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.
Translation: You shouldn't let your brothers and sisters read this because it could include violent behavior or speech, bad words that they will repeat in front of your parents, and sexual humor that you'll have to explain to them—then they'll repeat in front of your parents.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I wish I owned Riku and Zexion, the sexy Organization member that the Riku copy killed. But sadly, I don't. So I'm left to admire these silver-haired angels from afar. Oooh, man, are they sexy. Mm. Now if only my PS2 hadn't gotten stolen, I'd be able to play KH2 when it comes out and stare at Zexion and Riku as much as I want.
Damn thieves. They should be arrested and strung up in the streets. I WANT MY PS2 BACK! THIS IS CHILD ABUSE! CHILD ABUSE!
Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I'm lazy. Really lazy. But I always update eventually, don't I? It's actually kind of fun. I've never had a fan base before. I don't quite know what to do now that I have so many people, um, adoring me. It makes me kind of… blushy. But happy.
And, um. Er. Yeah.
Thanks To:
Lelith, Omnimalevolent, Riku's-Kitsune-Mate, MusigMistress, Tifa-sama, King Mana, Rou-chan, tomboy101, Wends, The Kawaii Rijekuto, Kris Destiny, takenawayone, animekittynyan, Sugahlei, RuN-Fr0m-h3r3, Queen of the Paperclips, DevilsThrill, MariQ, jaz7, FREAKnLOSER, akuma-river, ChibiNekoSakura, AirbenderSora, KyokiXKurama, Lain of the Weird, Hatsuharu, WhiteLightning, kmwsweetness, RikuxSora, Zract, and Shikuu Hitome.
Date Begun: July 30, 2005
Date Posted: August 12, 2005
003. Are You True?
Riku was waiting for him as soon as he got out of his grandmother's house. However, Sora didn't even bat an eyelash. He simply hissed, "Stalker," and went to stand beside the bus stop, completely ignoring the white-haired boy.
"Well, good morning to you, too," Riku muttered, sounding as though he was sulking. "I even brought you a bagel out of the goodness of my heart, but what do I get? Snark at 7 in the morning."
Sora glanced over his shoulder at the perfectly clean and edible looking bagel in Riku's hand, then at Riku himself. "You brought that for me?"
"Yes."
"Is it poisonous?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
Sora looked horrified. Then Riku began to laugh and the horrified look faded into one of righteous indignation. "That was not funny."
"I thought it was," Riku said, throwing the bagel to Sora and taking out one of his own. "Me and Tidus never have time to eat breakfast, so we usually alternate grabbing something from the deli near our houses. Today was my day so I figured I'd bring one for you, too, in case you didn't have breakfast either."
Sora took a bite of his bagel and looked out at the street. He hadn't had breakfast, although Grandma Yamazaki had tried to throw some eggs in his mouth. However, he'd missed it and it'd landed on one of the cats instead. Muffin hadn't been very happy; the scar on Sora's leg proved that.
"Thanks," he said reluctantly. "You're very... considerate."
"Just trying to loosen you up. The entire world's not against you, you know, no matter what your parents taught you," Riku replied amiably, sitting down on the curb and taking a bite of his bagel.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before a very dazed looking blond crossed the street and headed over them. Tidus, naturally, ignored Sora completely and dropped down on the curb next to Riku, holding out his hand for his bagel. Riku handed it to him and Tidus wasted no time in taking a huge bite.
"Did you get lucky last night or something? You're glowing," Riku said bluntly, raising an eyebrow.
Sora's face began to turn a pink color and he turned his head, trying not to listen to anymore of the conversation. His father hadn't mentioned raging perverted sex-addicts, but he had mentioned crack whores. Maybe Tidus was a crack whore?
"Something like that. It's just, I was walking home and I saw this really amazing girl..." Tidus said in a daydreamy sort of way. "She was beautiful."
"Did you talk to her?"
"Uh... well... no..."
"Interact with her in anyway?"
"I... um... mouthed my name and she mouthed hers back?"
Was that secret code for they spent all night making out? Mixing it up? Licking? Banging?
"Wow," Riku deadpanned. "Although, for you, that is a serious accomplishment."
"Shut up," Tidus snapped, devouring half his bagel. Sora made a face. Did he even chew? Did sex give you that much of an appetite?
Someone up there really liked Sora because the familiar sound of the bus approaching soon filled the air. Tidus and Riku wrapped up their bagels and Sora, who had finished his in nine and a half bites, just tossed his wrapped in the nearest trash bin and followed the two porn stars onto the bus.
You look… conscious. –Riku
Sora stared at the note that had just fallen onto his desk, then over his shoulder at Riku. However, the older boy was bent over his notebook, scribbling something that couldn't have anything to do with the class considering he was smiling and all.
Somewhat confused, Sora ripped a page out of his notebook and picked up his pen.
Barely. Maybe if they put a little more effort into their teaching, I wouldn't fail so much. Anyway, stop passing notes in class. It's rude and I'm trying to learn. – Sora
He flicked the note over his shoulder and looked back at the board, trying to memorize the name of some samurai during the Meji Era that blah blah blahly really blah.
That is, until another piece of paper landed on his hand. He rolled his eyes and opened it.
Oh, sure, because that incredibly bad picture of the teacher that you're drawing has soooo much to do with the lesson. –Riku
Sora tossed the note back with a simple reply.
Shut up. –The Guy Who Hates Your Guts
Sora ignored the next note that landed on his desk and merely brushed it onto the floor, giving Riku The Finger over his shoulder before staring out the window. He heard a quiet chuckle from behind him before Riku wised up and left him alone.
Sora didn't know what Riku's deal was. He seemed to be Mr. Personality, clinging to Sora every chance he got. Honestly, it was kind of getting on Sora's nerves. He wasn't there to make friends. He was there to learn until his father found him a better, more decent school to go to. One that was clean and poor-people free.
Although, Sora didn't too much like his prep schools. Everybody there was a total snob and they were always picking on him because he was scrawny and sort of girly looking (which Sora seriously resented because he did not, in any way, shape or form, resemble a girl).
At least here, people more or less ignored him. If they weren't poor, he might of actually been enjoying himself.
Of course, he could never tell his father that. His Dad might have a heart attack and die and it would be all Sora's fault. Grandma Yamazaki, though… she'd probably be delighted. And then dance around with the cats.
Sora still had a little trouble believing he was related to the town's crazy cat lady. Everywhere he went in that house was another cat whose tail he stepped or that he'd just tripped over. It was a wonder Sora hadn't bled to death yet.
A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. Riku leaned forward. "Want to eat lunch with me again today?"
Sora repressed the urge to shiver at Riku's breath on his ear. Shiver out of anger, of course. Anger. "You say that like I have a choice."
"I figured you may as well come willing today," Riku replied, amused. "And I'll take that as a yes."
To the extreme gratitude of Sora's body, he sat back in his seat and the warm breathing disappeared.
"So," Cloud said as he wrote the words 'rape' on the board. "Who can tell me what this word means?"
The teens in the room stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was for real. Then, someone in the back raised their hand and said, "Uh… screwing someone without their consent?"
"Very good," Cloud replied, writing the word 'pillage' under the word 'rape'. "Who can tell me what this word means?"
Another hand went up. "To rob of goods or spoils?"
"Excellent." The word 'plunder' joined the list. "And who knows what this word means?"
Another hand. "To steal?"
"Great. And the one thing all these words have in common is…" Cloud wrote 'Pirates' at the top of the list. "That is what pirates got to do every day of their lives. Rape women, pillage villages, and plunder treasure and ships."
"Awesome," the class said in unison.
"Exactly," Cloud replied. "Until they got their heads chopped off by the police." The bell rang. Cloud smiled at the horrified looks on his class's faces. "Tomorrow, we'll cover famous pirates and how they met their untimely deaths. Have a nice day."
He checked his watch after the last student had left. It was lunch time. However, he didn't want to go to the teachers' lounge. After all, Leon was probably in there and he didn't want to interrupt anything.
Or talk to Leon at all.
Sighing, he shuffled out into the hallway to go grab something from the vending machine in the cafeteria and eat it in his classroom.
"CLOUD! CLOUD! CLOUDSTER!" called an enthusiastic voice from behind him. Cloud turned, unsurprised to see Yuffie standing there. "Cloooooooud, can you help me?"
"Help you do what?" Cloud asked cautiously.
"Help me by giving me Aerith's cell phone number. I seriously need to talk to her," Yuffie said, her eyes shining mysteriously. "Just write it here." She held out her hand.
Cloud rolled his eyes and pulled a pen from his pocket, jotting down Aerith's cell phone number and then sticking the pen back in his pocket.
"Where're you going, anyway? The teachers' lounge is the other way," Yuffie asked, jogging to keep up with Cloud's long strides.
"Yeah, but the cafeteria is this way and doesn't have Leon in it."
Yuffie looked sympathetic. "You miss him, don't you?"
"Oh yeah," Cloud said sarcastically. "That's why I'm avoiding him like the plague. Shouldn't you be in his lap, molesting him about now?"
Cloud was well-aware nothing was going on between Yuffie and Leon. He knew for a fact that Leon was about as straight as a circus ring, no matter how many girls tried to change his mind. He'd never been much interested in girls anyway.
Or anyone at all, for that matter. Cloud, Yuffie, and Aerith had started to think he was against sex completely until he and Cloud had spontaneously jumped each other that wonderful day so many years ago.
"I should be, but I worry about you," Yuffie answered, reaching up and fluffing down a blond spike. "A big boy like you needs a little love in his life."
"Whatever, Yuffie." Cloud rolled his eyes and walked into the cafeteria, leaving Yuffie by herself out in the hall.
Cloud got himself a simple, healthy meal – two sloppy joes and a pepsi. Well, okay, it wasn't healthy by most people's standards, but considering Cloud wasn't the best cook in the world and he had to eat his own cooking (except in the rare cases when Aerith had time to come over and cook for him), this was the healthiest he'd gotten in awhile.
Having retrieved his lunch, he began to head back to his classroom to finish eating it. If he was lucky, Yuffie and had already left and he could finish out the rest of his day in peace.
"—And her hair was brown and in these two braided pigtails and she was wearing this beautiful outfit that just looked so good on her and she's absolutely breath-taking, if you could just see her, you'd never look at another boy again," Tidus babbled, his lunch completely forgotten as he stared out into space. "She's perfect and such a tease and—"
"Would you SHUT UP already? Nobody cares about your love life, or lack thereof!" Sora snapped, stabbing his blueberry muffin with his fork. "You've been babbling about this girl all day! Do you even know her name?"
"Of course I do," Tidus said defensively. "It's Selphie."
Sora's eyes widened slightly. He knew a Selphie. The Tilmett family was very rich and very prominent, though not as rich and prominent as the Haradas, of course. And, according to the gossip, Mr. Tilmett hadn't allowed his only child, Selphie, to date since her mother was murdered.
Sora snorted. "Good luck with Selphie. You'll need it."
Tidus narrowed his eyes slightly, but before he could say anything, Riku interrupted. "What about you, Sora? Much of a love life?"
Sora bit off a piece of his muffin. "Um, not really. I mean, my sister's set me up with a few of her friends, but those relationships never really lasted long. They thought I was weird."
"I wonder why," Tidus muttered.
Riku ignored him. "How come?"
"I don't know. Probably because I didn't really seem to be interested." Sora shrugged. "Like, I'd always think watching TV was worth missing a date for or something."
Tidus snorted. "And you're complaining about my love life?"
"What love life?" Sora shot back, pulling the fork out of his muffin and taking a bite of the blueberry goodness. "You don't have one, last time I checked. At least I've actually gone out with some girls!"
"Yeah. And they dumped you because you'd rather watch TV," Tidus said snidely. "How very mature and considerate of you, Sora."
Riku rolled his eyes. "Could you two get through one meal without going at each other? It's getting annoying."
Sora and Tidus glared at him, then went right back to arguing.
Riku sighed and stood, an action which went unnoticed by his two companions. He walked over to the garbage bin and dumped his lunch inside, putting his tray with the other empty ones to be washed while mentally counting to ten.
They were still arguing when he glanced back at the table. Instead of returning to play referee, Riku just left. He could just spend the rest of his lunch period in the art room. He, quite obviously, wouldn't miss a thing.
"—hiding from you in his classroom. It's so sad."
Leon tuned in to Yuffie's speech just in time to hear that small portion. He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement. "You don't say."
"Nnergh," Yuffie huffed, her hands on her hips. "You weren't listening to a single word I said, were you?"
"…No…"
"I said that Cloud is hiding from you in his classroom. What do you plan to do with this information?"
Leon furrowed his eyebrows. Who said he had to do anything? "Um… ignore it and hope it goes away?"
Yuffie made an exasperated noise. "Why must I always have to work out your problems for you? Would it kill you to take care of things yourself?"
"I never ask you to—"
"I mean, geez, you're a mature old man, aren't you? Is it that hard to walk to Cloud's classroom, take him in your arms, and say, 'Cloud, I'm sorry I was such a jackass to you in high school. I've regretted it every day since then. Please, let me screw you senseless and make up for lost years of post-coital bliss'?"
Leon's left eyebrow twitched.
Yuffie backed off. "You're still meeting me at the café today, right?"
"You'll hunt me down if I don't," Leon replied, knowing full well that it was true. And that it had happened before. There were advantages and disadvantages to Yuffie knowing where he hid his spare key. He'd stood her up for a meeting at lunch once and he'd awoken at midnight to find her standing over him in bed, holding a broom, which she proceeded to beat him with.
It had been a very traumatizing experience.
"And don't you forget it!" Yuffie said proudly. "I can't wait. This is going to be so fun…"
Leon raised an eyebrow. "What is?"
"Oh," Yuffie blinked innocently. "Er, nothing?"
Leon eyed her dubiously, but Yuffie was already busying herself with the plate of cookies in the center of the table and didn't even spare a glance in his direction.
Sometime after calling Tidus a mop-headed girl-ogler and getting kicked under the table for it, Sora seemed to realize that his least favorite pacifist was missing.
He blinked and paused mid-insult. "Where's Riku?"
Tidus blinked as well, looking around the cafeteria for any sign of the distinctive snow-white hair. However, Riku was nowhere to be seen.
"Eh… he probably went to the art room. That's where he usually goes when he's fed up," Tidus said with a shrug. His eyes narrowed. "And I am not a pot-bellied cow-raper, by the way."
Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Shouldn't one of us go after him? Like, namely, you?"
"What for? He'd just bite my head off. If you want him so bad, why don't you go after him?"
Sora frowned indignantly. He most certainly did not want Riku. Just because he was curious about Riku's whereabouts didn't mean he actually had any intention of making amends with him. If anything, Riku being angry with him was a blessing. Maybe now Riku would finally leave him alone.
Sora sighed. Damn his conscience.
"Where's the art room?" he asked reluctantly.
Tidus blinked. "Uh… second floor, at the end of the hall. It's right next door to the dance classroom."
Nodding his head, Sora trashed the rest of his lunch and headed out of the cafeteria, trekking up the stairs and locating the art room, exactly where Tidus had said it would be.
The door was open just a crack. Sora poked his head through.
Riku was sitting by the window, at one of the long tables. In front of him on the desk was his sketchbook and Riku's hand was moving over it rapidly. He appeared to be drawing his frustrations.
Sora slid into the room, tapping his fist against the door to alert Riku to his presence. Riku didn't even look up.
"What do you want?" he asked, his eyes focused on whatever it was he was drawing.
Sora walked over to the table, taking a seat directly across from the older boy. Riku's arm was blocking the drawing, so Sora couldn't see a thing. It was just as well, he supposed. The drawing was probably private.
"Uh… well… you seemed mad, so I came to, uh, apologize…" Sora said awkwardly. He wasn't used to apologizing to people. Usually, they were apologizing to him or were making snide remarks. "Um, sorry."
Riku's hand paused, but he still didn't look up. "What makes you think I'm mad?"
"Tidus said you always come up here when you get fed up."
"Tidus likes to run his mouth off." Finally, Riku's green-blue eyes lifted to meet Sora's gaze. He put his sketchbook in his bag and rested his head on his hand. "So, you came all the way up here to apologize to me? I thought you didn't like me."
Sora frowned. "I don't."
"Then why apologize?"
"Because I possess this thing you might have heard of. It's called a 'conscience'. Annoying, but necessary."
Riku chuckled. "You're weird, you know that?"
"Whatever," Sora replied. He hopped out of his seat and began exploring the room, fiddling with the paintbrushes, turning the pipes on and off repeatedly. He glanced over his shoulder to find that Riku was still staring at him and waved a hand. "Go on. Draw whatever it is you were drawing. I won't bother you."
Riku paused for a moment, staring at Sora for awhile longer. Then he pulled out his sketchpad again. "Okay."
The two boys fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally broken by a particularly hard stroke across the paper or Sora dropping an art supply. And, though Sora would never admit it, maybe he was getting a little used to Riku's company. Maybe he was even starting to like it a little.
But only a little.
Cloud was at the café by three fifty-five. He didn't want Yuffie to yell at him for being late as well as a bad friend.
If there was one thing he hadn't missed about the short brunette, it was her guilt-inducing habits. She knew just how to bully him into anything using her special brand of persuasion. It was incredibly annoying.
Still, she was a valued friend and even useful from time to time. Cloud didn't mind hanging out with her, in small doses and with plenty of aspirin in-between.
At exactly four o'clock, Yuffie bounced into the café and slid into the seat across from Cloud. She smiled at him. "Hey, Cloudster. So, how have you been? Tell everything and leave nothing out!"
Cloud rolled his eyes slightly, but smiled. "Fine. Graduated college with my degree in teaching and this is my first job. I've got an apartment a couple miles away from here, too. I didn't know you guys still lived in the area."
"Unlike you and Aerith, Leon and I didn't leave to go to college," Yuffie said, taking note of how Cloud winced slightly at the name. "Didn't think you'd ever come back, though."
"Yeah, well, I did. Come back," Cloud mumbled. "Aerith lives not far from here. She's got a nice house of her own and everything. I think she's on the prowl for a husband."
"So's Leon," Yuffie commented casually, ignoring the look Cloud gave her. "I think it's about time he settled down with the right blonde—I mean, boy."
Cloud's glare intensified. "Shut up, Yuffie."
"I didn't say anything."
A waitress stepped up to take their orders. Yuffie ordered a mocha latte while Cloud went with a simple cup of coffee and a scone. After giving her order, Yuffie immediately returned her attention to the uncomfortable blonde before her.
"Don't you ever think about him?" She asked. "Leon, I mean. And, you know, being with him again."
Cloud didn't answer.
"I'm sure you've missed him. I mean, he's missed you. A lot. He thinks about you nonstop. I think he's even starting to believe that maybe Aerith came on to you, instead of the other way around."
"If he'd just believed it when I told it to him, we wouldn't be here right now, would we?" Cloud said snidely. He sighed and drank half his coffee in one gulp the instant the waitress set it down. It burned going down, but it was worth it.
Yuffie sipped her mocha. "You two are too proud for your own good."
Cloud ignored her statement and stared placidly out the window, trying to keep his mind off Leon. It was hard normally, but it was twice as hard with Yuffie sitting across from him, reminding him about it every five seconds.
The blonde noticed a familiar head of brown hair standing by the doorway and looking around speculative. He dropped his coffee and sank down in his seat, hissing, "Yuffie, you didn't—!"
"Didn't what?" Yuffie asked in confusion, looking in the direction Cloud was staring in. She smirked. "Oh, yes I did. HEY LEON! OVER HERE!"
Cloud sank down further in his seat until he was practically under the table and no part of him was visible, excluding his hair. He groaned and listened to the conversation going on above him.
"Okay, Queen of Blackmail, why'd you want me to meet you here?"
"Oh, you know. So we could catch up on old times. And so you could meet my friend here."
"…I think the table ate them."
Cloud winced as Yuffie's foot connected with his shin. "Come on, sit up so Leon can see you."
Reluctantly, Cloud did just that, staring at the table forlornly and ignoring the gasp that issued from the stunned brunette standing beside him.
Yuffie smiled sweetly. "Leon, meet Cloud. Cloud, I'm sure you know Leon."
Cloud hazarded a glance upwards. Leon was glaring daggers in Yuffie's direction.
"Yuffie, I'm going to force feed you your whistle for this," he hissed, scowling. "And I'm leaving."
"Pictures," Yuffie said casually. Leon's scowl deepened and he slid into a seat next to Yuffie, who grinned and folded her hands. "Now, say hi to your ex-boyfriend of four years."
"Hi," Leon muttered.
Cloud blew his hair out of his face and didn't look up from the table. What a beautifully intricate design. What fine woodwork. He would really have to write a letter congratulating whoever had created this table.
Yuffie kicked him again. "Cloud, say hi to the man who accused you of sleeping around."
Two pairs of eyes gave Yuffie glares of death.
"What?" she asked with a shrug. "It's true."
The table descended into a tense silence. Yuffie sighed. "I'm going to the bathroom. Try not to kill each other and the first one to leave gets my sweaty gym sneaker crammed up his ass."
Cloud watched her go, then began toying with a salt packet. He frowned. You'd never think he was twenty-seven what with the way he was acting. Leon was no great enemy. If anything, Leon was just some fly on his shoulder.
Yeah. He had nothing to be afraid of. He could say something if he wanted to.
"…Want a salt packet?" he forced out after a few long minutes of courage-building. Leon shook his head and glared out the window.
Cloud sighed. I hope Yuffie comes back soon.
They ended up cutting class. While it wasn't Sora's first time cutting, being that he was well-known for hiding in the boys' locker room during gym class, it was his first time cutting at his new school. Especially with someone he was supposed to hate.
Even after the bell signaling the end of lunch had rung, neither boy was willing to break the companionable silence they'd fallen into, least of all to go to class. So they ended up skipping the rest of the day's classes, only moving when they heard the kids in the hallway talking about what they were going to do now that school was over.
Sora was the first to speak since Riku was far too absorbed in his latest drawing to notice anything. "I think it's time to go home."
At first Riku didn't respond. Sora was about to repeat the statement when, slowly, Riku blinked, transferring his gaze from his sketchpad to the brunette.
"Home?" Riku echoed blankly before reality seemed to catch up with him and he smiled. "Oh. Right. Want me to walk you home again?"
Sora rolled his eyes. "I didn't want you to walk me home before."
"So, that's a no?"
Sora walked over to the older boy and peered over his shoulder, but Riku quickly stuffed the sketchpad into his bad and gave Sora a triumphant look.
The brunette rolled his eyes again. "Whatever. I didn't want to see your stupid drawing anyway."
"Uh huh," Riku responded, standing and pulling his bag onto his back. "I wonder if Tidus has left yet…"
Frankly, Sora couldn't have cared less if Tidus was currently being run over by a circus elephant, but he didn't say that out loud. Instead he made a noncommittal noise and stood by the door while Riku got his things together.
As soon as they stepped out into the hallway, they spotted the blond in question heading towards them. Riku smiled again. "Hey, Tidus, gonna walk home with us?"
"…I'd love to, really," Tidus said, eyeing Sora disdainfully. "But I'm taking the long way home. There's, uh, someone I've got to see."
"The untouchable Selphie?" Sora quipped.
Tidus glared at him. "Yes. Her."
"Like I said before, good luck with that."
Riku sighed and shook his head, speaking before the two could launch into a full-fledged argument. "Okay. I'll catch you tomorrow then. I'm walking Sora home again."
"What? Can't he find the way himself?" Tidus asked snidely.
"You can't seriously think I asked him to walk me home. Do I look stupid to you?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"BYE TIDUS!" Riku interrupted loudly, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder and steering him towards the stairs. Sora shot one last glare over his shoulder before letting Riku drag him down the stairs and to the front entrance of the school.
"I hate him," Sora grumbled.
"The feeling's mutual, I'm sure," Riku answered as he began the walk. "I don't see what you two have against each other anyway. Maybe if you tried to be nicer…"
Sora glared. "You seem to be forgetting the fact that I hate you, both of you, and all you stand for."
"And what do we stand for?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.
Evil poor people who want me to let down my guard so you can… gangbang me or something! Sora thought. "Stuff. Stuff that I hate. Yeah."
Riku's eyebrow stayed up.
Sora blushed. "Oh, be quiet."
Riku smiled innocently and did what he was told. He listened as Sora muttered a variety of words under his breath and glanced over every so often to watch the brunette's cheeks turn a variety of different colors.
And then they were finally in front of Sora's house, upon which they spotted none other than the Crazy Cat Lady sitting on the front porch, feeding five of her sixty-seven cats.
Sora ran up to her beaming. "I'm home, Grandma!"
Mrs. Yamazaki eyed Riku over Sora's shoulder. "I can see that. Who's this? You look like that quiet boy who always stands in front of my house with the loud blond."
"That's probably because I am that quiet boy who always stands in front of your house with the loud blond. Ma'am," Riku added as an afterthought.
"Oh. Well. I'm Mrs. Yamazaki, Sora's grandmother. And you are…?"
"I'm Riku Masaki. Sora's… er… something…?" Riku gave Sora a plainly lost look, but Sora had busied himself with petting Fluffy the 8th and was blatantly ignoring him. "His… schoolmate," Riku decided at last.
Mrs. Yamazaki's eyes ran between the two quickly. "I see. Schoolmate. Yes. Would you like to stay for dinner? We're having fish."
The cats meowed in approval. Riku hesitated.
"They've already eaten, I swear," Mrs. Yamazaki continued with a roll of her eyes.
Riku smiled nervously. "Oh. Then, uh, sure. I'll stay for dinner."
She was dancing again, as graceful as a swan. Up on one toe, spinning around so fast he could barely keep track, then suddenly leaping through the air and straight into another spin, a dip, and pose.
It was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the person doing it.
Tidus vaguely wondered if he would get in trouble for leaning against the glass like he was, then decided that it would be worth it as long as he could watch her dance.
The dance instructor, a woman with really big hair, called for a break. Selphie traveled over to her bag and pulled out a water bottle, taking a sip, then spraying her face with it. That being done, she looked up and saw him.
The smile that erupted on her face made him smile in return.
Selphie put down her water bottle and sauntered over to the door, pushing it open just slightly enough to put her head through. "Hey. Tidus—right?"
"Yeah…" Tidus answered nervously, trying not to do something stupid. Like trip. Or like stutter. Or like—
"Want to come inside?"
Turn around and run away.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't talk to her. Because, maybe Sora was right and she was untouchable. And if she was, he definitely didn't deserve to be the one to touch her. Selphie was something ethereal. Maybe it was better if she stayed that way.
That and he had… had… to watch his brothers and sisters! Yes. He had a long, long day of babysitting to get through because his mother was going to be working at the convenience store all day and—and then she was going out for a drink with her friends and…
Babysitting. Yes. Nice, safe babysitting.
And maybe later, when Riku was finished following Sora like the obsessive stalker that he was, Tidus could invite him over and they could rally another war.
Right.
Anything to keep his mind off the fact that he'd just run away from what was sure to be the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his entire life.
Yuffie returned at least a half-hour later. By that time, Cloud was watching the waitress make coffee behind the counter while Leon counted the number of leaves on the bush he could see through the window.
Neither man had said a single word to one another after Cloud had stopped playing with the salt packets.
Yuffie stopped before the table, looking frustrated. "YOU TWO ARE SO IRRITATING!" She shouted loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear.
And the entire restaurant did. Many of the patrons were now pretending to be absorbed in their coffee, while really hanging on Yuffie's every word.
Cloud looked at her blankly. "Oh, you're back. I was starting to think maybe you were dead."
"Hit your head on the toilet seat?" Leon added, raising an eyebrow.
"Got a concussion?"
"Passed out on the bathroom floor waiting for one of us to come help you?"
"Except we couldn't because you told us not to leave the table."
"For any reason whatsoever."
The two seemed to realize they were working together and immediately fell quiet.
Yuffie sighed, aggravated. "That! That, you see? What you two just did! Why can't you do that anymore? It's not wrong, you know! I mean, in high school, you two were, like, the greatest couple! Why not now?"
Cloud looked at Leon.
Leon looked at Cloud.
Cloud spoke first, looking at Yuffie. "Can I go home now?"
The little pepper shaker inexplicably flew across the room and shattered against a nearby wall. Yuffie's death glare was its only eulogy.
"Fine. Go home! See if I care! You're both bastards and I hate you!"
Leon and Cloud blinked simultaneously.
Yuffie suddenly found it very, very hard to remain angry. Her anger dissipated with a sigh. "I'll see you tomorrow. Sorry about… today."
Cloud stood. "It's alright. I remember how crazy you are." He finished his coffee at last and began trekking towards the door, not even bothering to glance back at either of the two brunettes.
Leon watched him go for a moment, then held out his hand. "Pictures. Now," he demanded in a threatening tone.
"Bite me," Yuffie responded, running out of the café and leaving Leon with the bill.
There was a cat chewing on Riku's left pant leg. The sight brought Sora a small sense of satisfaction.
Of course, this satisfaction was fleeting as Riku was still in his house (no, he reminded himself furiously, not his house), eating his food and chatting with his grandmother like they'd been friends for years.
Just thinking about it was driving Sora absolutely mad. He didn't want Riku anywhere near him. He didn't want to think of Riku as anything else but that annoying, stupid, quiet, stupid, stupid, stupid boy who happened to like to draw and happened to smile a lot, even when Sora was being a total jerk, and… and…
Dammit.
Unable to deny that maybe some small, tiny, insignificant part of hit possibly didn't mind Riku's company as much as it should, Sora simply let himself be content with glaring at Riku as though hoping to melt his brain into a little ball of fuzz by looks alone.
Grandma Yamazaki pointed towards the stove. "There's plenty more food if you're hungry, Riku."
"No thank you, ma'am. I had a big lunch," Riku answered politely.
Sora's eyes narrowed. Liar. He had not had a big lunch. He'd barely even touched his lunch before tossing it in the garbage. And, now that he thought about it, Riku had not taken out his bagel after wrapping it up. At least, not in the two classes they had together in the morning before going their separate ways for another two classes and meeting up for lunch. Which meant that Riku had possibly not eaten his bagel, which meant—
And Sora gave a shit… why?
"You're going to starve and die," Sora muttered, unintentionally loud enough for all to hear. Grandma Yamazaki smiled a familiar smile that he usually saw on his mother's face. The one he usually associated with conspiracies having to do with his love life.
Riku paused, half-way out of his seat. "Sora. I had no idea you cared. At all."
Sora seized Riku's backpack and rummaged through it (reluctantly keeping his hands away from the sketchpad full of mysterious artwork), until, yes, his fingers wrapped around a familiar package and he pulled it out, waving it in the air.
"What is this?" he demanded accusingly.
Riku averted his eyes, looking decidedly guilty. "Eh… a bagel?"
"Whose bagel?"
"…My bagel?"
"The one you didn't eat for breakfast?"
"…possibly…"
"And what'd you have for lunch?"
"…uh…"
"Nothing." Sora pointed to the uneaten fish on Riku's plate. "What're you going to do with that?"
"…wrap it up and save it for later?"
The brunette sank back down in his seat and scowled. "You're going to starve and die."
Grandma Yamazaki clasped her hands together. "Ah… well… shall I wrap that up for you before the cats eat it?"
"Um, yes ma'am," Riku said sheepishly, casting furtive glances at a sulking Sora every so often. "…thanks for dinner, even though I didn't eat very much."
Grandma Yamazaki handed Riku a bag with the container holding his fish inside. "Oh, it's quite alright. We don't get many visitors."
"We don't have room for many visitors," Sora pointed out dully, looking anywhere but at Riku. "And they're unwelcome anyway. And so are you. Unwelcome."
"…um…"
"Sora," Grandma Yamazaki said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I understand there's some unresolved sexual tension between you and Riku, here, but there's no need to be rude."
Sora choked on his own spit.
Riku raised an eyebrow and coughed.
Grandma Yamazaki smiled serenely. "What? Am I wrong?"
"You—I—he—sexual—nnergh—"
"So, I'm right?"
"Grandma—"
"You're not straight, are you, Riku?" Grandma Yamazaki continued, turning to the older teen.
Riku looked extremely calm compared to Sora, who was, in fact, having an aneurysm. "Not really, no. Ma'am."
"And neither is Sora. I presume. Are you, Sora?"
"—nnnnnnnergh—"
Grandma Yamazaki seemed to realize that her only grandson was on his deathbed. She blinked, confusion on her face. "Was it something I said?"
Riku chuckled lightly, sliding his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you at school, Sora. When you're more… alive."
And then he was gone and the kitchen was silent except for Sora's indignant sputters and the purring of the cats.
"He seems like a nice boy. And you do seem to compliment each other very well. He's like the subtle yin to your slightly psychotic yang. Don't you agree?"
Sora exploded. "GRANDMA, WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING! SEXUAL TENSION! THERE IS NO—"
"Hark. I think Oprah is on."
And then she was gone, too.
Sora glared at the cat currently picking at his dinner. Sexual tension? Yeah, right.
"You ran away? And you call me a baby for needing a night light?" Jou, Tidus' six-year-old brother inquired. He was giving Tidus a look of absolute disdain. "That's sad."
Tidus flushed, ignoring Jou in favor of dumping the hot water into the little container of Ramen. "Shut up."
"Although, I can understand why you ran away. She's a girl. They have…" Jou wrinkled his nose. "Cooties."
"Mhmm."
"Don't you know what'll happen if a girl gives you cooties?" Joe leaned forward, speaking in a conspiratorial voice. "You'll be unable to copulate because your… you know, will fall off. And then some old hobo will eat it for dinner, mistaking it for a chicken wing."
Tidus frowned. "Ew. Jou, that's disgusting."
"Yet true. So, by running away, you saved yourself. I don't blame you in the slightest, big bro." Jou clapped Tidus on the elbow, which was as far as he could reach, then flounced off to the living room to join the rest of their siblings in a cartoon marathon.
Tidus made a face. What in the hell were they teaching kids these days? When he was six, he didn't have a clue what 'copulate' meant.
He paused. He still didn't know what copulate meant. Ah, well, he could just look it up in the dictionary later. Or ask Rin. The girl was a walking dictionary at the humble age of ten.
"Where's Riku? He hasn't been around in a while," Fuka said, peeking her head in the doorway. Her cheeks were pink. "I miss him."
"Sure that's not because you have a crush on him?" Tidus asked as he waited for the ramen to be ready.
Fuka's cheeks turned even redder. "No! I don't—"
"He's found a new friend to hang out with," Tidus told her, poking at the noodles in the cup with a fork. Nope, not ready yet. "And I don't like his new friend, so Riku doesn't come over anymore."
Fuka furrowed her eyebrows. "Jou said Riku doesn't come over anymore because you're obsessed with some girl and Riku's afraid to catch cooties from you catching cooties from her."
Tidus rolled his eyes. "Tell Jou that makes no sense."
"Yeah, well, you're fat!" called an impudent voice from the living room.
"Yeah, and all six of your sisters are girls and have cooties!" Tidus called back immaturely.
There was a terrified scream and a small crash before he heard the distant sounds of Jou's feet running hurriedly up the stairs and a door slam. He could also vaguely hear a shower running.
Tidus grinned in satisfaction and picked up his finished cup of ramen.
It was almost midnight when Sora finally reached his mansion and closed the front door beside him. He was tired, he had a headache, and he was sure he was going to have some incredibly disturbing nightmares.
His mother was sitting on the couch, watching a rerun of The Golden Girls. Sora eyed her wearily. He still hadn't told her that he'd run into his grandmother in the slums. He didn't even know what his father had told her about the whereabouts of her own mother.
He also didn't want to think about it because, well, headache.
"'m home." Sora murmured loud enough for her to hear.
Seiya sat up straighter on the couch and turned to face him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "And just where have you been?"
"Out. With friends. We blew up a gas station, smoked some pot, and spent three hours watching our hands move."
"You're funny. Ha ha," Seiya deadpanned. "Now, where were you really?"
"I'd rather not talk about it, Mom. I really was with a friend from school, though. His name's Riku and he won't leave me alone and people are starting to talk and I really, really need some Tylenol," Sora answered, his voice fading into a whine at the end.
Seiya muttered something under her breath and got up, pulling him into a hug. "Next time, you call if you're going to be out past nine, okay? Your father was afraid you'd been murdered. He made me watch the news for any word of a rich kid pegged down in his prime."
Sora peered at the television. "That doesn't look like the news."
"Your father's asleep," Seiya said sweetly, putting a finger to her lips. "And this moment never happened."
"Duly noted. I'm going to bed." Sora pulled out of his mother's embrace and trekked up two flights of stairs to his bedroom. He was much too exhausted – both by his day and the long walk – to do much more than kick off his shoes and collapse on the bed.
Yawning, he clapped his hands and closed his eyes as the lights went out. Sure, he was still dressed in these dirty, smelly clothes, but he could always just take a bath as soon as he woke up.
Besides, he was afraid if he took the time to take a bath now, he'd start thinking, and if he started thinking, eventually, his mind would bring him back to Grandma Yamazaki's words.
Heaven forbid he actually begin to believe there was sexual tension between him and that white-haired devil.
Sora crawled under the blankets and pulled them up over his head with a small groan. This was brain-washing, that's what it was. What, did he just have to hear something once to believe it? Just because someone said something didn't make it true.
Of course, if he began subscribing to that logic, then he'd have no reason to hate Riku (and Tidus and the rest of those people) in the first place.
His headache got worse.
Sora clamped his eyes shut before his brain imploded and tried to get some sleep. He'd deal with all of that later. Just. Not. Now.
Next Update: Part 004: Crash Into You