Author's notes: Being locked in a hotel with nothing but mountains around you sucks. Yup.
But out of frustration I still managed to write this! Ain't I great? Read now and have fun!
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The next morning Riku awoke two hours before his alarm went off. He usually woke half an hour before the alarm; he had some kind of internal clock. This time, however, it was still dark and he was already wide-awake, too awake for his taste. He stared at the darkness in the room and noticed that the sun was coming up slowly, lightening the room little by little. He sat up and pushed away the covers. It was warm today and Riku crawled out of his bed, and he crawled for a while because the bed was so very big, he thought he'd never reach the edge. When he finally did reach the edge he got up and walked towards the French windows that lead to the balcony. He opened them and went out, still wearing his pyjamas.
The morning breeze stroked against him and he shuddered at the sudden cold. So it wasn't that warm today; it was probably just his well-heated room.
He went back and made for his closet to find something to wear. As he opened the big mahogany doors he stared at the wardrobe. This closet could have been a hidden room if it weren't for the clothes. Take out the clothes, put in a bed and a desk and you've got a room for another person, Riku thought.
But then again, what person?
Riku sighed, taking out the next best thing to dress himself. When he was younger he had maids and butlers dress him which he found really embarrassing back then. Two years ago he had a big fight with his parents, yelling at them to give him some privacy and it had worked. At least a little. He was allowed to dress himself nowadays.
He was finished and ready to go way too early. It wasn't even 6 o'clock yet. He went around in his room and it was like walking through a city doing sight seeing. The room was full of furniture, arcade machines, game stations, his piano (which he hated), a billiard table, a strange statue of something that was considered a masterpiece of art and a lot of other crap. He didn't really care for all these things. But then again, he was caged in here for a long time; the only time he got out was to go to school or when he had some excuse like buying new clothes. The rest of his life was spent here in this room. He could have used the whole residence but he preferred his own little palace because it gave him a slightly safer feeling. So all the things in his room did have a purpose. They kept him from being bored.
Riku sat down on the piano stool. He hated his piano because it was just another thing his parents had forced him into. He couldn't understand why he had to learn all these things. Why couldn't he just be like everybody else and have friends?
Immediately he regretted this thought because the image of Sora was glued to his mind again. No matter what he did, he would always come back and haunt him. Riku felt like screaming. Why was he behaving like this? It had never happened before. Riku almost doubted his ability to flirt a little with him because of his own strange feelings.
This Sora, Riku thought, was definitely someone to keep an eye on. He had to be careful around him because this boy seemed to be able to turn Riku's mind upside down. And that was not good.
~~~~
Riku was now standing in front of the second house in the row. He was surprised at first at the size but then he remembered Sora saying that it was indeed very small. He shrugged and looked at his watch. 7:30 sharp. He'd never been late except for home.
Sora wasn't there yet and he couldn't hear any noise coming from the inside. Was that the wrong apartment? Or had Sora left without him?
Riku felt a knot forming in his stomach and he bit his lip in worry. What if Sora forgot and left without him and now he was standing here, making a total fool of himself? Again! He thought. Again this stupid boy had managed to make him act like that! He must have been a magician or something, Riku fumed. He was almost about to walk away, turning around with stomping feet as he heard a scream from the inside.
"OVERSLEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPT!!!"
It was loud enough to be heard on the other side of town.
He blinked, hearing stomping and cursing inside the house and before he knew what was happening, a boy came storming through the front door, half in his pyjamas with a slice of toast in his mouth.
"Wiku! Waifk!"
Riku smirked and Sora blinked, then pulled the toast out of his mouth.
"I meant, Riku, wait," he corrected himself, quickly running back into the house to dress properly.
Riku couldn't help laughing at this, he really couldn't stop anymore even as Sora came out a few minutes later, perfectly dressed and ready for school. He laughed, holding his stomach as he felt he wouldn't last standing there.
Sora pouted and crossed his arms, feeling humiliated once again. Oh how he hated Riku for showing up so early! But then again they'd agreed on that time, so it wasn't his fault. Sora sighed and waited for Riku to calm down. He did notice how sweet Riku was when he laughed, genuinely laughed.
Eventually the laughter died down and the silver haired boy caught himself.
"Sorry..." he muttered, laughter still threatening to come.
Sora threw him a fake glare and refused to say anything to him. However, this changed immediately as Riku shook his head in an apologetic way and extended his hand.
"Let's go now."
Sora looked at the hand being offered and eyed it suspiciously. Riku was planning something, wasn't he? It must have been another flirt attack! And Sora had told himself to get this whole 'turning into a puddle' thing under control. He hesitated before taking it but as he did he was surprised that nothing really happened. He was just...holding his hand.
And they began to walk, side by side, holding hands. Sora blushed as he wondered if they were supposed to be doing that. He glanced sideways, feeling a strange sensation course through his hand. It felt warm and there was an unusual tingling. Despite the confusion he felt he smiled, wishing for this moment to last forever.
Riku cleared his throat and turned to face Sora, giving him a rather strange look. It seemed he was kind of smiling, too, just like Sora but he also had a faint blush on his cheeks and Sora noted how adorably young and innocent he suddenly looked. Yes, that was it. He looked innocent despite his Mr Perfect act and Sora found he liked this a lot. The blush seemed to get more intense but it could have been the sun hitting the silver haired boy's face, Sora wasn't sure.
He slowly felt the tension in him die away and for the first time he felt equal to the other boy, maybe even a little superior because he knew that Riku wasn't the perfect golden boy he claimed to be. Sora was able to make him blush! Riku turned his head back to face the street as they continued to walk, shyly avoiding Sora's eyes and Sora knew exactly what it meant. A big grin of victory covered his face as a wicked thought crossed his mind. Somehow he wanted to pay Riku back for giving him a nosebleed and several heart attacks the day before. Maybe he could turn the tables.
"I'm really glad you came to pick me up," he cheerfully said, squeezing the other boy's hand to emphasize the meaning.
He felt Riku tense for a second before the boy turned his eyes to him. They seemed clouded in a way and he even looked a little puzzled, just as though Sora had ripped him out of his thoughts.
He was just about to say something, opening his mouth halfway as there was suddenly a row of giggles and squeals.
Sora blinked and turned his head away from Riku to face forward. They had already reached the school and the giggling and squealing was coming from a group of girls holding a lot of stuff in their arms.
"I'm going to give him my present first! I heard he likes chains with pendants! And they really fit him, too!"
"Really?? Well, I don't know about the pendants but I've heard he likes books! Figures, since he's so good at school and really smart!"
Then there were other girls and the group started daydreaming and gossiping about their favourite subject: Riku.
Sora rolled his eyes and turned back to Riku. However, he felt something like a sting in his chest as he saw Riku's expression.
'No...He's back...' Sora sourly thought, seeing that Riku had turned into the boy he'd been the day before. Perfect and so damn full of himself that Sora wanted to vomit. He was jealous of him when he was like that and the fact that he played around with the girls and only fooled them was making him angry. He wondered why Riku had seemed so different on the phone and just before, when they'd been alone. He had almost seemed like a normal person then. Split personality maybe?
Sora winced as he felt Riku letting go of his hand. The horde of fangirls immediately came screaming and drooling, blabbing their idiotic talk about how much they loved Riku and what they would do for him. Sora snorted.
Riku, however, smiled and nodded to everyone, accepting their gifts with such a fake politeness, Sora wondered how stupid those girls were. He watched as Riku gracefully avoided every possible physical contact with any of the girls without having them really notice it. It was really funny at one point, when this girl tried to hug him and he simply stepped away, causing her to fall to the ground. She didn't even notice.
Sora shook his head and walked ahead, leaving Riku in the mass of screeching monsters. 'Yeah, deal with your fans, Mr Perfect...' he thought as he made his way to the classroom. He didn't really know where this feeling was coming from, and at first he had thought it was the jealousy that all the girls liked Riku, but he eventually realized that he was being jealous of the girls. Riku had seemed so nice back then but as soon as they reached the school he was...Sora didn't know how to describe him. No other word but perfect came to his mind. He was irresistible and seductive and still so aloof - probably the things girls loved.
But Sora wasn't a girl and no matter how seductive this perfect boy was, Sora liked the shy Riku much better! The one he'd heard on the phone; the one who had blushed as they walked while holding hands. Where had this boy gone? Split personality, Sora thought again. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for a psychopath. But then again, he was a really sweet psychopath.
"Who peed in your cereal?" A voice next to him suddenly asked as he scowled at his thoughts.
Sora turned his head and saw Kairi questioning him with her bright eyes. She always looked kind but still curious and mischievous. He was actually glad to see her.
"Morning, Kairi," he greeted her, trying to sound happy but failed miserably as he saw Riku strolling in, still followed by his fans. The classroom suddenly got a lot louder and Sora couldn't hear his own voice anymore. Kairi gestured him to come to the window and they sat down on the sill, farther away from the chaos caused by their super student.
"So, what's up with you?"
Sora glared as Kairi asked that but he wasn't glaring at her. He was glaring at the spectacle before him, seeing how Riku smiled at the girls and patted their heads. He glared as he saw the girls melt and shriek about Riku having touched them.
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and winced.
"It's him, huh? So you've already reached this stage? Well, either you throw yourself into the competition with these idiot girls or you accept the fact that...." She paused, frowning slightly before she continued. Sora turned his eyes to her, waiting for the rest. Either competition or what?
Kairi smiled sadly, shaking her head. "Or you accept the fact that he will never give in to anyone. I accepted it because I didn't want to be one of those girls. He hates them. Riku is...a very difficult person."
Sora snorted and rolled his eyes. Kairi gave him a slightly bemused look and twiddled her thumbs in her lap.
"More like a psycho, Kairi," he answered her, crossing his arms. Kairi laughed right out but then stopped, smiling in wonder. No one had ever said that about Riku. Everyone only revelled about how perfect and beautiful and sexy he was. No one ever dared to call him psycho.
"You know, he should consider getting serious help. Really. He's got a split personality! He's a maniac! We must lock him up or something..." Sora was joking, Kairi knew, but the fact that he could joke like that was amazing. Not even she had been able to say anything bad about Riku or joke about him like that.
"How come you think this?" She eventually asked, eyes wandering off to Riku who was still dealing with his fans.
Sora did the same, gaze travelling over to the mass of idiots. He sighed, wondering if he should tell her about the phone call and this morning. He felt like he could trust her but then again it would be slightly embarrassing to tell anyone about this. It had been bad enough to have his mother listen to their conversation. Thankfully she hadn't been there in the morning.
"Why do you think he's got a split personality?" Kairi prodded in honest wonder. She didn't seem to know about this 180° change. The brunet sighed and began to tell her about the things that happened, about this other Riku he had come to know. He told her what he felt about this and how he wished for this to stay. But every time the girls were around Riku was completely different. He ended as the bell rang and the teacher entered the room.
Riku was finally allowed to go to his seat and the girls were forced to stop swooning over him.
He sat down next to Sora, expecting the other boy to say something to him but he was surprised as Sora turned away, staring straight forward to pay attention to the teacher. Riku frowned and tried to tap Sora's shoulder but found that he was being ignored. His eyes widened and he turned to Kairi with a panicked look but the girl simply shrugged, as if to say 'it's your own fault'.
Riku's heart sank. What had he done wrong? Why was Sora ignoring him now? He bit his lip, unable to follow the lesson as his mind kept pondering over what to do. If Sora only looked at him, it would have been enough. He just wanted to be acknowledged if there couldn't be anything else.
"Sora..." he whispered to himself, not noticing as the brunet turned to him with a small smile.
"What are you beating yourself for?" the boy whispered as he leaned over to Riku.
Riku jumped in surprise and stared in confusion as he saw Sora smiling at him. What the hell was wrong with that boy? Wasn't he just totally ignoring him because of something Riku must have done (though he had no idea what this something was)? And suddenly he was smiling at him again? Either this was a really weird joke or this boy had serious problems. Split personality, maybe?
Riku shook himself out of his thoughts and ran a hand through his hair.
"Why were you ignoring me?" he eventually asked, keeping his voice low to remain unnoticed by the teacher.
Sora shrugged, attempting to turn back but Riku caught his arm, a little too forceful maybe because the boy winced.
"Sorry..." Riku quickly muttered, letting go. Sora looked at him and Riku felt his heart leap into his throat. Those bright blue eyes were haunting him. Whenever Sora looked at him with those eyes he felt like he was under a spell and he couldn't move. He wondered what Sora was doing to him and he cursed his inability to read his mind. He would have given everything just to know what the other boy was thinking.
Little did he know that Sora thought the same.
So they both just stared at each other in silence.
Suddenly someone cleared their throat and Sora and Riku turned their heads to see the teacher standing before them.
"Is there a problem?" The man asked. It was their history teacher, a middle aged man with big glasses, making him look kind of ridiculous.
Riku seemed to switch to his other personality and gave an apologetic smile.
"Nothing, sir. I'm sorry to have caught your attention."
The teacher nodded and turned to Sora. The boy tensed and looked back and forth between Riku and the man.
"Err...ditto."
The man chuckled at that and shook his head, turning back to the lesson.
Sora gave a sigh of relief and Riku couldn't help smiling as he felt his heart warm. He couldn't believe his train of thought as he watched Sora settle back into his chair to follow the lesson. He couldn't believe that he was thinking of hugging the boy because he wondered if he was as soft as he looked. Sora looked extremely cuddly, he realized. He was begging to be hugged and he probably didn't notice. Riku couldn't quite believe himself as he began to wonder what it would be like to be close to this boy, really close. He suddenly thought of something else and dug into his pocket to make sure he had money with him. He mentally nodded and then wrote a little message for Sora, giving him the crumpled up paper.
He watched in anticipation as Sora read the note. The boy smiled and turned to him, nodding in agreement. He then scribbled something in reply and passed it to Riku.
As the silver haired boy read it, he chuckled.
He nodded and winked at the boy, who was suddenly smiling so brightly that it seemed to lighten the room. He didn't wonder anymore how Sora managed to be different from the rest. He didn't wonder anymore how Sora was able to make his knees feel so wobbly at times. He simply knew that having met Sora was the best thing that could have happened to him.
- To be continued -
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Ending notes: Ahh finally I got over this! Now the real fun begins, I swear! I hope I'm not rushing things, I'm really really trying to take it slowly but I'm so impatient! I could hardly write this chapter without thinking about all the fluffy stuff I wanna write! hehe
Split personalities...both of them ^^ Hmm ok, review again, ne? I'll update as soon as I can!