Author's notes: Okay, now here we go with the *real* Chapter 12!
So, everyone who's read There's comfort in the silence when you're near... don't worry! It's not going to be like that in FFTFT! Like I said, it was something planned to be in here when I started writing it but then I got impatient cause it would take another, I dunno, 10 chapters to get to that point so I just decided to write something else.
It is kind of in the FFTFT setting but that's all those two stories have in common.
And about the line "Sora and Riku started screwing each other"...muahaha... That shocked quite some people, right? Well, it was supposed to have this effect. It even caught me off guard when I wrote it. But don't worry. It is a total independet little fic, just with the setting of FFTFT cause in the begining it says "Things developed..." which means they've gotten closer than just friends.
Bah, ok, enough rambling of that.
Now, on to Chapter 12. It's a little shorter this time. Warning: not much fluff. Just adding....plot? I dunno what it is. Not much happening. But maybe there is. Just read it!
=========
Riku had gone home after those few hours spent with his friend. Best friend, his mind reminded him. Best and only, when he thought about it. Fact was, that he hadn't felt anything like this before. Sora was the first person who mattered to him and who managed to be part of his life just by existing.
Strangely, Riku's mother was not at home when he returned. Well, it wasn't all that strange since her schedule was always tight, filled with all kinds of shopping exhibitions to fancy malls in other cities or things like that. It had always been a riddle to Riku how she still managed to keep track of Riku's mistakes or disobedience. It was like, she was gone for the entire time, never there to congratulate him on anything he'd accomplished, even though he accomplished quite a lot because she forced him; but when he did something that could upset her and his father she knew it immediately and oh she would explode.
Riku snorted and crashed down on his bed. It was so huge, so different from Sora's one. He still liked his own bed but thinking of Sora's room, of Sora's house and basically about Sora made him a lot happier than being alone. He wondered what it would be like when Sora came to his place. If he would think the same way as he did right now. Would Sora lie in his own bed and remember their shared time? Was he remembering right now?
It was only afternoon and they had done their homework together, Riku explaining everything while Sora seemed a little distracted. They had shared the chair at Sora's desk, kind of squeezing each other into it until Sora decided to just sit on Riku's lap.
Riku blushed. Gods, that had been embarrassing. He just prayed his body wouldn't react in some kind of way, because after all, he knew how these things worked. He'd never really experienced things like that since he never got close to anyone but he knew what happened. And the thought of getting Sora all freaked and panicked because of it wasn't exactly pleasant. Strangely enough, nothing of the sorts happened.
Sora had sat there and they had shifted so that both could see and write what was in the book. It only occurred to them that they could have either taken a chair from the kitchen into the room or gone into the kitchen period, but that only came to them when they were done.
Both had kind of laughed, a little embarrassed and a little…well, Riku didn't know. It wasn't exactly funny but just… Strange? Riku didn't know. It sure as hell had felt strange with Sora in his lap while it was all like an every day situation. The awkwardness between them was mostly gone, Sora didn't seem so nervous and tense around him anymore, not that he'd ever been it that much, and Riku felt very calm and reassured by Sora's presence.
"My cure…" he absently murmured with a smile, remembering their kiss. It had been his first kiss. He had never thought of things like that before. Not even in the slightest. He had flirted with a lot of girls, teased a little, used his charm just to maintain the image. But he had never thought of actually feeling something.
Then there was Sora and the bubble burst. Riku chuckled slightly as it seemed to make sense. Girls didn't interest him. Sora did. But he would never consider himself gay. More like, just not a sexual person. He didn't think about guys. Nor did he think about girls. He just…thought about Sora. Now more than ever.
Curling up and rolling to his side, Riku stretched his arm to rest his hand against the mattress. His fingers danced on the sheets. They weren't exactly silk but something similar, feeling all soft and smooth. He had always thought it was a little disturbing since his parents had chosen it, much like everything else in his room, but now he found that it felt quite good. His pillows were fluffy, and he had a lot of them, the sheets were soft and basically everything was beautiful here.
Riku smiled lazily as his eyes wandered about the room. His curtains were navy blue, just like his bed sheets. A lot of things were blue here and it only served to remind him of Sora again. But it was a different shade of blue. Sora's eyes were clear, sky blue eyes. He knew the colour and he could see it every time he closed his eyes. Sora's eyes were unique.
Sighing, Riku got up again and plopped down on the piano stool. Yes, he had piano lesson tomorrow and he was less than enthusiastic about it. Still, he had to practice a little and so he began to play. Maybe he would play for Sora one day…
***
The next few days were quite entertaining. Sora and Riku had to play bodyguards for Kairi, all because of that Tidus boy. Riku knew him, not well, but he knew who he was and Sora had seen him a few times, too.
"Maybe we should just tell everyone that you're with Sora, so they shut up about us two," Kairi joked, nudging Riku slightly.
Riku rolled his eyes but smiled, shaking his head slightly. "Kairi, they'd kill Sora if we did that," he replied, turning sideways to glance at his suddenly choking friend.
"Hey, you all right?"
It was lunchtime so Sora had been eating. But now he was currently trying to get the piece of bread out of his throat.
Kairi giggled. "Aww, see what you're doing to him? You just simply take his breath away! Do CPR before he dies, or better, kiss him passionately to cure him with the power of love!"
Riku's eyes widened and he was sure he blushed a little. He glared at Kairi and clicked his tongue, turning back to Sora to pat on his back. Eventually, Sora swallowed hard, emptied the whole bottle of juice and took a deep breath to calm.
Half of the people were staring at them now.
Riku sighed. It was strange how quiet it was regardless of the "Let's-kill-Kairi" campaign Riku's fangirls had started. Lately, Riku had been able to walk around in the halls without being chased by rabid girls or the boys who tried to be like him. Lately, a lot of things had gotten quiet. But Riku knew they were watching. He felt their eyes on him all the time, the drooling little monsters called girls that followed him even to the toilet (where he didn't go anymore after he'd seen that one crazed fan stalking him).
But they weren't screaming and chasing him anymore. It was strange.
"Hey there!"
Sora, Riku and Kairi jerked their heads to see a certain blond accompanied by a brunette approaching them.
Kairi smiled immediately and began to wave, gesturing the pair to sit down at their table.
"Hiya!" As the twosome reached the group, Kairi got up and hugged both of them. Riku snapped his head to the side to see a few girls squashing their food and crying things like 'She even does it in front of Riku. How can she!'
Sora noticed it too and gave him a look, saying that this school ought to have the weirdest people ever. Riku just nodded.
Eventually the two teens sat down with the rest.
"Hi, Riku!" the brunette, Selphie giggled, blushing a little. Kairi elbowed her. She giggled again and shrugged. "Hey, no matter what you say, it's weird to actually talk to him…"
Tidus nodded at Riku and Sora in greeting, not really saying anything but all three boys acknowledged the other's presence. 'Guys,' Kairi thought, rolling her eyes heavenwards.
Then, suddenly, Selphie jumped up and began to search through her pockets. She had quite a lot in that strange yellow dress she wore. She searched through everything, emptying the pockets to reveal a lot of strange stuff…charm bangles, rings, key chains…until she found it.
"I'm Selphie, fanclub member number 2143! I would have been 2142 but this girl shoved me aside before I could get my member passport!"
She held the card into Riku's face. It was a rather strange thing. A pink plastic card with hearts on it, and a text saying "I love Riku!". Then there was a picture of Selphie and her name and address, then her member number and something that said "I have taken the oath to love and protect Riku with my life."
Riku raised one eyebrow.
Selphie shrugged and stuck out her tongue in a sheepish way.
The boy turned towards Sora, who was still staring at the card, and then turned back to Selphie.
"Well…" He didn't know what to say. If Selphie was a member of his fanclub (since when did he have an official fanclub??) then how come she wasn't about to kill Kairi? She was even her friend!
"Ah, before you wonder! I'm not that rabid! I just became a member because all the girls in my class did and…yeah…I felt like doing it too. You get a cool first time present when you join! See? That key chain! I like joining clubs so I can collect all those presents. You wouldn't believe how many clubs give away those things just so you join," Selphie rambled, smiling and showing all her stuff around.
Riku cocked his head as he examined the key chain. It was kind of made of glass, with a photo of him in there. On the back it said 'I love Riku', not really surprising.
Sora took the thing from his hand and studied it for a while. Riku watched how the boy's eyebrows drew together and he stuck his lower lip out in a pout.
"Mmm maybe I should join this club too!" he then concluded, flashing Riku a cute grin.
Kairi laughed softly and nodded in agreement. "Great idea, Sora! Then it would be official that you love Riku!"
Tidus raised his eyebrows at this and looked at the two boys. Sora loved Riku? Like, for real? Or was it just a joke? Every normal person would have taken it for a joke but Tidus had this feeling as he saw those two. The way they looked at each other and the way they suddenly turned all kinds of scarlet shades didn't convince anyone that they were just friends.
Riku was the first one to recover and he quickly waved them off in dismissal.
"Yeah right, " he muttered, cursing himself for not coming up with some witty response as usual. That thing had just really caught him off guard.
Sora was still blushing as he noticed he was still holding the key chain. He quickly let go of it and let his hands fall into his lap, staring down at them.
"I don't know why you always joke like that. It's not like there's anything between me and Riku," Sora quietly muttered, a little thoughtfully maybe.
Kairi shook her head and smiled.
"Aw come on, we're just fooling around here. It's just that you're his best friend and I'm happy for you two!" She then leaned over the table to ruffle Sora's hair, grinning slightly as she drew back.
"Good job, Sora. You did the impossible." She stuck her tongue out at Riku while Selphie and Tidus chuckled. "Someone broke through Mr Perfect and brought us the real Riku."
Riku wasn't quite sure whether he should be happy or upset about this remark. Broken through Mr Perfect? Brought the real Riku? It somehow scared him that Kairi said it. He never wanted anyone to see 'the real' Riku. It just wasn't any of their business.
Frowning, he suddenly got up.
"Excuse me," he muttered, sounding awfully polite, probably due to his habit to use this phrase around his parents and made his way out of the lunch hall, towards the toilet. He hadn't been there for a while because he was afraid of stalkers but he figured it would be the next best thing to being alone.
"You should so follow him," Selphie insisted, blowing out her breath as she sat down, resting her chin on the palms of her hands.
Sora shrugged. Part of him was wondering what was wrong now but the other part told him to just leave Riku. Suffocating him with being overly concerned would probably just make it worse. He was getting paranoid because of his fangirls anyway.
"Let's just finish lunch," he responded and began to eat again.
Of course he was concerned and in truth, Sora wanted nothing more than to run to Riku and ask him what's wrong and take away all his worries. But he supposed that Riku needed some time with himself, too.
***
It wasn't until history class that they saw each other again. Unfortunately all lessons after lunch had been the ones where Sora and Riku were not in the same class.
Finally, however, they were sitting next to each other again, along with Kairi. The three of them sat in the back row and were passing notes to one another as many students did.
Riku read Kairi's note.
Kairi chuckled at the answer.
Sora complained as he saw Riku and Kairi passing more notes to each other.
Riku turned and leaned in to Sora's ear. "No need to be jealous, love," he whispered, then pulled away with a smirk. All right, Sora was going to faint. He grinned and turned back to Kairi, receiving another piece of paper.
Riku just grinned. He loved doing that to Sora. He actually loved calling Sora things like 'love', 'sweetheart' and… 'marshmallow'. Yes, he had called Sora marshmallow for some reason and he did it repeatedly now. Maybe because he thought Sora was really cuddly and fluffy. Not that he had told him that. Sora would kill him. On the other hand…Riku suddenly started toying with the idea of telling Sora, just to see his reaction.
Then, another message from Kairi came. He unfolded the paper, wondering what she was going to say now since he hadn't even answered the previous one yet. He read over the lines and the grin was wiped off his face at once. He stared at it and then turned his eyes to Kairi. Then they dropped back to the note and he reluctantly took his pen to answer.
He threw it back at Kairi and turned to Sora, who was busy scribbling and drawing doodles in his notes. Listening to the teacher was something they rarely did so either they were writing messages to each other or scribbling other stuff.
Riku became entranced by the way Sora's hand moved whenever he drew something and then he noticed that Sora was sketching something. It was really awesome, too when he realized it was Kairi, Riku and himself he was sketching. Riku almost wanted to lean closer and inspect the picture but he was stopped by Kairi pulling on his arm.
"What?" he quietly snapped, turning sharply.
The girl glanced at the teacher, who was busy talking to someone in the first row and put away the notes.
"You, there. Don't be so peeved about what I said. I just thought you might have thought of"
"No," was Riku's only answered and he would have turned away if Kairi hadn't been holding him so tightly.
"No is not an answer, idiot. You two are practically inseparable nowadays. And I've been telling you that he's special, I think you know that by now. So why don't you…why don't you just let him be the one?"
Riku was startled by the words and stopped resisting so that Kairi could let go of him. He looked at her for a while and then opened his mouth.
"He can't. No one can."
Kairi frowned. "I could… I know it was more like…like I don't know what but hey…"
Riku shook his head. "No, you don't understand. When you came to my house, it was like my parents wanted it. You were supposed to bring the decoration for the ball I was supposed to plan. My parents were for the idea of me, being the head-student, planning the whole thing for our school. And you were just someone who had to bring stuff to help me. It wasn't…" he trailed off, curtly looking at Sora before turning back to Kairi.
The girl frowned even more but then decided to encourage her friend. After all, he was her friend even if he didn't want to admit it.
"Exactly, I was just someone, so it doesn't count!" She then realized her voice had raised and she quickly covered her mouth to whisper again. "So you should really think about inviting Sora to your place. Your parents don't have to know about it. Maybe sometime when they're gone or something. Let Sora be the first one, the one and only if you want. I know it would make him happy and it would make you happy, too. Trust me, Riku, trust me just once."
She gave him a look then, almost pleading with him.
Riku frowned and cocked his head. "Just once? I always trust you, Kairi," he softly whispered, wondering when he had gotten so emotional and involved with the girl. At first their relationship had been completely different. But now…It had all started when Sora entered their lives. They were more and more becoming friends.
Kairi smiled, blushing slightly at the honest words, which she really hadn't expected. She turned back in her seat and lowered her head.
"Thanks," she whispered and smiled yet again.
Riku felt strangely comforted by her smile and wondered what this feeling was. It wasn't as strong as the thing he felt for Sora but he did feel something for Kairi, too. Maybe he was just finally beginning to see her as a friend.
'Friend…' he thought and remembered the sketch Sora had been doing. It was a picture of the three of them.
Riku leaned over and saw that Sora was almost done now. It looked absolutely breathtaking. Riku himself was quite a good artist but he never thought that Sora could draw that well. It was…absolutely fantastic.
Sora noticed Riku's head on his shoulder and came out of his daze. He seemed to have been lost in thoughts when he drew the picture. He smiled faintly at the feeling and Riku's scent near him and tilted his head to look at the boy.
"I thought I might busy myself so I don't get jealous," he joked, though it seemed there was a bit of truth to it, too. Riku smiled back and then looked around the classroom to find everyone busy with something. He mentally nodded to himself and leaned in to nuzzle Sora's cheek. No need to arouse suspicion and get sent to the headmaster again.
"You're just amazing, love," Riku whispered before quickly pulling back. Luckily everyone was still busy and the fact that they sat in the last row, where no one really noticed anything, they could get away with things like that.
Sora rolled his eyes and grinned.
"I know, my hunny bunny," he cutely answered, winking and then sticking his tongue out.
Riku chuckled and played it off as a joke, but deep inside, he did feel his heart jump at Sora calling him this. He would have killed everyone else saying something like that to him but Sora…when Sora said it, it made him giddy.
Kairi's words floated in his head again. 'Let him be the first one, the one and only'. He shuddered at those words. First one for what? First one being able to talk to him without turning into a puddle or screaming like his fans. First one who received his private phone number, even on the first day. First one managing to make them end up late for school. First one inviting him to his home. First one who kissed him. First one…who would come to his own home some day?
The bell rang and the sounds of chattering students indicated that it was time to go home. It had been the last lesson for both Sora and Riku, so they found themselves at the gates, making their way down the street. Riku was accompanying Sora as usual and all the time Sora had always wondered where Riku lived. He still didn't know. After everything he knew about Riku, he didn't know that one detail.
They passed the convenience store and it was time to say goodbye as they were soon standing in front of Sora's house.
It did bother Sora, then. It bothered him that he didn't know why Riku had left after lunch and it bothered him that he didn't know where Riku lived.
"You're going to come over to my place sometime," Riku suddenly said and it sounded so casual and normal that Sora almost thought he had said something different.
So he just nodded. "Yeah, sure." Whatever Riku had said, it couldn't have been that.
Riku smiled but it was just…strange. Not really honest, maybe. "Cool. Maybe in a few days, then."
He spread his arms and Sora smiled, hugging him before they kissed (on the cheek, because after that closet incident they hadn't really done anything) and Riku turned to walk home.
It only became obvious to Sora what had happened when Riku was around the corner and out of view. His eyes widened and he replayed the scene before his eyes, trying to regain his wits. No doubt Riku had just invited him to his place. No doubt Sora had casually agreed.
Sora gulped. Why was his heart suddenly jumping out of his chest?
Riku had to support himself on the wall before he kept on walking. Had he really just invited Sora over? Was he that insane already? Sure, his parents would be away for some time but would it be enough to have Sora there? And what about the servants? They would see. He couldn't just tell them all to go away. Well, he could, they worked for him after all, but somehow this all seemed so much more complicated than it sounded.
"Sora…in my house…"
Riku was sure his knees gave in and he quickly stumbled through the streets to get home before he fainted.
– To be continued –
=========
Ending notes: Sorry about the jumping over days. Well, maybe you even like it, I don't know. I just figured I need to stop writing 5 chapters about one day or something and just speed it along a bit ^^
So yeah, not much fluff in this chapter I guess. Kairi's being all nice and supportive, right? I won't bash her anymore I think. I still don't like her laughter but o-kay, she's kind of dead for most of the game so who cares. Let's just say she's being a good friend here.
And about the jealousy part someone suggested... well, maybe I'll get to this. Not with Tidus, though, I think. Sora and Tidus? Seems nice but I don't think I'll have it in this fic. More like Riku and Kairi. Not really but Sora may see it that way sometime. Or maybe it's Sora Kairi and Riku gets jealous? I like those three in a love trianlge... but SoraxRiku has to win eventually cause THEY'RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER! *waves little flags which say Sora *heart* Riku*
Okay for now. Just review or something. Blah. And sorry about the mess before. This is the *real* chapter 12 ^^