Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, wish I did. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney. Absolutely no money is being made here, so don't sue.

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I hit a snag along the writing process. That and I've been preparing for an anime convention I'm going to in a week. Enjoy, and once again, sorry for the delay.

Shattered Reverie

Chapter 5

Awkward Situations

"Just a few more days should do it." Sora thought as he drove away from the academy following the last period of the day. It was Monday afternoon, and moderately warm at that. It was expected though, with summer closing in on the islands. Already the streets of the town were playing host to citizens of far off countries, flocking to these rural islands in search of something. To Sora, he couldn't figure out exactly why, but if it brought business to the people around him, then he couldn't argue against the invasion. He took a look at his book bag sitting on the passenger's seat, with his cell phone dangling from a strap attached to one of the zippers. Once again, for what felt like the thousandth time, his phone rang and the small pixilated digits appeared on the screen. Glancing at the numbers, Sora simply scoffed and returned his attention to the road in front of him.

"Get it through your head Riku, I'm not talking to you right now."

After the incident at the Balamb Garden party, where Riku decided to completely embarrass Sora, he decided giving him some space would be plenty to make him realize how much he had hurt him. He knew Riku meant well, the brunet was eternally grateful for everything he had done. But, by accusing his friends, making him sound like a weakling, it was simply something even he couldn't forgive so easily. Storming from the party, and almost becoming the victim of Tidus and his little gang of friends, Sora had grown closer to the older man Marluxia. He didn't even spend an hour at his apartment, yet it was comforting being there, talking to Marluxia and knowing that he didn't think of him as weak. There was just something so calming about the man's exterior, perhaps his violet eyes he found himself staring at every so often. Sora felt somewhat disappointed that he wasn't a senior. If he did, then class would be a lot more interesting and skipping would no longer be an option in his mind. There was a smile growing on his lips, but it was short lived the moment his phone rang again. Letting out a groan of frustration, Sora once again looked at the device, but this time reached for it when he realized the number belonged to a very important person he hadn't talked to in quite a while.

"Hey Cid," Sora said as soon as his phone was pressed to his ear.

"Howdy kiddo, how's it going? I haven't heard from ya in a while, is everythin' alright?"

Sora knew there was a lot he could tell the blonde pilot, actually, a lot he should tell him, but talking about his nightmares and petty fights with his friends over the phone wasn't something he was inclined to do.

"Things are going well Cid, not a lot to tell you really. I've just been busy with my friends and everything. Loving the car you got me, everyone still gawks at me when I drive by."

There was a chuckle on Cid's side. "Well, what kind of damn godfather would I be if I couldn't get my Sora a nice car?"

Sora smiled into the voice piece as he turned on yet another street. "How's Holly City treating you? I hope the business is running smoothly."

"Oh man, are you kidding me? With Vincent here, things couldn't be any better. That man is a genius."

"That's great."

"Oh! Another thing I forgot to mention. Vincent asked me to be his best man at his wedding. Can ya believe that?"

Sora arched his eyebrow for a moment. "Wedding? Vincent is marrying Yunalesca? I thought they were only dating."

"Didn't Riku tell ya? Vincent proposed a couple months ago when he came for a visit. The wedding is gonna be sometime in the summer, most likely July or early August."

Sora narrowed his brows. "No, Riku failed to mention that. Just another thing he hasn't told me." The feeling of anger towards the older boy seemed to intensify the moment he found out that Riku hadn't told him about his mother's engagement and plans to marry Vincent. He shouldn't care he really shouldn't have let it bother him, yet it did so very much. With all the nights Riku spent at his place, how could he have not told him about something so important?

"Uh, ya there Sora?"

The brunet shook his head as he arrived at the condominium complex. "I'm here, sorry, just wasn't aware that they were going to get married. That's awesome though Cid, I know you will make a great best man. You were my dad's after all."

"Well now, don't be making this old man blush ya little bastard. Another thing before I let ya go. Don't ya have a week off this month? Spring break or something, am I right?"

Sora turned the car off, grabbed his bag, and began walking towards the entrance to the building. "Yeah, the last week of April we have off. Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping ya could come to the capital or something. I'm taking some time off and wanted to do something with ya. Would that be okay? I understand if you already had plans."

Sora nodded silently at the man at the lobby counter before responding. "I didn't have anything planned yet, but that sounds like a good idea. Did you have something in mind already?"

There was a moment where another voice came into the background on Cid's part. "Sorry about that, secretary needed to give me a note. I don't have much time to explain it, but I was thinking of taking ya skiing in Mt. Gagazet. How does that sound?"

Sora's mood suddenly lifted. "You serious? You want to go to Mt. Gagazet?"

Cid chuckled loudly, "I don't know, I thought it would be a nice change from all the sun ya been getting. But, I gotta head off, I'll email ya the details later. See ya kid."

"Bye Cid," Sora replied before setting the phone back in his book bag. The elevator doors flew open and he was walking down the carpeted hall to his condo. He felt like a little kid who was just given a new toy, excited and eager to play with it. Mt. Gagazet was world famous for their ski resorts and hot springs, just thinking about it was giving him chills. Figaro came running the moment the door flew open and stopped short of his master.

"Hey boy, guess what we're doing this spring break?"

Figaro looked up at him with curious eyes.

"That's right, we're going on vacation!"

Throwing his bag aside and walking towards the refrigerator, the phone settled on top of the kitchen counter began ringing. He had no idea why he didn't have caller I.D. installed on it, but he couldn't refrain from picking up in case someone important was calling.

"Hello?"

"Sora, I-"

It only took two words before Sora was shoving the phone back into its slot. Riku just wouldn't give up, and it was starting to get rather annoying. He wasn't going to give in and go running into his arms, that was exactly what Riku wanted. He would seek Riku when he was good and ready. Although he had to admit that deep inside he was missing being around the older boy. Figaro pawed at his pants and gave Sora a saddened expression.

"I'm sorry Figaro, but this is his fault. He has to learn that I'm not weak. I don't need him to be around me constantly. He'll figure it out, and when he apologizes, then I'll talk to him."

The black and white cat batted at his whiskers before sprinting off in some direction. Standing with his arms against the counter, Sora realized that he couldn't tell anyone about his plans with Cid. Knowing the way the academy worked, everyone would know about it by the end of the day. He wasn't about to let Riku know of his plans, despite the fact that his own pride was eating at his insides.

X

Riku stared at the buzzing cell phone in his hand. It was finally dawning on the silver haired youth that perhaps Sora wasn't speaking to him, although it took literally a hundred or so unanswered calls to figure that out. Closing his eyes for a moment, he wished he could take back what he had said at the party. If he just kept his mouth shut, instead of accusing his friends and making Sora feel like a fool in front of everyone, then perhaps he could be holding Sora against him once again.

"I'm sorry Sora, I really am, so just let me talk to you."

The day had been rather unusual compared to others. First of all, when he walked into Mr. Vayne's class, instead of seeing the middle-aged man, his eyes fell on the figure of their new student teacher dressed in a pair of black slacks and sporting a white button up shirt. Ignoring the annoyed feeling in the back of his mind, Riku went about his usual routine of doodling on his notebook as Larxene belittled him with her usual taunts and dirty jokes. But, when she remained quiet and simply listened to Marluxia prattling on about the lesson, Riku knew something was definitely up. In all the time he knew Larxene, hearing nothing being spewed from her mouth was almost apocalyptic in his eyes. Not sure of what it meant, Riku waited until class was over before he took the blonde senior aside and asked his burning question.

"What's going on? You didn't say a single thing to me during class."

Larxene rested a hand against her plaid skirt. "It was Selphie's idea. She thought it would be a good idea if we left you and Sora alone. After you guys left the party, we had a talk and agreed to give you guys some space."

Riku looked at the ground below him. "I see. I'm sorry I said what I said, I was just worried."

Larxene placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gingerly. "That's what we realized. Kairi seemed affected by it more than anyone, but she's doing better. So, don't think that we're ignoring you. If you want to hang out with us that's fine too, but know that I told you this."

"Thanks," Riku replied, "but if you can let Sora know, that would be great. He hasn't spoken to me at all since the party."

The blonde girl tucked a stray hair away. "Sure, if I see him I'll let him know. Now, I'm going to go meet up with Kairi, she wanted to have lunch with me."

Surprising Riku, Larxene planted a small kiss on his cheek as she walked off, leaving Riku to muse over what she had told him. He felt horrible for accusing them, yet here they were, respecting him and giving him space. Perhaps once he reconciled with Sora he could thank them properly, together.

Riku opened his eyes to see the parking lot in front of him rather empty. He wasn't surprised when he failed to see Sora's BMW there. After calling his cell and then his home phone, and being hung up on, he knew Sora was at his condo more than likely figuring out some way to make him feel even more guilty and horrible than how he was feeling already. But, remembering what Larxene had told him earlier, he figured if he gave Sora some space, then he would come around eventually. Calling him would only aggravate him further, and that was something he couldn't afford to do. With nothing else to do but wait, Riku turned the key in the ignition and began driving away from the academy. Before long, the silver haired teen was arriving right outside his house when he noticed a black Jeep stationed in his spot. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Riku parked along the sidewalk and turned the car off. Loosing the plaid tie around his neck and grabbing a hold of his belongings, Riku made his way to the front door. But to his surprise, the door opened and Yunalesca stood at the entrance with a small smile on her face.

"What's up with the jeep?" Riku asked stopping before Yunalesca and giving her a kiss.

"There's someone here to see you. I told him you weren't home, but he insisted that he would wait for you."

Riku tossed his hair. "Someone here to see me? It can't be Hayner, he's always with Selphie and he would have told me he was coming before we left school."

The silver haired woman simply shrugged and moved so Riku could walk in. Slowly, he walked towards the living room and allowed his eyes to roam through the space before settling on the sight of a blonde haired boy. It took no more than a second for his blood to boil.

"What the hell are you doing here Tidus?"

He could hear Yunalesca gasp silently at the sudden language, but he ignored it. Tidus, dressed in a pink polo shirt and white shorts, got up from his seat and offered Riku a smile.

"I figured you would say something like that."

Riku wanted nothing more than to grab Tidus by the neck and strangle him, yet with Yunalesca standing there, that possibility was horribly shot.

"You boys talk, I'm heading over to Zanarkand's. I'll bring dinner when I come back."

Not wasting a second Yunalesca scurried towards the door, knowing that her presence would only make things more difficult for her son. Closing the door with a soft click, the house now played host to Riku and Tidus.

"I won't say it again, what the hell are you doing here?" Riku spat out.

Tidus adjusted the collar to his shirt and rolled his eyes. "I thought a year would have given you enough time to get over things. But, it's obvious that I'm the only one that's moved on."

"Save it, I don't want to hear it," Riku cut him short as he glared daggers. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here, so you better have a good reason otherwise I won't hesitate to kick your ass."

Tidus balled his hand into a fist, knowing that Riku was someone he shouldn't play with. "Easy there, I just came to tell you about a little something I witnessed the other night. I thought you would find it interesting. That is, I would be curious to know if my boyfriend was being faithful."

It took every particle of his will to not lunge forward and beat Tidus to a bloody pulp following what he had said. "What are you talking about? You're making no sense."

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "I'm making perfect sense Riku, perhaps you're the one that wasn't paying close attention to what I said. Do you think that Sora is some little saint? I should tell you, he is a feisty guy, he can definitely handle himself in a fight, I should know."

Riku felt his blood run cold. "What did you do to him?"

"Why, didn't your friends tell you? That boyfriend of yours jumped me and I couldn't help but fight back. If you look at my face, I think you can manage to see the scab on my lip where Sora punched me."

"Sora would never do that," Riku replied sounding completely sure of himself.

Tidus ran a hand through his hair and laughed, "Then you don't know your own boyfriend every well. No, let me rephrase that, you don't know him. I noticed a little something interesting after he left. Now, tell me Riku, but why would Sora be walking and acting all chummy with another guy if he's supposedly your boyfriend?"

"You're fucking with me," Riku cut in not liking what he was hearing.

The blonde sat back down on the couch and stretched his arms against the leather. "I'm not fucking with you Riku, I'm telling you exactly what it was I saw. I'm not making it up."

"I know Sora, more than you will ever realize. We went through some of the hardest moments in our lives together, your taunts aren't doing a damn thing to piss me off. If I know you Tidus, that's exactly what you wanted me to do. But, I know him, I know Sora isn't capable of cheating on me."

"I'm not trying to get you riled up, I just thought it would be wrong for me not to let you know about something going on behind your back," Tidus said shooting Riku a glare. "We were friends at one point if you remember, so sorry for doing something friendly."

Riku laughed, unnerving Tidus. "Friend? You thought we were friends? Come on Tidus, the only reason you ever hung around me was because you liked me. And it just ate at you that I didn't like you back."

The blonde bit down on the scab, allowing the wound to break again. "Just you wait Riku. When you find out that Sora isn't the little saint you think he is, you'll regret everything you're saying to me now. You can ignore it, or you can accept it."

With droplets of blood oozing from his wound, Tidus cupped a few fingers against his lip and got up. "And you're right, I did like you Riku. I just wish I could take back all the time I wasted trying to get you to like me. You're not worth it, especially if you're this fucking ignorant and blind."

Walking past him, and shutting the door with a heavy slam, Tidus exited the house leaving Riku to ponder over what was said.

"He was just trying to piss me off, that's all. He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Tidus can't stand to see me happy, that's it, that's all there is to it."

But as he stood there, he couldn't shake the feeling of what Tidus had said regarding the other guy he had supposedly seen walking with Sora. Was it true? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to let it get to him. The most important thing right now was reconciling with Sora. He wasn't about to ruin the little progress he had made. Letting out a sigh, Riku let his tie drop to the floor as he turned towards the stairs, eager to take a shower after such a tiring day.

"When you find out that Sora isn't the little saint you think he is, you'll regret everything you're saying to me now."

Shaking his head once, Riku entered the bathroom and threw the door closed.

X

Cid's secretary led him into one of the many meeting rooms within the monstrous building he was entrusted to watch over as president by Sora. He noticed Vincent sitting at the far side of the table, with the seat designated for him still empty as he made his way to it. There were a few executives there too, and Cid knew that something was up the moment he walked into the room.

"What's going on? I was in the middle of an important phone call and I get dragged out like a dog. There had better be a good explanation for this," he said looking in Vincent's direction.

Standing up, with his long black hair cascading over his black suit jacket, Vincent placed his agenda in front of him and began the sudden meeting. "Cid, we got word from one of our branches in Rabanastre that someone is buying up all their stocks. At the rate that this is happening, it's quite possible that we will lose the branch to this unknown buyer."

The blonde man gave Vincent a startled look. "That's impossible, we haven't offered the shares to anyone we don't know. How can they be selling stocks to someone we don't know?"

Vincent held a calm expression. "That is something I will look into. Don't worry Cid, I'll figure it out, but we felt it should be brought to your attention. While it's not necessarily a cause for alarm, it was definitely a wrong move on their part to sell to an unknown buyer."

Cid grunted, "See to it, now, if that's all that you needed to tell me, I have other business to attend to."

With the executives bowing slightly out of respect, Cid got up from his seat and began walking out of the meeting room, leaving Vincent to deal with the problem he had presented.

X

Sora was working on his homework when his cell phone rang again, distracting him for a moment as he took a look at the caller. The number was unknown, yet he felt the need to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Evening Sora."

Feeling a warmth pass through him, Sora immediately sat his pen down and swiveled around in his chair. "Hey Marluxia, how did you get my number?"

"You gave it to me, don't you remember?"

Sora scratched the back of his head, "Oh…I guess I just forgot. How was your first day at the academy?"

Marluxia let out a sigh on his end. "Not as bad as I thought. Once I had all my things collected it was pretty easy. Although, doing it five times in a row, class after class, can get rather exhausting. But, it's enjoyable."

"That's good," Sora replied, picking up his pen and doodling on the corner of his notebook. "I don't think I need to tell you that it's really admirable that you're doing this. Like I said, I don't know of many 21 year old people this far into their career."

"Thanks, it's nice to hear it from you."

Sora felt his cheeks redden momentarily, and thanked the Faiths that Marluxia couldn't see him. "So, umm, I should let you go then. I bet you have a lot to prepare for tomorrow and talking to me won't help you."

Marluxia laughed, "It's quite alright, Mr. Vayne gave me an outline of everything he had been doing, so I just need to read over it and give it a little of my own spin. It's not difficult really. But, there's another reason why I called."

His last sentence sparked Sora's curiosity. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Would it be to awkward if I invited you out for a cup of coffee or something? If you remember, I don't know very many people around here yet, so I thought I could buy you a drink or something."

The brunet brushed a spike away. "Like, right now?"

"Sure, if you have some free time."

"That would be nice, I need a break from all this homework I have. With spring break coming up, the teachers are really loading us up."

"Oh," Marluxia said, "I didn't realize you had a spring break so soon. I'll have to look into it when I come to the academy tomorrow. So, will you meet me up at Café Le Blanc in say, 15 minutes?"

Sora nodded, "Yeah, I'll see you there."

Hanging up, Sora got up from his seat and walked over to his closet. Taking out a black jacket and throwing it over his red shirt, Sora was pretty much ready to go. A couple of swipes through his hair later, Sora was out the door with plenty of time to spare.

"What is he doing?"

"Uh-oh, looks like he's seeing another boy."

"Can you believe that? What about his boyfriend?"

"Doesn't look good, does it?"

Sora shook his head, trying to silence the voices that suddenly decided to spring into his mind. Three days, that's the longest that they had remained silent, yet he already knew they would return. He wasn't doing anything wrong, so he wasn't sure why they decided to butt in. He was simply meeting up with a friend for a cup of coffee, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

"Oh, sure, that's what you think."

"He seriously IS completely blind."

"No kidding, he can't see what this guy is up to."

"Should we warn him?"

"Naw, let him deal with it on his own."

Gritting his teeth, Sora threw his car door open and got in. With the engine running, it was enough to mute out the voices taunting him. Taking one more look in the mirror, Sora took off, the night sky engulfing everything in a pleasant darkness.

X

With Selphie spending every minute of her life with Hayner, and Sora and Riku's absence from the group, Kairi was feeling rather alone. Of course she had other friends, tons if you really counted, but none of them seemed to matter. That left Kairi with just one person over the last half-year or so, and there was a growing feeling of fondness for the slightly older girl, something she was just beginning to notice.

Kairi rubbed the spot on her forehead where Larxene had left a small kiss the previous Friday, a simple act of friendship that shouldn't have meant anything more. Yet, she felt comfortable, secure, knowing that Larxene was there for her, being more of a friend than any other person. With her last relationship going up in flames, what with Seifer never getting over his mother's involvement with the big controversy the previous summer, Kairi wasn't sure if she would ever find someone to replace him. She dated others, but nothing seemed to work out. But, it wasn't so horrible, knowing that Larxene was always there for her.

"Hello, is anybody home?"

The burgundy haired girl blinked several times as Larxene waved a hand in front of her face. "Oh, sorry, spacing out."

"I can see that, but your food is getting cold."

Kairi looked down at the food set in front of her, no longer feeling as hungry as she was. "I don't think I can finish it all, why don't you have it?"

Not arguing, Larxene dove for the pasta and began eating as Kairi sat there, within Café Le Blanc. Why they were there on a Monday night she couldn't figure out, but it did save her from being home. With her father preparing for another run at becoming mayor, it was a constant storm of politics and slogans and whatnot that she would rather not hear. Plus, it was Larxene's idea, and she went along with it.

"So, like I was trying to tell you earlier, we had a senior meeting after school to talk about what our class would be doing for spring break. Since a lot of us don't do anything during the week off, we all decided it would be fun to have a class trip somewhere."

Kairi turned in Larxene's direction, intrigued by what she was saying. "When was this decided? Doesn't it usually take months to get something like this prepared?"

The blonde girl swallowed another mouthful of pasta before speaking. "Oh yeah, but thanks to yours truly, we were able to decide on something and it won't be a problem at all."

"That being?" Kairi asked, propping her elbow on the table and using it to support her head.

"Well, my father owns a chain of hotels all over the world, so, if you think about it, it's pretty much set. I just have to suck up for a bit and he'll give in. So, we decided we would head off to Mt. Gagazet for some fun in the snow."

Kairi let her jaw drop. "Are you serious? That's so unfair, I love Mt. Gagazet, they have one of the best spas there, I'm so jealous!"

Larxene smiled. "But who said you couldn't come along?"

The younger girl looked up with shiny eyes. "Me? Really? But isn't this a senior only trip?"

"Yeah, but it's thanks to me that it would happen at all, so there shouldn't be a problem with anyone if you came along. So, what do you say, you coming?"

But before Kairi could say anything, her eyes traveled to the front door of the café and in came a familiar face. Yet, she wasn't expecting to see an older and quite attractive looking man at his side.

"What?" Larxene asked turning her head just slightly. Dropping her fork, Larxene could only watch as the seating hostess brought Sora and Marluxia over to a table not far from where they were. Out of nowhere, Larxene suddenly ducked her head and hunched her shoulders in an attempt to hide herself despite it achieving minimal success. But, it seemed like they hadn't seen her and she looked up at Kairi.

"That's Marluxia, the student teacher filling in for Mr. Vayne," Larxene whispered.

Kairi could only stare at the way Sora smiled, genuinely smiled at the older man. It took several minutes for the realization to kick in before Kairi narrowed her eyes.

"Does Riku know about this?"

The blonde senior looked at her with confused eyes. "What? You don't think…"

"That Sora is hanging out with Mr. Delicious over there? It's a bit obvious Larxene, I don't like the feeling I'm getting. Why is Sora out with him?"

The older girl shrugged, "I don't have a clue, I didn't even know that they knew each other. Sora isn't a senior so he doesn't have any classes with him, so I'm just as lost as you are."

Watching carefully, and being sure that they weren't seen, the two girls watched as the two interacted. She knew she shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, but seeing Sora all happy while Riku was more than likely sulking off somewhere was eating at her. And there was no way she could just walk up to them and cause a scene. No, she was much to smart to do something so stupid.

"I wonder if that's why Sora hasn't talked to Riku since Friday. Riku told me that they haven't spoken once since then. Now I'm beginning to think that maybe it's because of this little thing going on," Larxene expressed pointing discretely at the pair.

"Let's not assume anything Larxene," Kairi replied, although it was very tempting to do so. "So far they haven't done anything that would incriminate Sora of doing something behind Riku's back."

"My god, Sora, you better prove my doubts wrong."

tbc

A/N: Boy, I can definitely see some drama happening later on. Hope you enjoyed reading. Reviews are appreciated. Probably won't update until after my anime convention. So, till next time lovely readers.