3.

Ienzo tucked another blanket around Kairi. The air in here was quite cold-despite the oncoming winter, the AC was running to keep their equipment happy. He knew she couldn't feel anything, but he hoped the position she was in wasn't uncomfortable. They'd done the best with what they had.

It was getting dark, but there wasn't anything for dinner in the castle; as in, they'd even eaten all of the auxiliary cans of soup. It might be nice to stretch his legs. He put on his raincoat, picked up an umbrella, and set off.

He thought that shopping would irritate him, being another one of those necessary human activities. But he actually found it quite soothing. The food here seemed fresher, richer than what he was used to. He picked up what they needed for a few days and started to head back. It really was raining rather heavily, making him a bit jumpy in the early evening, despite the bright flashlight of his gummiphone. He still had magic, but that didn't mean he wanted to use it.

In the darkness of the construction site, he thought he saw a figure. He tensed, trying to find that magic, only to see that it was "Riku?" Still in the rain, without a proper coat. "I suppose you found something to fight, then?"

"...You could say that." His voice was unsteady, and Ienzo thought he saw him shaking.

"Have you been out here in the cold this entire time?"

"I'm alright," he stuttered.

"I can both see and hear you shivering."

"I'm really fine."

Ienzo frowned. He knew that line through and through. The last thing he needed was for Riku to collapse on them. "Why don't you come inside and get dry and warm?"

"No, it's alright. I'll go-back to the castle."

"You shouldn't leave while it's dark."

He squinted at Ienzo. There was a flush in his face. "I'll really be okay."

"...And it's not pouring buckets," Ienzo said dryly. "We have the room and frankly, you look like you feel ill."

Riku trembled, clearly trying to come up with an excuse.

Ienzo sighed. "You want to run yourself into the ground, fine. But neither Kairi nor I appreciate it. It won't help make you feel better, that's for sure."

"W-why? You b-been there?"

Ienzo chuckled. "Between my reformation and Demyx's delivery of the replica for Roxas, I don't think I slept more than an hour a night. And then I crashed in front of Aeleus and it was very humiliating." He twirled his umbrella. "So really, I'm trying to help you save face, here."

Riku considered. "W-well if you put it like that."

He bobbed his head towards the door. "Come on, then."

Unfortunately the only extra bedroom that was in any livable shape was the one that had belonged to Xehanort. Ienzo gathered some clean sheets and extra blankets for Riku, who was still shivering rather insistently.

"I'll bring you something dry to wear," he said.

"You don't h-have to, I'm sure once I get dry I-"

"Riku, if I let you stay in those wet clothes then I may end up getting the rest of us sick. I'm making soup for dinner. I do hope you'll come eat it." He told him briefly where the kitchen and bathroom were.

"I'd hate to intrude-"

"The only thing I particularly hate right now is that you're refusing help when you clearly need it. It's fine. We want you to be comfortable." Insofar as he could be here, anyway.

He dropped his eyes. "...Thanks."

"It is the least I can do." He nodded once, curtly. "Dilan gets upset if dinner is not served precisely at seven-thirty. You better be there."

"Or w-what?"

Ienzo cocked his head. He didn't know what that tone meant, other than the fact it made his heart skip a little. Nerves? Discomfort? Indigestion? "Then I'm afraid you'll miss my gourmet cooking, which is a shame for you," he replied, equally. "Get changed. Quit procrastinating." He shut the door on Riku before he could protest further, and tried not to ponder the nervous little seed that was now growing in his chest.

It had been a while since he'd had banter with- anyone , and fighting with Even didn't count . They were all too busy walking on eggshells around each other. That was why, right? A friendly moment with someone who was nigh-identical to his murderer?

Ienzo shook his head and went to start the soup. He enjoyed the neat order of cooking, its innate harmlessness. They'd been taking turns cooking for everyone; Dilan was a good cook, Aeleus passable. Even couldn't do much more than boil pasta, nor did he care to do more. Ansem preferred to "support local business" and get takeout. He kept chopping vegetables, making his broth, readying bits of beef. It'd take some time to simmer, so he tried to catch up on his coding on a tablet.

Ienzo was starting to get sick of numbers.

Riku was starting to get sick. He felt it. That was dumb, he thought, wincingly. While a warm shower and the blankets on the bed helped with the worst of the shivering, it was only just beginning, an ache in his bones. A potion might at least help him be functional, but one was all the way across the room in the pocket of his pants, which were drying on the radiator.

This room reminded him too much of the one Maleficent had given him the last time he'd stayed here. The furniture was the same style, the walls the same green. He wondered dizzily if this was that room, but this one had a window and the other had not.

Ienzo had left him a set of linen pajamas, but knowing who they belonged to nearly kept him from putting them on-at least until the bone-deep cold reinvaded. He huddled under the three or four blankets he'd been given.

Nice one, idiot, he thought. He'd known that fighting in the rain was a bad idea, but he'd done it anyway , and now he was out of commission for at least a few hours, until the dizziness faded enough for him to travel- not home , but to the place he'd been living.

It seemed to take a long time, but finally, finally the shivering stopped. The bed wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as he'd thought, and he found himself drifting, trying desperately to stay awake. The soup. He'll be mad if I don't eat the soup. The notion of trying to stomach something just made him feel nauseous. Riku tried to sit up, but the wave of vertigo that overcame him was so intense he had to lay right back down.

Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible to fall asleep…

Riku dreamt.

The buildings and alleys of a city in the rain, full of bright pulsing neon and he was searching, so desperately, so desperately, for Sora, and time was running out-

The dream warped and changed.

The castle had seemed darker then, its smell muskier, Heartless wandering the place in droves. He'd hear them fighting each other as he tried to sleep; he remembered that being surprising. At first the pulse and pull of darkness inside of him had felt exhilarating, like he could do anything, like he was unstoppable.

Then he started blacking out.

The loss of time had been a few seconds, minutes at most, like he'd simply zoned out or lost his train of thought. But slowly, over the course of those days, Ansem's grip on him tightened, and the minutes became hours, and he'd be left in the darkness of his own heart, a sensation that threatened to drown him if he didn't consciously fight it moment for moment. It had burned, felt hot, and now and again he could twitch his own fingers, take a few hesitant steps in his own body. Even once Ansem had theoretically been purged from him, he still felt that pull, itching, aching, not helped at all when it was quite literally awoken.

Castle Oblivion wasn't dark. It was bright, white, piercing, despite the fact that it was underground and had no windows. The only darkness came from the Heartless, from the shadowy figures that lurked within-

"Riku?"

I know who I am.

When did that happen? You were always terrified of the dark before-

"...Right. I see. I'll leave it here for you."

A clink of metal and glass, a cool hand touching his forehead-

Then I shall make you see that your hopes are nothing but a mere illusion!

Riku grasped Zexion's wrist hard, and heard a startled cry. A lamp light clicked on.

Not Zexion.

In his hazy state, it took him a long, long moment to realize what had happened. The walls of the room were wobbly. Ienzo was clutching his wrist, gasping and breathing hard. "I-I'm sorry," Riku stammered. "I didn't mean-are you hurt?"

But Ienzo didn't respond. His head was bowed low, and his grip had shot up to his throat. Riku tried to reach towards him-

"Do not ." The words were harsh, almost animal- with panic , Riku realized dizzily. "Don't touch me, don't-" He choked for breath for a moment longer before he darted from the room.

Perhaps it was the fever, but Riku reeled with confusion. Their battle, to his knowledge, had been tough but ultimately mutual. Why was Ienzo reacting this way?

Either way, he'd messed up again , and he felt too awful to try and make more sense of it. He saw that Ienzo had brought him some of the soup, and some tea and medicine, and the guilt only tightened.

His exhausted mind swept him back under.

Riku woke with a jolt. He wasn't sure if the fever had broken or not; he was uncomfortably sweaty in all these layers. He could tell he'd been having dreams, intense, difficult ones, but they all dissolved in the morning light.

Lying on his side, he saw the abandoned soup bowl, the now-cold tea and medicine. A stab of remorse made his stomach clench. In that moment the fever really had made him think Zexion was attacking him, but that didn't make hurting him any more right.

And-squinting hard-had that grip made Ienzo panic ? Why?

Either way, Riku had a lot of apologizing to do. He warmed what he'd been left with a spell and ate, the prickles of guilt getting worse.

His clothing was dry by now, so he got dressed and folded up everything he'd used. He was still a bit shaky, but he'd be fine enough to get back to the Land of Departure. He hardly ever got sick like that. But he hadn't been able to sleep well lately, and there was the cold and the rain, and he probably wasn't eating well either. He'd run himself into the ground. Riku had to get better control of this, if so just to prevent all this from happening again.

He set off to find Ienzo, his heart beating hard with anxiety. Just say sorry. Just say sorry. There had to be something he could do. He hoped he hadn't hurt him; he knew too well the ache of broken bones.

He headed back to the lab, trying not to talk himself out of it. He mentally rehearsed what he had to say- you were so kind, I acted completely out of turn- but when he got there, Ienzo wasn't even in the room.

"Good morning, Riku," Even said, and Riku wondered if he was imagining the coolness in his voice. "I see you're up and about."

"I'm so sorry about yesterday. Thank you for letting me stay." He cleared his throat.

"I don't think any of us are strangers to overwork," Ansem said. "You're welcome here any time."

He dropped his eyes. "...Thanks. Um. Where's Ienzo? I wanted to thank him for the dinner."

Again, that stab of paranoia-was the pause too long? "He had a few things to tend to in town, I believe," Even said. "But I will pass on the message."

"...Oh. Thanks." He looked back at Kairi, still deeply asleep. Would she be ashamed of him? "I guess I should… head out, if there's nothing I can help with here."

"I don't believe so," Even said, without looking up.

"Take care," Ansem said, with that same old man smile.

Riku returned to the Land of Departure, to the silence.