Chapter 117: In Which A Certain Someone Sulks

Riku had to keep stopping himself from pressing at the ache in his chest, since doing so made it hurt worse, but it was like a fixation he could not break. Prodding at the pain just to feel it. The bandages itched against his skin, too, and sitting here shirtless wasn't helping his nerves.

Most of all, though, he kept turning what Kairi'd said over and over in his mind. Had she meant it? Would she have really put up with something she'd undoubtedly hate just for him? It seemed kind of absurd, but, he knew what Kairi's face looked like when she was being serious. And, she'd been completely serious.

So she must have meant it. That was nice, Riku supposed, though still hard to wrap his head around.

And there was Namine, too… She seemed a little nervous, but most of all she kept looking at him like she had to make sure he was still there, and every time there was a renewed relief in her eyes. He'd gotten hurt before, and she'd been relieved before, but the shakiness of her expression and the way she kept looking was certainly new. He knew he'd been hurt pretty bad, but… it can't have been that bad.

Kairi returned then, with Aerith and Leon in tow.

"I'm sure you two would like to stay," Aerith said immediately, an apology written in her eyes. "But I think it'd be better if it was just Leon and I in here right now. I'm sorry."

"Guess it makes sense if we don't hover," Kairi sighed. She didn't look happy about it, but she hadn't moved into the room despite Aerith's wishes, which was almost more telling than her words.

"But—" Namine began.

"Nah, come on," Kairi nodded at her to follow. "If Aerith's anything like the healers back on Destiny Islands, I'm sure she'd like the space so she can concentrate."

Namine still looked reluctant, but at Kairi's request she relented and followed Kairi out of the room.

Riku looked between Aerith and Leon and then the closed door. Leon held a medical kit in his hands, as well as what looked like a change of clothes for Riku. Riku appreciated that—he'd definitely like another shirt—but he couldn't shake his confusion.

"What's all the fuss about?" he asked, a nervous laugh in his voice.

Aerith and Leon exchanged glances.

"The fuss?" Aerith said, with an expression on her face that Riku could only really describe as grim. "Riku… you almost died."

"I—" The joking smile on Riku's lips froze as his eyes widened, then slowly fell as confusion took over him completely. "Wh- What?"

He knew the fight had been bad, but, even with passing out and all, it can't have been that bad.

"When Kairi and Tifa and I found you, you were…" Leon began, but he couldn't seem to finish. There was a distressed, almost distracted look on his face. He bought himself some time by setting the things he was holding down on the closest chair. When he looked back to Riku, it was with a little bit of surprise, like he didn't see what he expected to.

"I was what?" Riku pressed.

Leon shook his head, still unable to find the words.

"If… If they had taken any longer to find you," Aerith said, to pick up where Leon left off. "I'm not quite sure I could have saved you. And- And even then, it was close, with all the darkness."

"I- Oh." Riku worked his jaw, trying to find other words. The gravity of the situation started weight a little more heavily on his chest, and he wasn't sure what to do other than stare, a little dumbfounded.

That hung in the air for a moment, then Aerith moved to grab the chair from under the window.

"But!" she said, brightly, if a little forced. "You're here now, and you're alive. That's all that matters." She dropped the chair by the bed and sat down in it, holding her hands out to Riku. "I… do need to unbandage you, and examine your injuries now, okay?"

Riku blinked. "Um, yeah, sure," he said. It wasn't exactly like he could say no.

"Alright."

Aerith started un-bandaging him, and Riku sat there, rigid, unsure of what to do otherwise. It seemed like no matter what he did his arms got in the way, too.

"Does it hurt?" Aerith asked.

"Well, if I touch it," Riku answered, prodding at it. It wasn't a sharp pain when he did, just a deeper sort of ache. Aerith pushed his hand away.

"Then don't touch it," she said, on reflex. There was silence for a moment, and then she stopped everything, looking up at him in surprise and confusion. "Wait. Does it not hurt at all otherwise?"

Riku shrugged. "Not really."

"Not even a tiny bit?"

"I mean, a dull ache, I guess?" But it was nothing worse than pain he'd felt in the past. This may have been a more persistent ache than he was used to, but it wasn't nearly as excruciating as—well, he didn't like to think about that, so he pushed the thought of her out of his mind.

"Maybe he has a high pain tolerance," Leon suggested.

"I suppose so," Aerith agreed, moving to continue un-bandaging Riku. Once she'd finished and discarded the bandages to the side, she looked to Riku, for some reason looking apologetic. "If you could lie down, now, it'd make it a little easier on me from here."

Riku nodded and lay back on the bed, and after a few moments Aerith started prodding at him. He didn't entirely understand why, but figured it had something to do with examining his injuries. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the ceiling, chewing on his tongue to distract himself from the way his heart pounded. This wasn't new, exactly—this clutch in his chest at the feel of unfamiliar hands on his skin. He hated it, but there was nothing he could do.

"How did, um," Leon began, though he had to stop and clear his throat before he could continue. "How did this…?"

"Sora stabbed me," Riku finished, glad for the distraction.

Aerith stilled for just a moment, sighing deeply, though she was quick to resume her work. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It was kind of out of nowhere," Riku continued, one part to keep distracting himself, one part to perhaps ease their worries. "We were walking and talking and then all of a sudden he turned on me."

"Do you have any idea why?" Leon asked.

"Nah. But he started acting funny after, and started summoning darkness to fight, so it was probably the darkness messing with him."

Aerith hummed to herself as she focused, which was distracting—but not in a good way. A faint glow of magic surrounded her and Riku could feel it in his bones, doing something to him, but he tried not to think about it, tried not to think about her. Her hands pressed gently into his chest and that was nothing really, it was nothing, except his heart was thudding hard and his lungs were tight but he wasn't in danger he was fine he was fine it was fine.

"Do you know where Sora went?" Leon asked.

"We were fighting, I passed out," Riku tried to answer, though his breath was short and his tone sharp. "I didn't see what- what happened to him."

"We didn't find him with you, nor anywhere in Hollow Bastion when we looked," Leon elaborated.

"He must have left, then, probably-" Riku forced the words out, his chest tight.

Aerith pulled her hands away, her magic stopping, and Riku gasped, gulping in the air it'd been previously hard to breathe. Neither Aerith nor Leon commented on that, so maybe it wasn't a weird reaction? Or maybe they'd just assumed that it had hurt. (It hadn't, really, was the thing. But whatever. They didn't need to know.)

"Okay…" Aerith said, slowly, a hesitation in her voice. "It's only been a few hours, so there hasn't been much change, but at least it didn't take a turn for the worst."

Riku pushed himself up enough to look at her, to take in her pursed lips and her pale cheeks.

"Is it really that bad?" Riku asked, a bit surprised. He could look down at it now that he wasn't bandaged and, yeah, he guessed it did look pretty gross. Still, it barely hurt, all things considered.

"You were stabbed in the chest, Riku." Aerith sounded tired. Over her shoulder, she said: "Leon? Towel."

"On it." He hurried out of the room.

Riku sat up completely now, pondering to himself why Leon had been sent to fetch a towel. He realized, belatedly, that Aerith's hands glistened with blood. His blood? Aerith held them out in front of her, and seemed to be making an effort not to look at them.

"Can- Can you do anything about it?" Riku asked, starting to feel a little nervous.

"I've already done what I can," Aerith answered. "There's a lot you can do with healing magic, but eventually you just have to let the body heal itself."

Riku swallowed, having a pretty good idea where this was going.

"So, that means…?" he ventured, hoping he was wrong.

Leon returned with a wet towel, then, and passed it to Aerith. She wiped her hands as she spoke.

"Lots of bedrest." And then, as if anticipating his complaints, she continued before he could voice them: "No fighting. None at all. I'm keeping you here, where I can keep an eye on you, until you're healed."

Riku balked. He'd expected some of this, but—staying here!?

"What!? No, I can't do that!"

"You can, and you will," Aerith said, like that was the final say on the matter.

Face contorting in distress, Riku leaned forward, slamming his hand down against the bed. "But they need me in Castle Oblivion!" he shouted—and as he swiped downwards, his hand left a trail of black and purple, darkness burning through the air. It dissipated after a moment, but the damage was done.

Aerith jolted back, looking surprised and… no. The look passed from her face the moment she realized what was really going on.

"Riku," she said, a slight shakiness in her voice.

"I…" Riku stared at his hand in shock. "Sorry." Darkness continued to spark at his fingertips, rolling across his fingers. It was a little mesmerizing. "I- I didn't mean to do that?"

"Then banish it," Leon said, stern.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Riku pulled the darkness back into himself, and when that didn't work right away, he shook his hand as if to get it off of him. It took a few tries, but it did finally go away.

"When did that start?" Leon asked, a worried crease in his brow.

Riku looked at him a little funny. "What do you mean? I've always been able to use darkness."

"Yes, but, has it been giving you trouble like this before now?" Aerith pressed.

Riku thought about it a moment. Summoning on accident—sure, that happened every now and then. But that not being able to banish it thing….

"I mean. No."

Aerith and Leon exchanged glances.

Eyes still fixed on Aerith, Leon said, cautiously: "Do you think something happened?"

"I can't imagine what," Aerith replied, shaking her head.

"I doubt it," Riku scoffed.

Aerith turned to him now. "You don't remember anything strange?"

Riku shrugged. "I dunno. Sora stabbed me, and maybe my darkness started acting a little funny after, but like: I'm a Replica. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that for me, I can't, like, get affected by darkness the same way everyone else can. So I must have just been imagining things."

(At least, he thought he remembered Vexen saying something like that, about him and the darkness, but maybe…? Well, it was a very long time ago. Maybe he was mistaken. He doubted it, but, maybe.)

"So something could have happened," Aerith said, almost sounding certain that something had.

"I still doubt it," Riku chimed, a sing-song-y note in his voice.

"Well, we'll keep an eye on it," Leon decided, with a definitive nod. "Replica or no, not being able to banish your darkness at will is not good."

Riku scowled a little about that, then shook his head. "Okay, fine, listen," he said, and changed the subject back to what really mattered. "I can't stay here. I really can't! Like I said, they need me, and—"

"And I'm sure they need you alive, not dead," Aerith countered, not dropping a beat. "So whoever's running things over there should be fine with you taking some time to heal. And if not, well, I can go yell at them myself, if I have to."

Riku entertained the thought of Aerith yelling at Alpha for a moment (it was a fairly amusing thought), then shook his head again, annoyed. "But I—"

"No buts!" Clearly, Aerith was not budging on the matter.

She held out her hand, and despite not asking for anything verbally, Leon plopped a new roll of bandages into it. She looked Riku in the eye and held the bandages and her free hand out before her, making her intentions very clear.

"Now, I need to bandage you again, okay?" she said.

Riku sighed, and turned away from her.

"Yeah," he grumbled.

Leon took the old bandages as well as the dirty towel to dispose of, while Aerith began bandaging Riku. She was done in no time, tying the bandages with expert hands. Once that was done, she helped him into a clean new shirt, then politely turned the other way while he changed his pants.

"I know it's rough," Aerith said, as Riku sat himself back down on the bed, scowling at the wall rather than look at her. "But I don't want you to die, and I'm sure you don't either. That wound in your chest is nothing to play around with."

Riku turned to her in surprise, her words ringing in his head. I don't want you to die. Why would she care? He knew some of this was probably just how she was, but—

Aerith got to her feet, dragging the chair back to its spot under the window. "I won't keep you here too long," she assured him. "Just a couple of days. You'll be alright." She smiled reassuringly at him, gathering up the bandages and the medical kit.

"R- right."

"Anyway, stay there and rest." Aerith moved for the door, now. "I'll go ahead and send Namine and Kairi back up, to keep you company."

"Sure."

Aerith left.