Chapter 161: The Decision

Riku slowly walked back into Alpha's office. Vexen and Alpha were discussing something—or perhaps arguing—and Amaryllis looked rather tired. 19 was missing. Riku let out a breath and sunk to the ground, leaning against the wall.

"Are you alright?" Vexen asked, quietly.

"She's mad at me…" Riku muttered. "Doesn't… want me to do this…"

"Don't take it personally," Alpha said, not sounding worried about it at all. "You're not the only one she's mad at."

Riku just rubbed his head. It didn't make much of a difference. She was mad at him. That's all that really mattered.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Vexen said. "Not if you don't want to. It's not like we can force you to leave."

"Vexen!" Alpha snapped.

Riku looked up at Vexen, considering that. He was right. If he chose not to go, no one would be able to keep him from staying here. But…

"No," he said. "No, I- I want to." He swallowed. "I… I can't go on knowing that I might be causing her meltdowns. I need to be positive. That it's safe. And… if this is the only way to do it…" He shrugged, then sighed.

His chest felt tight. He had to do this. Even though Namine didn't want him to…

"Alright," Alpha said. "Then, if that's the case, we just need to figure out where you'll go for the week. And… when you're going."

Riku sighed again, rubbing his temples as he thought. "Uhm… I… should be able to stay at Hollow Bastion," he said, finally. "I don't- I don't think Aerith will mind."

"You sure?" Alpha asked.

Riku nodded.

"Pretty sure. She has two spare rooms, and it's not like I- I have to eat the food she'll provide… and I'm usually a big help with their Heartless problems. So…"

"What Heartless problems?" Vexen asked, sounding rather worried.

"Just. Heartless. Your… typical Heartless?" Riku shrugged, not seeing why this mattered. "I don't know. There's been a different variety every time I've been there…"

"Right," Vexen said. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Well…" Alpha said. "That's really all we had left to discuss. Except when you're leaving. Sooner would probably be better."

"Ahh… maybe I'll just leave today," Riku muttered. "I'm not sure what I'd do until tomorrow. Except… oh." He paused. That's right. He and Namine were going to go get her a new set of pencils.

But… would she even want to go anywhere with him? After arguing like that, it… probably wasn't a good idea. No. But… but maybe he could go get her a set. Like an apology. For… for arguing or whatever she was upset about. Yeah.

The door flew open, and Riku flinched, as it'd almost hit him. It hit the wall next to him with a loud crash.

"19," Alpha said, sounding a bit surprised but politely happy to see him. "You find anything?"

"No." 19's response was short, sharp. It sounded like he didn't want to be bothered, much less have this conversation. Riku looked up at him, curiously. 19 looked flustered and… a bit pale?

"You sure?" Amaryllis asked, calmly.

"Not anything useful, anyway," 19 said. His fists were clenched tightly and… was he trembling?

"Any information can be useful," Vexen said.

19 glared. "I promise you, that this isn't." He cast a nervous glance at Riku, and then left the room.

Riku raised his eyebrows. "He's hiding something, isn't he?"

"Sounded like it," Vexen agreed.

"What was he looking for?" Riku asked.

"Information that could help us," Alpha replied, tersely. Something was bugging him, from the sounds of it. Something about 19.

"Do you want me to go ask him about that?" Amaryllis asked, after a moment.

"Maybe you'll have better luck than me," Vexen said.

Amaryllis nodded, and followed 19 out of the room.

Riku let out a long breath. "Alright, was that everything we had to figure out?"

Alpha nodded. "Yes. All that you need to worry about, anyway. Your only part in this is going away. We'll have technical stuff we need to take care of on our end, but you don't have to worry about that."

"When did you say you were leaving, though, Riku?" Vexen asked.

"I didn't." Riku said. He shrugged. "I'm not sure, to be honest. So long as I leave by tomorrow, though, it won't be a problem, right?"

"Just let me know when you're leaving," Alpha said.

"Sure thing." Riku started to get up, but something occurred to him. "Oh. I have a question, though." He swallowed. "If, uhm, the whole point of this is just to separate the two of us—for a bit, anyway—can't- Why can't we send Namine to Hallow Bastion?"

"Too many variables," Vexen replied. "She has to stay here and do the things she normally does."

"We still haven't ruled Castle Oblivion itself being the cause of her meltdowns," Alpha added.

Riku frowned. "How have you not—"

"We really haven't had time to do anything concerning her meltdowns," Alpha explained. "We've gotten research done here and there, but between surviving the raids, dealing with Saix and the Organization…" he trailed off. "Well… now that they're not going to bother us anymore, we'll have more time to focus on this."

"If you're worried about her safety," Vexen said, "I thought we already established that there are more than enough people here to protect her."

"I wasn't worried about that!" Riku snapped. Though, honestly, he was a bit worried about it.

"Riku, we already established that the likeliness of the Organization—or anyone—coming here is fairly slim," Alpha said. "She'll be perfectly safe."

Riku sighed. He'd only been… slightly worried about—oh well. He straightened, started for the door. "I'll let you know when I'm leaving," he said, leaving the room and then forming a dark corridor around himself.

He wasn't heading to Hollow Bastion, of course. He had other things to do, first.

xxx

Ah, there she was! Riku'd had a bit of trouble locating Namine, but, seeing as she was standing in a random hallway talking to Joseph, and not in her room or the Main Room, it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Joseph hissed. His voice was stern, and he sounded worried. Very worried. Riku frowned.

No. No, he didn't have time for that. He clutched the boxes of pencils he'd got Namine tighter.

"I can't think of another one that'd be any more-"

"A- ahem," Riku said, stopping Namine there.

She turned to him, and smiled. "Riku!" she exclaimed. She sounded happy to see him.

He smiled, too, feeling a lot better. Her smile was contagious, and it was really nice to see her happy again.

"Hey," he said. "I'm- I think I'm gonna go pretty soon. And… you wanted to say goodbye."

Namine nodded, her smile faltering a bit. "Right."

"Ahh…" Riku swallowed, feeling nervous for some reason. Better get this over with now before he ended up saying something stupid. "I- I got you these." He held out the pencils for her to see.

Namine's eyes widened and she grinned again. "Ohmygosh, Riku! You- you didn't have to."

He smiled, shrugged, trying to play it off like it was no big deal. Even though he liked seeing her smile like that. She took the pencils from him, grin widening.

"Well," he said. "You needed a new set. And… I figured- yeah." It was hard to find words, but… Namine probably knew what he meant. "I hope I got you what you needed," he added. "I know you said you lost your black- that's why I got you two sets. The second one's just got a black and a few other colors. But I figured you could use the extra black."

"Thank you," she said, clutching the pencils to her chest and smiling up at him. "I'm- I'm pretty sure this'll cover anything."

"Mm." Riku swallowed. Now… for the other thing he wanted to say. "Uhm. I'm- I'm sorry, by the way."

"What? Oh, for- right." Namine let out a breath that… might've been annoyed? It sounded annoyed, but she was still smiling. "It's okay."

"No it's not," Riku said. "I made you upset."

Now she rolled her eyes. She probably was annoyed with him.

"Riku, I was more upset with what was happening than I was with you. You're not-" she paused. Laughed slightly. "It's… it's fine, Riku. Really. I'm not mad at you anymore."

He grinned. That was a relief.

"That's- that's great!" he said. "Ah, umm… can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Ah- about- about what you said before," he swallowed. Why was it always so hard to speak when he needed to say something important to Namine? "About… wanting to…"

"Spend forever with you?" she finished.

He nodded. At least she understood him when he could hardly get words out.

"Yeah. That. Did you- do you really mean that?"

"Of course." She met his eyes. "I wouldn't have promised if I didn't intend to keep that promise."

"R-right." Riku shifted slightly, still not sure how he felt about her making a promise to him. Especially since- "Uhm. You do know, that, if they're right—"

"I know. Don't worry about it, okay? I've got it all worked out."

"O-okay."

They stood there for a moment, the silence growing thick with tension. Namine cleared her throat.

"Well, are you leaving now?" she asked.

"I- maybe." Riku shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Well… I've still got, like, half a sketchbook of pictures I haven't shown you, yet," she said, slowly. "Do you want me to go get it, and then we can sit and do that for a while?"

"Yeah…" Riku nodded his agreement. "Yeah, that sounds. Yeah."

Namine giggled. "Alright, then, I'll go get my sketchbook—"

"And I'll meet you in… uh," he swallowed. "Do you want to- to go sit in-" For some reason he couldn't get the words 'your room' to leave his mouth. He waved his hand vaguely, hoping she caught his meaning. "Or the Main Room?"

"The Main Room works," Namine said, and headed off.

"Well, that was… uh," someone else said, clearing their throat.

Riku turned, surprised to see Joseph still standing there.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" he asked, feeling maybe a bit embarrassed now…

"Yuuup," Joseph grinned, shrugged. "Mainly 'cause I wanted to ask you something, though."

"Yeah?"

"You're leaving?"

Riku nodded. "Just for a week," he said. "To, ah, see if I'm causing Namine's meltdowns."

Joseph laughed. "You believe that?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

Joseph considered him for a moment, then let out a breath. "Where you goin'?" he asked.

"Hollow Bastion."

"Ooh!" Joseph lit up immediately. "Say hi to everyone for me! I'd complain about wanting to go with, but I gotta stay here and protect Namine, don't I?"

Riku burst out laughing.

Joseph pouted in response, obviously offended. "What? I'll do a good job of it! Promise! Okay, well, I can only do so much," he admitted. "But I'm sure I could help her run away before any trouble—I'm very good at running away before there's trouble—and Toby can help! Plus, if you're really worried about, I'm sure there are a bunch of other people here who'd look after her for you."

Riku nodded. "I know. Alpha, 19, Amaryllis, and… Vexen all promised they would."

"And I'm sure almost everyone else would, too!" Joseph insisted.

"Yeah…" Riku made a face.

"C'mon," Joseph said, misreading his discomfort. "You have to admit, she's got at least five—sorry!—six people looking after her. Heh, I nearly forgot Toby. My bad. But there's plenty of people to keep her safe!"

"I'm more worried about how capable they are, than the amount," Riku muttered.

"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad!"

"No, but Alpha and 19 can only do so much," Riku said. "And while Amaryllis has a good chance, he's only one person…"

"What about Vexen?"

Riku just laughed. Like Vexen could do anything.

Joseph frowned.

"You aren't giving him enough credit," he said, firmly. "He can protect her just as well as you can! Or, almost as well as you can. I don't think anyone could match your level of protectiveness, but Vexen's pretty close."

"He's a coward!" Riku argued. "He'll run away before there's even any trouble."

"No he won't. I know he gets pretty cowardly sometimes, but I have full faith in him, Riku." Joseph grinned. "He's just like 29—at least when he's not a coward. Which he's gotten better at. And if 29 can keep me alive and well for five months, then Vexen can keep Namine safe for a week."

Riku rolled his eyes. Joseph grabbed him by the arm, to further emphasize his point.

"And don't let your… whatever it is towards him muddle your judgment," Joseph said. "I know you don't like him. But, as annoying as it is sometimes, he's just trying to look after you. That's all."

"Hmph." Like he could believe that. Vexen had never looked out for him before. Why was now any different?

"He'll keep Namine safe, Riku. He will." Joseph let go of Riku's arm, then grinned, like all he'd said five seconds ago didn't happen. "Anyway, you should get going! You have a date!"

"It's- it's not a-" Riku began.

"Sure," Joseph said. He didn't sound convinced. "Uhm. I'm gonna… uh…" He paused, eyes widening. "Crap," he said under his breath. "Has it been two months yet?"

Riku raised his eyebrows, curious.

"Since what?" he asked.

"Since, uh-" Joseph cleared his throat. "Since Sora showed up."

Riku did a few calculations in his head, but he could only come up with a vague answer. It was hard to get a feel for how long it'd been, especially since the time flow in Castle Oblivion was so weird. He grimaced.

"Maybe," he told Joseph. It seemed like it'd be about two months by now. "Why?"

"Nothing," Joseph said, quickly. "I'mma go find Toby."

He headed off before Riku could inquire further.

"Hmm… a date, huh?"