A/n Here is chapter 3! So SORRY that YEWYD isn't up yet. Been busy with Driver's Ed. Not fun.
Disclaimer: Still doesn't belong to me. Riku is still all by his lonesome and I'm not married to Axel or Demyx. Or both.
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Chapter 3: The Caretaker.
"WHAT?" Donald yelled. His feathers were standing on end in shock, and Goofy was rubbing his nose in embarrassment. Mickey looked a little confused, and the teen trio was looking embarrassed.
"She's ou-our..." Sora stuttered, feeling his face fill with uncomfortable warmth. Riku nudged him to continue, but Sora's voice died in his throat.
"She's our...daughter." Kairi said simply, though she could not hide the fact that her face was a mix of pure embarrassment and confusion.
"WHAT?" Donald yelled once again.
"Don't make her say it again! I'm having enough trouble trying to comprehend the fact that I have a kid at fifteen!" Sora yelled, his naivety thrown out the window.
Sora realized what he said, and dropped his head so none would see his blushing face.
"Good thing Yuffie and them all are asleep. Yuffie would love poking fun at you right now." Riku snickered.
Miho, who was sitting down on the bed after the whole situation happened, stood up suddenly and started to poke Riku in the arm. He looked curiously at her, but she just kept poking him.
"Um...Miho, can you please stop?" Kairi asked.
Miho blinked her eyes, but kept on poking Riku, her dainty hands poking him further up his arm up to his bicep. In curiosity, she grabbed his arm and started flexing it, much to Riku's discomfort.
"Please stop Miho-chan." Kairi said in a more stern voice, but Miho suddenly slipped her fingers in between Riku's, interlocking their hands. Miho looked up at Riku, whose face was suddenly tinged pink, his green eyes widening a bit.
"Ri...ku."
Yet again, a more awkward silence passed. All that was left was crickets chirping...
"KNOCK IT OFF JIMINY!" Sora yelled suddenly, causing everyone to jump.
"Sorry Sora." A little voice replied.
"Anyway..." Sora calmed down, his voice level back to normal. "She just said Riku's name!"
"Uh huh..." Kairi shook her head, watching as Riku looked at Miho like she had grown two heads.
"So..." Everyone turned to King Mickey. "When did all this...um...happen?"
"Well...we kinda noticed that Miho looked familiar and we noticed she kinda looked like Kairi—" Sora started, but Donald interrupted him.
"So? That doesn't mean anything!"
"She has Sora's birthmark!" Riku replied, pulling up Sora's foot (making him fall flat on his back by the way) and showing the confused fowl the mark on Sora's ankle.
"She did seem sorta familiar when we first saw 'er." Goofy said, scratching his chin in though. "Also, she does have a Keyblade, so that means she has to have some sort of relation to Sora."
Miho looked back and forth between each member of the group, who had been ignored since she said Riku's name and they began their conversation again.
"Okay...as confusing as it is, we'll have to finish this in the morning..." Mickey yawned toward the end, slurring his words slightly. "It's too late to try to figure out Miho's existence now."
Everyone agreed, realizing how late it was, and started back to their respective rooms. Miho, however, clung to Riku's arm to his surprise.
"Riku." Miho said quietly, her pink lips moving ever so slightly in the dim light.
Riku looked down at her, his pale face growing warm, suddenly thankful that the lights weren't bright enough to see his blush. Her bright blue eyes looked innocently at his face, and her grip around his arm tightened.
"What's the matter Miho?" He inquired, brushing some hair out of her face without thinking. He was surprised; despite its tangled appearance, it was feather soft and framed her face perfectly.
"Riku?"
The silver-haired boy looked up in surprise, seeing Mickey smirk at him in slight amusement.
"Yes your Majesty?"
"I need to ask a favor of you." Mickey strode towards him, his face becoming serious.
"Um...what is it?" Riku felt Miho's grip tighten on his bicep even more, a pain spreading as she dug her fingernails into his flesh. For some reason, Riku mused, Miho was frightened...
...of King Mickey.
"We don't know much about this girl, and it seems like a crazy idea that she may be in fact Sora's and Kairi's daughter."
"But your Majesty..."
"But still, we don't know much, but we do know that she has a Keyblade, and she appeared out of the Door to Darkness. If she is who you think she is, she may have come from the future."
"The future, your Majesty?" Riku's tone was skeptical. "Don't you think that's a little over the top?"
"You forget Riku, after everything we've been through, you shouldn't keep your mind so closed." Mickey replied, scratching his head.
"I suppose you're right...but you still haven't asked about that favor..."
"I'm getting to that. If she did in fact come from the future, her memories may have been lost or altered, along with, as it looks like now, her gift of speech. If we are to recover her memories and find out where she came from, we need to go with the first step and teach her how to talk."
"And I think I know where this is going. You want me to play teacher, don't you?"
"Welp, if that's what you want to call it, then yep."
"Great." Riku muttered.
"Not only that, but I will need you to be her caretaker."
"What?" Riku looked at the small king, slightly exasperated. "Now you want me to be her nanny? Shouldn't her parents do that?"
"Of course; they're going to help you take care of Miho, but she's your primary responsibility."
"Why me, your Majesty? Why not Goofy or Donald? What about Yuffie or Leon? Or even Aerith? What about Cloud? I'm sure he loves kids!" Riku said quickly, making it sound more desperate than intended.
"I'm sure that Cloud will make a great babysitter (if he doesn't chop them up first or make them cry with his cold glare) but the thing is, I want you to take care of her." Mickey said sternly.
"And I'm asking why."
"Because Riku! Riku, Miho showed up and appeared out of nowhere!" Mickey yelled, surprising Riku and causing Miho to grip his arm more tightly, most likely drawing blood. "Doesn't that seem a little suspicious to you? The fact is, we don't know much about her, and she could be in fact dangerous!"
"Dangerous?"
"Yes, and the reason I need you to keep an eye on her is because if anything happens, you can take care of it and quickly!" Mickey said with finality in his serious tone, his voice suddenly cold.
Riku was taken back. It was rare that he ever heard the King raise his voice in such a manner, or speak so coldly about anything. He gulped slightly, unconsciously pushing Miho behind him out of Mickey's view.
That's right folks. Cool, calm and collected Riku gulped.
Mickey stepped down the hall and out of sight, leaving Riku and Miho in the dark. Riku let out a long-awaited sigh and looked at Miho, who now, finally, loosened her grip on his arm, leaving angry red welts where her fingers pressed into his skin.
"C'mon Miho." Riku said quietly, gently taking her by the hand. She followed; her small hand in his, down the hallway towards Kairi's room to send her to bed.
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The next morning was Hell.
Quite literally, in fact.
As soon as everyone ate breakfast, King Mickey had explained that Riku was going to be Miho's nanny. This resulted in 3 events happening:
One: Everyone stared at Riku for a good few seconds before snickering that led to a full-blown rebellion of laughter. Aerith giggled uncontrollably and even Cloud cracked an amused, wry smile.
Two: Sora kept giving Riku suspicious glares. When Riku questioned his friend about it, Sora merely said, "Not good enough.", and walked away, much to Riku's confusion.
Three: Kairi and Yuffie decided it was their duty as fellow girls to get Miho some new clothes, and proceeded to take her shopping at the market. Since Miho was now Riku's responsibility, he was dragged along as well.
Which, in Riku's opinion, was the most unpleasant experience he ever had, even more than when Xehanort's Heartless took over his mind.
"Hey Riku, we need a guy's opinion. Which is better, pink or blue?" Yuffie held up two blouses, and much to Riku's distaste, were frilly and full of bows.
"I dunno. You pick." He said simply, wishing there was some sort of Heartless attack about this second.
"C'mon Riku! Quit being such a killjoy." Kairi retorted as she held up a violet dress against Miho. "Do you think this is cute?"
"Kai..." Riku whined, using his childhood nickname for his friend. "There is a reason why I would trick Sora into going shopping with you in the past! I. Hate. Shopping."
"Well, considering your fashion sense, we could tell." Yuffie smirked as both girls started giggling. Riku pulled a Sora and pouted in a child-like manner.
"Shut up."
Miho looked through the racks of clothing, having no clue what she was doing. While Kairi and Yuffie were teasing Riku, she wandered towards a small, red-brick shop with several outfits in the display window. Curious, Miho went inside.
Inside the shop, there were racks upon racks of complete outfits, and accessories hanging on the walls and set on display. There were all sorts of materials and cloths, all used for making clothes.
"Hello." Miho spun around to see a young woman with curly black hair and dark brown eyes. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, and looked at Miho with a friendly smile. "May I help you?"
Miho, of course who couldn't talk, just looked at the woman curiously.
"Um..." The woman was taken back by the girl's silence, but continued to smile. "I assume you are here for clothes?"
"Clothes...please." Miho said slowly and uncertainly. The woman smiled brightly and took Miho by the hand.
"Of course, young miss. Welcome to my shop, and I would be more than happy to design you something." The woman had Miho sit down on a chair, and the woman began to get started.
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"I can't believe it! My first time as a mother, and I lost my child!" Kairi wailed as Yuffie tried to calm her down.
About an hour after they stopped looking in the shop (Riku got into a fight with a hairdresser who wanted to chop his silvery locks, and then Yuffie decided not to let Riku have all the fun, and then Kairi got mad and knocked out the hairdresser with her bag), they noticed that Miho went missing. They looked and looked, but no trace was found.
"Kairi calm down! We'll find Miho, I promise." Yuffie said, rubbing Kairi's shoulders.
Riku ran a tired hand through his hair and sighed. His first day as a caretaker, and he blew it. He sure was going to get it from the King now...
He looked towards the cobblestone street, watching the people stroll by. A few girls were standing around two people, giggling and cooing over the two. One was a black-haired woman, and the other was...
"Miho!" Riku yelled, running over to the group. Kairi and Yuffie followed suit, relief painting their faces.
"Oh, do you know this young girl?" Inquired the black-curled woman as Riku came to them. "She just wandered into my shop."
"Thank you so much for finding her. I hope she wasn't too much trouble." Kairi said, apologetic.
"Oh, she was no trouble at all, though I did mistake her as a customer." The woman smiled.
"Customer?" Kairi asked.
"Oh yes, I make full complete outfits at my shop. I say, she was so polite but shy...I had a ball designing clothes for her...she was the perfect model." The woman laughed, much to Riku's and Kairi's confusion.
The group of girls walked off and revealed Miho standing awkwardly. Kairi's and Yuffie's eyes sparkled and they rushed over to Miho.
"Oh, Miho looks so cute!" Kairi gushed.
"When this lady said she looked good, she wasn't kidding! This design was practically made for her!" Yuffie said as she circled Miho, admiring the work and design of Miho's new clothes.
"She was so shy when she entered my shop...but she is rather adorable." The woman sighed. "She reminds me of my own daughter..."
"Anyway, how much will all this cost miss...?" Riku asked nervously. A custom made outfit would probably swallow up all his munny...
"Bianca, and don't worry about it. It's on the house...I say, she certainly is getting a lot of attention..."
Riku turned and noticed many boys were practically swarming Miho and giving her many compliments and being way too friendly. Riku glared at the group of boys and practically stomped over to where they were standing.
"Excuse me, but you'll need to go now." Riku said smoothly as he grabbed Miho's hand. She made a face of what looked like relief, but the boys weren't so easy to get rid of.
"Where do you get off?" One boy yelled at Riku.
"Yeah, what are you, her boyfriend?" One muscled young man said menacingly.
"More like her nanny..." Riku muttered but looked at the group of young men with a strange look in his eye. He held out his hand, and The Way to the Dawn clasped itself in his fingers in a flash of light. The boys jumped back suddenly surprised at this display, but looked more curious than frightened.
"So what's with the fancy sword then, wuss? You gonna fight me with it?" The muscular boy said, cracking his knuckles. Riku smirked, strode over to a small pile of metal works, and swung them at least a mile into the air with one swing of his blade.
The boys sat back, unimpressed, until Riku jumped after them with effortless force. When he reached them, he suddenly began to quickly slice through the junk, light swishing through the air. Metal clashed with metal, sparks flying as Riku started to push himself faster and faster in order to keep his form up in the cold, brisk wind. He moved smoothly and surely, his silvery hair catching the sun and made him look as though he were bathed in light moving faster than any normal person would.
A crowd had gathered below and started watching the display. Miho, amidst all the people, including Kairi and Yuffie ("He's just showing off for the crowd, he loves the limelight."), watched with wonder as she watched Riku move deftly, and finally falling towards the ground as the remaining bits of metal sparkled in the sky like glittering diamond dust.
The crowd cheered and Riku landed perfectly on his feet, now smirking in triumph as the young man glared at him in stupidity.
"I wouldn't fight you at all. As far as I'm concerned, you couldn't last five minutes with me, a Keyblade wielder." Riku said with finality, pointing his Keyblade at the man. The man gulped, losing his cool, and walked away, muttering something about, "Silvery-haired freaks who fight with giant keys..."
Slowly the crowd dissipated, leaving the group alone. Yuffie congratulated Riku for defying the laws of gravity and certain physics while Kairi scowled and reprimanded Riku for showing off.
"Honestly Riku that is probably one of the most reckless things you have ever done." Kairi said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Hey, it's my job to take care of Miho, and you expect me to sit back and watch a bunch of hormonally-challenged punks harass her?" Riku rubbed his ear in pain after Kairi started pulling it.
"I bet you were just trying to show off for her!" Yuffie said slyly as Riku's eyes narrowed.
"As if."
"Well, we better get going. It's almost lunch." Yuffie said as she checked her watch.
"C'mon Miho, let's go show everyone your new outfit!" Kairi squealed cheerfully as she pulled Miho by the hand. Riku sighed, and followed the girls and then stopped.
He just got a real good look at Miho's outfit.
She wore a pink tank with a swirled heart on it, much like the one that decorated her Keyblade. She wore a pair of green knee-length shorts that sat on her hips with an array of belts that shifted slightly with every step. She wore striped black and white stockings and on her feet were blue boots similar to Kairi's. She also wore a pair of black and white striped arm warmers that had holes for her thumbs and fingers. To top it all off, there was a simple blue ribbon tied like a headband that set off her bright blue eyes.
Now Riku had seen a lot of cute girls back on the island (most sought after male voted in yearbook, thank you very much), but all seemed to pale in comparison when he laid eyes on Miho. He felt...different. If that were even possible.
He shook his head, convincing himself he was just tired from showing off (hehehe...) and followed the girls, trying not to think too much about how cute Miho looked in her new clothes.
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"As Miho's father, I think it is rather inappropriate for our daughter to dress with her midriff showing." Sora said sternly. Ever since their discovery, he had been acting strange...even more than usual.
"Awwww...but Sora! Look at her, she looks so cute!" Kairi said as Miho twirled around in her outfit.
"It suits her perfectly. Maybe I should go see this lady for some more clothes..." Aerith said as she smiled at Miho.
"She's one pretty girl. Riku, you lucky dog!" Cid slung his arm over Riku's shoulders, much to the teen's discomfort.
"It's not like that..." He muttered darkly, but of course, no one heard him.
"Anyway, it's my turn to cook!" Yuffie squealed. Leon immediately turned pale, and walked out the door towards the Bailey.
"Squall isn't too fond of the missy's cooking..." Cid muttered to the others while Yuffie bounced to the kitchen. "As much of a great ninja she is, she can't cook to save her life."
"I heard that Cid!"
From down the hall, Mickey came in with Donald and Goofy, who were deeply immersed in some sort of argument.
"Welp, I heard lunch was soon, so I'd thought I'd help." Mickey said cheerfully.
"Thank God...we're saved." Cid gasped dramatically. Everyone started piling into the next room, but Mickey held Riku and Miho back.
"Hey Riku, while we're getting lunch ready, why don't you go give Miho a few talkin' lessons?"
"Yes your Majesty." Riku said without complaint. Mickey smiled and walked into the next room with the others. When the mini-King left the room, Riku sighed loudly, and led Miho into the living room.
"Okay Miho...looks like I'm going to teach you how to talk..." Riku sat Miho down and sat down in front of her. "Mind you, I've never taught anyone anything..." Riku muttered to himself.
"Riku, Riku, Riku." Miho said, causing Riku to slap his forehead.
"This is going to be harder than I thought..." The young man mumbled, then decided to start with the basics.
"Okay..." Riku looked at the blue-eyed girl straight in the eyes. He pointed to himself. "My name is Riku."
"My name is Riku." Miho mimicked, pointing to herself.
"No, your name is Miho." Riku said, pointing to her.
"No, your name is Miho."
"No, no." Riku spoke through his gritted teeth. Be patient, be patient. She doesn't know how to speak. Be patient. Unfortunately, young Riku is not known for his patience, and often threw temper tantrums when he was a child.
"Miho." He pointed at her. "Miho."
She stared at him blankly.
"Mi..." She pointed at herself. "Miho..."
Riku smiled out of relief. He didn't want to scare her with his anger.
"Riku." She pointed at him, but then moved her hand up to lightly cup his face. A soft tinge of pink painted his face, his turquoise eyes widening. She lightly traced his jawbone with her fingertips, like light kisses on his pale skin.
"Yeah." He smiled. "Riku."
"Riku." Miho repeated one more time, her hands sliding off his face. He blinked, and then cleared his throat in embarrassment.
What am I doing?
"Okay...um..." Riku searched his mind quickly, but found everything to be muddled and fuzzy.
Okay, now I'm losing it. Riku mentally slapped himself, and then proceeded to teach Miho more words.
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A/n This is it! You know the drill! Please review! Do it for the potatoes! Do you want the Keebler Elves to take over the world? Heck, no! So review please.