. Walking around like he was so high and mighty, laughing at Sora every chance he got…
How annoying.
Sora sighed again. If he had to be truthful, the real reason he hated that stupid Riku was because of how absolutely… kind he seemed. Poor people were supposed to be like Tidus – mean, rude, and scowling.
Not… not nice and friendly with really pretty eyes and hair that smelled like strawberries. Not that Sora was sniffing Riku's hair in class or anything.
Because he wasn't.
Well, not really. Riku hadn't seemed to notice anyway.
"Lowly freshman," said a familiar voice from behind him. "Wherefore art thou out hither when thou couldst be inside amongst friends?"
Sora leaned his head back until he could see a pair of sneakers, then looked up to see Riku looking down at him in amusement. He frowned. "What do you want?"
"I have come to grace you with my presence," Riku answered with a grin as he laid down on the ground next to the sulking brunette. The older boy raised an eyebrow. "Why so glum?"
"I don't like you," Sora said bluntly.
Riku grinned. "I noticed."
Sora glared at him, but Riku did nothing but beamed back at him. Pretty soon, Sora gave up and looked back at the sky, a hopeless look on his face.
Stupid, annoying Riku.
"So, do you always stay outside during lunch?" Riku asked, sitting up and opening his backpack. "I brought you some food to prove your misconceptions about our cafeteria food wrong."
"Oh, sure. Use big words like 'misconceptions' to confuse the new kid," Sora retorted, sitting up at the prospect of food. He watched Riku pull out a salad, two bologna and cheese sandwiches, an ice cream sundae, eight chocolate chip cookies and two cans of cherry coke. He tilted his head to the side. "You brought all this for me?"
"Well, I haven't eaten yet," Riku confessed, grabbing a sandwich. "I figured we could share and, you know, eat lunch together."
Sora fought down the urge to smile and instead narrowed his eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you supposed to be all rude and evil and shoving me into lockers and trying to take my lunch money or something?"
"I could do that," Riku amended. "But I think I'd much rather see you smile than glare at me all the time. Like you're doing right now."
Sora eased up on his glare and took a sandwich, carefully biting off a small piece in case his father was right and they were poisoned. When he didn't taste anything out of the ordinary, he took a bigger bite.
Whoa. The food was actually non-lethal. Not the best he'd ever eaten, but he didn't feel like dropping down dead or anything like that.
Whoa.
"Thank you, Riku," Sora muttered uncomfortably as he swallowed another bite. "I didn't really have breakfast. I'm starving."
Riku raised an eyebrow, eating his own sandwich. "So, why didn't you just come eat lunch with us? Or at least eat?"
Sora stared at the ground and didn't answer.
Sighing, Riku ate some more and didn't push the subject. Sora was harder to talk to than Tidus was when Wakka was around. Both of them got tense and clammed up, not making for good conversation at all.
He pulled out his sketchbook and began drawing absently since Sora didn't appear to want to say anything else. The brunette leaned closer in order to see what he was doing and Riku caught a whiff of chocolate.
He vaguely wondered if Sora tasted like chocolate, too, then expelled such thoughts from his mind before it showed on his face.
Sora frowned slightly. "You're an artist?"
"I suppose so," Riku answered, his pencil moving delicately across the page with practiced skill. "If what I do can be called art."
"I can't draw," Sora said, wrinkling his nose and smiling slightly. "I tried to draw a picture of my mom once, but she said I made her look like a fat, hairy pig." He laughed a bit. "I didn't do it on purpose, though. I love my mom."
"I love my mom, too," Riku muttered tersely. Sora blinked, wondering why the white-haired boy sounded so hostile. Scowling, he went back to his food, blatantly ignoring Riku until he got an apology.
He didn't get one. Riku closed his sketchbook and stood up, grabbing a cookie. "Later, Sora. I'll walk you home after school, okay?"
Sora muttered a quick "whatever" as Riku walked back inside the school building, then slumped his shoulders. He should have known not to be so hopeful. Poor people were bad and they snapped at you when you brought up their mothers!
Oddly disappointed, he went back to the food, scooping a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and mulling over the conversation to figure out what he'd done wrong.
He nearly choked on his spoon.
Walk him home after school? Damn!
Yuffie hummed cheerfully as she hurried down the hallway. School had just ended and there were still many kids hanging around. She had exactly one hour and thirty minutes before she had to show up to coach the soccer team.
One hour and thirty minutes was plenty of time.
She pushed open the door to the World History classroom, beaming at the blond-haired man she saw beaming at the desk. Then she attacked the aforementioned man. "CLOUDSTER!"
Cloud smiled slightly at the assault, the chair wobbling slightly from their combined weights. He let her squeeze the life out of him, then helped her to her feet, running his fingers through his hair. "Yuffie. Long time no see."
"Well, whose fault is that?" Yuffie asked in mock indignation. "Just because your boyfriend called you a scarlet woman doesn't mean you need to avoid me, too. I'm friends with both of you!"
Cloud winced guiltily.
Noting this, Yuffie turned the dramatics on high and even got her eyes to water a little. "I just… can't believe you abandoned me like that. And what was that in the teacher's lounge, huh? You just bolted off without saying hi. That hurt, Cloud. Does our friendship mean that little to you?"
Cloud winced again. "Yuffie…"
"So," she continued forlornly, before she broke out into a wide grin. "I think you should take me down to the café tomorrow for a little heart-to-heart. Your treat, of course!"
Cloud's left eyebrow twitched and he glared at her. "That was not funny, Yuffie."
"I thought it was!" The brunette countered with a laugh. "It's your own fault for being so stiff! Loosen up! Relax! We're in our prime! What're you? The same age as Leon and he's four years older than me so you are… Twenty-seven! That's more than enough time to go out, have a little fun, and get into Leon's pants!"
"I don't want to get into Leon's pants," Cloud said, frowning. "We were over a long time ago. I've moved on."
Yuffie's eyes lit up with the promise of incoming gossip. "Oh, dish! Who did you hook up with? Are you married? I didn't see a ring! Is there a Mrs. Stryfe? Or maybe… a Mr. Stryfe?"
"No," Cloud stated flatly. "I just meant that I'm over him. I will take you to the café, though. Maybe around four o'clock? I feel bad, keeping in touch with Aerith, but not you."
"That's probably 'cause Aerith's got the hots for you and I don't," Yuffie muttered, perfectly aware that Cloud could here her (and was now glaring at her once again). "When Leon had the hots for you, you never left his house. Did you ever come visit me? Noo."
Cloud twitched. "Yuffie?"
"Hm?"
"Get out of my classroom."
Mission one: complete.
Yuffie's eyes were practically radiating mischief. She couldn't help it. She loved to be sneaky. And, boy, was this ever sneaky.
She sighed a bit, wishing Aerith was there with her. They made the best team: Aerith came up with the plans in that calm, wise way of hers and Yuffie carried them out in that stealthy in-and-out-in-a-flash way of hers.
All in all, they made a perfect balance.
However, Aerith had gone off to college with Cloud and Yuffie had gone to a different university with Leon. She hadn't heard hide nor hair of either of them.
That is, until today. She had to resist the urge to squeal. After such a bad parting, she was excited to have Leon and Cloud back together. Oh, the trouble she could cause.
"Leeeeon, my looove," she called in a sing-songy voice, pulling open the door to the English classroom. Leon was busy packing up his things and didn't even bother to look up at her as she walked in.
"What?" Leon asked a bit harsher than he intended. However, he didn't make any apologies. It unnerved him to see Cloud again after all these years and was seriously putting him on edge. It was going to take a bunch of sleeping pills for him to even hope to get any rest tonight.
"Well, I was just wondering," Yuffie said in a wounded voice. "If you wanted to come get some food with me tomorrow. I mean, you looked so upset and I just wanted to make sure you were okay… yet, here you are… so cruel to me…"
Leon stared at her.
Damn, she thought. He knew her so well that her displays no longer worked on him. She quickly switched to a different tactic.
"Okay, fine. Don't meet me down at the café tomorrow at," she paused quickly to weigh the time. "Four thirty. I mean, whatever. I can always just post those pictures of you at that New Year's party back in high school on the school webpage. No skin off my nose."
Leon glared. "I hate you."
"I love you, too," Yuffie said, beaming and pinching his cheek. His glare intensified, but she merely laughed airily and let him go as she flounced out of the room. She closed the door behind her and pumped her fist into the air.
"YES! Mission two: complete!" She shouted, attracting the attention of the crowds of students around her. She blinked, looking at all of them, then looked coy. "Yeah, I know I'm hot. Stop staring, you hormonal pigs."
Laughing evilly, she raced off down the hall.
Had to get out of school. Had to get out of school fast.
Sora's mind was racing. He had to get out of the school building before Riku found him. Exactly how was he going to maintain that he wasn't related to his family if he led them right up to his front door?
His father wouldn't take kindly to that and Sora certainly didn't want any filth in his house.
He quickly shoved his books into his backpack and closed his locker door, making a mad dash for the front door. Had to get away. Had to get away. Had to—
"Sora! Wait up!"
Dammit.
Sora froze, swallowing and looking over his shoulder. Riku and Tidus were heading in his direction – one scowling, one confused.
"Where were you headed so fast?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow at the brunette. Sora made no reply and merely gaped at them like a fish out of water.
Tidus smirked. "I think I like you better when you're silent."
"Hey!" Sora protested, finding his voice. "Listen to me, you sorry blonde excuse for a—"
"Cut it out, you two," Riku interrupted, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder and steering him towards the door. "Let's just walk Sora home and get this over with."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tidus muttered under his breath, glaring at Sora when Riku wasn't looking. "As long as he keeps his mouth shut."
Sora ignored him, getting nervous again. What was he going to do? He couldn't very well lead these people straight to his house! He swallowed a bit, starting to walk in some random direction until he could figure out what to do.
He glanced upwards, noticing that they were heading back to the bus stop where he'd first been standing that morning. Upon further inspection, he noticed a faintly familiar house right behind the bus stop. An idea formed in his mind.
"Well, here we are!" he said loudly with a nervous laugh. "My house! A thing of beauty, isn't it?"
Riku and Tidus exchanged glances. "Uh, Sora," Riku piped up. "I know this house. The only person who lives there is the crazy cat lady and her cats."
Sora didn't let up. "Hey! Don't talk about my… er… grandmother that way! She was kind enough to, um, take me in after, er, my parents died in that horrible car crash so, uh, don't be so mean!"
Tidus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Oh, really? Can we come in and say hi?"
"No," Sora lied quickly. "The cats don't like you. They say you smell like dog."
Riku held up a hand before Tidus could make a reply and smiled slightly. "Now I see where you get your strangeness from. It's a family trait."
"Right. Okay, well, bye!" Sora hurried over to the house, relieved to find the front door open, and slammed it behind him.
He could still hear Tidus and Riku talking outside. "Weirdo."
"He's not weird. He's just… probably still going through the trauma of losing his parents?"
"Mhmm, sure. I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, dude."
"Yeah, bye."
Sora waited until their voices faded away before he allowed himself to relax and look around. And all he saw were… cats.
And an old lady standing three yards in front of him with a broom poised to slam him on the head with.
"Hands up, you hooligan!" the old woman said, eyeing Sora suspiciously. She had a distinctive Osakan accent, much like his mother's. "My cats said there was someone in the house. How did you get in?"
Getting bashed in the head by poor people wasn't high on Sora's list of things to do, so he put his hands in the air and swallowed. "Um, your front door was open."
The old woman waved the broom dangerously close to Sora's abdomen. "I've got nothing worth stealing so get on out!"
"I didn't come to rob you, ma'am! I need your help!" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a one thousand dollar bill which, to him, was worth as much as a penny. "If I pay you, will you pretend I live here?"
The old woman eyed him again, then nudged one of her cats with the broom. The cat stalked over to Sora, retrieved the bill and brought it back to her master before lying down on the floor and mewling softly.
The woman sniffed it. "Hey… this is real!" she eyed him. "You a rich kid?"
"Yeah…"
"Destiny Island boy?"
"Yeah…"
"What family?"
"Harada."
"A Harada?" the woman's eyes lit up. "Oh, I do so love your mother. She's such a darling. I'd be glad to help you, boy! I'm Mrs. Yamazaki. Come, have tea with me and my cats!"
Sora blinked. "Okay…"
"Oh, and here, take this back," she handed the money back to him and started walking down the hallway. "This I'll do for free!"
Sora blinked again as he pocketed his allowance. For free…?
Tidus dug his hands into his pockets as he quickly made his way home. He wanted to get home in time to make dinner for his brothers and sisters before they got home from the nanny. He was just glad their father was still paying alimony or they'd probably be out on the streets by now.
He didn't usually come this way to be honest. This was the long way home. But he felt he needed the time to clear his head and calm down before he accidentally snapped at somebody. He blamed that Sora bastard for pissing him off.
He acted so damn high and mighty about everything! It took all of Tidus' self-control not to bash the kid's brains out. Well, that and the fact that Riku wouldn't allow for any arguments between them.
Damn Riku and his peacemaking ways. One of these days, Tidus was going to burn one of his sketchpads and see if the white-haired boy didn't want to start a war then.
He paused in his walking as he heard music coming from a building and turned, peering at it. "The Paris Dance Studio…" he read, stepping closer and looking through the glass.
His breath caught in his throat.
Inside, was a lone girl wearing a black leotard and matching skirt, white stockings and black ballet shoes. Her hair was done up into two buns on the top of her head and she was twirling gently around like a ballerina.
She was beautiful. And so graceful… like some kind of angel on earth.
He took a deep breath and blinked, surprised to find his heart was pounding fast. He didn't have time for something stupid like this. He had to go home and take care of his siblings.
Oh, but he'd really love to stay and watch that angel dance.
He continued peering through the glass for a moment longer, noticing that the girl's bright green eyes were now fixed on him. He watched as she smiled brightly, then turned around and bent over, sticking her tongue out at him.
Tidus chuckled. Stupid angelic imp.
He stepped closer to the glass and mouthed the words, "What's your name?"
"Selphie," she mouthed back before going back to her twirling. He smiled softly. Selphie.
He checked his watch and cursed. Now he was lately, dammit! He ran off towards home quickly, still smiling.
"Wonder if I'll ever see her again…" he said to himself as he ran. Heh. He didn't really mind taking this way home again tomorrow. Or the next day.
Or, you know, forever.
Sora set a bowl of milk down in front of one of the gray cats, then headed back over to the table where Mrs. Yamazaki was busy placing two grilled cheese sandwiches. He still couldn't believe the woman was actually being nice enough to help him out.
And it wasn't even because of his money! That made two things about poor people that his father was wrong about.
He'd even gotten used to the cats in every single room after awhile. They were all kind of cute. Although, they'd probably be really hard to name since there were practically eighty of every type of cat ever.
"Come, come, boy! Sit! Eat!" Mrs. Yamazaki said cheerfully as she sat down. Sora plopped down on the surprisingly un-ratty chair and took a bite out of his sandwich.
Delicious.
"I didn't know Seiya had a son. I thought she only had two daughters: Kairi and Sora," the woman continued in an oddly amused voice, beginning to eat as well. Sora flushed. He was well aware that his name was a girl's name.
"I'm Sora," he murmured in embarrassment, eating some more. "My mom thought the name really fit me."
Mrs. Yamazaki looked like she was trying not to laugh. "It does. You're prettier than any girl I've ever seen."
Sora flushed even more. Quick to change the subject, he looked around. "So, where's Mr. Yamazaki?"
"Sitting on top of my dresser," she said calmly. "He's dead. We had him cremated."
Sora bowed his head respectfully. "I see. Sorry, I had no idea."
"Oh, there's no use dwelling over the past, m'boy! I'm all about the future! I haven't got all the time in the world left, you know!" Mrs. Yamazaki said with a laugh, setting her sandwich down and getting up to pour them some tea.
Sora watched her go, curiously. "Er… how do you know my mother?"
"Oh, I used to be her nanny before she went off and got married to that Yukito bastard. Never liked him. He wouldn't let me into the house after he found out I was poor. Bet he probably told Seiya that I moved away or something," the old woman said scornfully. "No offense, son, but your father is a pigheaded bastard."
"Um."
She turned and raised an eyebrow. "Which reminds me. What exactly is a Harada doing in this part of town? I was under the impression that you people never left your nice, rich little islands."
"I-I… I flunked out of prep school and the local public school was the only one that could take me in so late in the year. Dad told me to pretend I was poor, too, so I wouldn't get mugged or anything," Sora said rapidly, flushing again. "A-and these two boys kept trying to make friends with me and they decided to walk me home and I couldn't very well take them to my real house so…"
"You ran in here because it's right in front of the bus stop?" Mrs. Yamazaki filled in. "How like a Harada to be so resourceful. You're exactly like your mother, alright. Of course, technically, she wasn't born a Harada. She was born a Yamazaki."
Sora blinked.
Then he stared.
"Grandma…?"
"Yes…?" Mrs. Yamazaki hummed, a practically evil smirk on her face. Sora just gaped at her. "Bet your father never told you that, either, huh?"
"…This is just too weird. You're not my grandmother! You planned this, didn't you?" Sora accused. "You moved in right here because you knew I'd flunk out of prep school and run into your house! Admit it! You're a psychic alien monster!"
Mrs. Yamazaki laughed. "Exactly like your mother. Actually, I moved here because of all the cats. I love cats."
Sora was still glaring at her suspiciously. Mrs. Yamazaki sighed.
"Your middle name is Arima," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing again.
"Gramma!" Sora suddenly shouted, jumping his grandmother with a happy laugh. "I haven't seen you since… actually, I've never seen you!"
Mrs. Yamazaki laughed. "I've seen you. When you were just a little baby. I was at the hospital with your mother. Seiya did bring you over here once. Only once. After that, your father got involved and I haven't seen you since."
Sora pulled back and beamed. "Thanks for helping me, grandma. Now I know I can pull this off. Harada/Yamazaki style!"
"Power to the people!" his grandmother laughed as they gave each other a congratulatory high-five. Sora checked his watch.
"I've got to get home. My real home. I'll see you tomorrow morning!" he grabbed his backpack and quickly petted a cat before racing out the door.
Mrs. Yamazaki smirked as she watched him go. Yukito was going down.
Kari: "Okay, that officially makes Sora the worst liar in history."
Slashy: "Or the most slightly honest person ever, completely by coincidence."
Next Update: Part 003: Are You True?