Author's apology: Oh my God I'm so sorry! It's been really long, right? Gomen nasai! Please forgive me bows
Here's chapter 15 and I don't like it. Honestly, if I've liked chapter 14, I don't like this one. It's stupid... Cause I'm completely incapable of writing right now and just did this so I would have an update to tell you I'm still alive. Gomen.--
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Sora lay peacefully in Riku's arms. The silver haired boy had become accustomed to the feeling of his friend snuggling up to him and was now half dozing off himself. Sora had moved so that he was lying on his side, head nestled against Riku's chest with his ear right at his friend's heart.
Riku had his arms around the boy now, absently playing with the edge of his shirt. His fingers grazed the exposed skin beneath the shirt and he blushed as he heard a sigh in response to his caress.
Sora suddenly began to stir, inhaling deeply before starting to open his eyes.
"Huh…?"
Riku withdrew his hand and groaned as Sora's eyes opened fully.
"Nooo…" he mumbled, cursing the fact that the brunet was awake again. It had felt so good to be like that…
"Riku? Did I fall asleep?" Sora sleepily asked as shifted so that he was lying on his stomach, facing Riku when he looked up while he rested his chin against the other boy's chest.
Riku sighed and nodded. "Yeah…" he trailed off, unable to resist the adorable sight. Sora looked so content and sweet with his slightly flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. He just wanted to squeeze and cuddle him when he was like that.
The brunet hummed and Riku could feel the vibration it caused on his chest. He smiled.
"You look cute when you sleep," he commented, as Sora seemed to blow out his breath absently. He looked up in curiosity then, beautiful, long eyelashes descending a few times as he blinked.
"What do you mean I look cute??" Sora had this half pout, half scowl on his face when he asked that. He didn't seem upset, though, because he hadn't moved one inch. Why wasn't Sora getting up or rolling over? No, Sora just kept on lying there on Riku, stomach to stomach, face to face. And it caused the silver haired boy to blush even more.
"You…just…um…look cute. It's true!" Riku stammered, feeling the heat taking over him.
Sora frowned for a while, taking those words into consideration before he finally nodded and shrugged it off. He flipped over, finally moving off the boy. However, he stayed close, lying next to Riku with his arms crossed behind his head.
They lay like that for a while. Just next to each other, just close to each other.
Riku was trying to look at Sora out of the corner of his eyes but he found that he would get a strange feeling in his chest when he did. Like it was going to burst.
"Hey, do you think we'd make a good team?" Sora suddenly asked, turning his head to face Riku.
The silver haired boy snapped his eyes back to stare at the ceiling and frowned.
"Good team? How?" he replied, not really knowing what Sora meant.
The younger boy grinned and unfolded his arms, withdrawing them so he could shift to lie on his side, head propped up on one arm.
"Ya know, like, teamwork. I don't know…like when we're supposed to do something for school or something…umm… do you think we match?"
It certainly caught Riku off guard, this phrase. 'Do we match?' he asked himself, faintly hearing his mother's voice scolding him about lowlifes and other garbage. He remembered Sora's mother, too, who was always smiling and beaming. Obviously, they were from two different worlds. His parents, his whole world, consisted of stuck up, materialistic people. Sora and his mother seemed to be made of light, warmth and happiness. Cliché? Pretty much.
"I don't know…" Riku mumbled in response, frowning even more as he began to ponder it.
Sora pouted and reached out to drape his arm over his friend's chest.
"Hmmm… I thought we'd be a good team…'cause we get along and all…" he trailed off.
Riku opened his mouth to say something, what, he didn't know, but he had no chance anyway because Sora continued talking in a slightly subdued voice.
"I've been thinking about this for a while. Maybe I even dreamt about it, who knows," he murmured, smiling a little. "But I think, when two people get along…and want to be together… then they are definitely a good combination, you know what I mean? Nothing can go wrong between us because we're just us and it works…" He stopped there, blinking a few times before looking at Riku.
"What do you think?"
Riku was impressed by Sora's simple, yet true logic. He was right, wasn't he? They were themselves and yet they got along. There was no obstacle between them, no pretending. And they liked each other, so much he knew.
"I think…" he began, licking his suddenly dry lips. "…that you're right." He finished and gave Sora a smile. He couldn't describe the emotion he saw in Sora's eyes. Maybe it was even his imagination. But the brunet seemed to radiate those rays of light again, he always beamed like that when he was happy.
Then Sora sat up, stretching lazily as he stifled a yawn. Riku grinned and reached out to grab the boy's arm, pulling him down again.
"You stay here," he commanded, wrapping his arms around Sora. The latter grinned, too and followed his friend's actions, wrapping his arms around him.
"I want you to stay forever," Riku mumbled as they hugged.
Sora chuckled and pulled away. "I'm afraid that's not possible but it's good to know you feel that way." Riku snorted and tightened his arms. "Who says it's not possible? I get what I want." He nuzzled Sora's cheek and murmured, "Please…I don't want to be alone…"
Sora reeled back as though he'd been burned and seemed to scamper away. Riku blinked and then frowned, feeling a pang in his chest. Had he just said something wrong?
Sora was staring at him with such an unreadable expression; it unnerved him because usually Sora was an open book. Or was he was readable was ever but Riku was just too blinded by emotion to see it?
"Riku…" the brunet began, slowly crawling towards the silver haired boy.
Riku chewed on his impossible dry lips. Why were they so dry anyway?
Sora came closer again, so close that their foreheads were touching.
"You once said something…about my room…" Sora whispered, slowly lifting his arm to place his hand on Riku's shoulder.
"You said I should be happy about my small room because a big one just makes you lonely…"
Riku tensed as he felt the hand on his shoulder squeeze him. Sora was so close. So close.
"Are you lonely, Riku?" it was barely a whisper and Sora's face was full of sincere concern and sympathy, it almost hurt to look at his face.
And so Riku dropped his gaze. A little ashamed of his weakness – he hated showing people his weakness – and placed his hands on Sora's hips.
"Not when you're with me," he answered, trying to sound casual, trying to conceal the true emotion behind those words. It was an emotion he didn't know, hadn't experience before, couldn't put a name on. It was simply an emotion that drove him mad when he wasn't with Sora.
Sora's hand was suddenly on Riku's chin, gentle and careful.
He tilted Riku's face with his hand and leaned in, pressing his lips to Riku's.
The silver haired boy jerked at the sudden contact, cursing his dry lips. Sora shouldn't do that when his lips felt so rough.
However, the contact only seemed to dampen his lips, creating such a blissful feeling so that Riku felt his body shudder. He heaved a deep sigh when Sora withdrew.
"What was that for?" he breathed, opening his eyes when he couldn't even remember he had closed them.
Sora was smiling at him, shyly, blushing, and shrugged.
"I thought…it might make you feel…better…"
Riku stared at his friend.
Sora could feel the confusion in Riku and he was confused himself. It wasn't the whole truth, what he'd just said. Of course he did it so Riku felt better but there was also this little thing he tried to ignore. The fact that he had wanted to do that. He had simply longed for another touch, another sweet contact and that's why he did it. Riku made him do and think the strangest things sometimes…
"I think we should move in together!" he suddenly exclaimed like it was the greatest idea of the century. He didn't even know why he had said that. Probably just to change the subject.
Riku was obviously shocked out of his mind when heard that, or at least surprised, because his eyes went wide and round like bowling balls and he stared incredulously at Sora.
"Okay, stupid idea…" Sora muttered in defeat, wondering why the heck he had said that anyway.
However, this exclamation seemed to have woken Riku up, brought back the smug Riku Sora knew and the silver haired boy smirked.
"Just because we get along it doesn't mean we can move in together," he said, sitting up to cross his arms. Sora sat up, too and pouted.
"Why not?"
Riku gave Sora a look and snorted. "We would be together all the time and who knows, maybe we'd have to shower together or something and we'd have to sleep together. How can you do that? You didn't even want to take off your pants in front of me," he spat, smirking at Sora's horrified expression as they remembered the glue incident.
Well, that had been embarrassing.
Sora blushed hard and bit his lip.
"It wasn't like that!" he defended, twisting his hands in embarrassment.
Riku quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Sora nodded vigorously and crossed his arms. "I just didn't want to take off my pants in front of the class!"
Well, it was certainly not a good idea to say that because a second later Sora was blushing even harder. Had he just said he would take off his pants in front of Riku? Would he? Sora swore never to talk without thinking again. It was deadly.
Riku laughed and patted the boy on his back.
"Oh, so you actually would strip for me?"
Somehow this conversation went into the wrong direction. Hadn't they just been really sweet and honest with each other? Hadn't Sora just kissed Riku – he blushed – and hadn't they just confessed their feelings in a way? And now they were talking about stripping?!
"Well, only if you did first!" Sora concluded, sticking out his tongue.
Riku was silent.
He looked down, inspecting the hands in his lap. The thing that worried him now was that he was actually considering doing it just to see Sora do it. 'Bad Riku…bad!' he mentally scolded himself. He had to grin again when he thought of the ridiculousness of this all. And it made him feel happy, too because he was able to fool around with Sora like that.
"Why are you grinning now?" Sora suspiciously asked, trying to back away. Riku caught his hands and pulled him close again, shrugging his shoulders innocently.
"No reason," he replied, drawing his friend yet a little closer.
They sat like that for a while, simply facing each other while holding hands. Riku began to think and he found that he liked holding hands with Sora. He liked the simple contact and the reassurance it gave him to feel him close.
Sora was smiling again as Riku snapped out of his thoughts. The boy was watching him, probably had been watching the whole time he had been in thought. It didn't bother him at all. He remembered being annoyed when people stared at him or when they watched him in awe. But he found that it was different with Sora.
"What do you see?" Riku suddenly asked, tilting his head slightly.
Sora blinked. "What do you mean? I see you," he answered, giving Riku his trademark grin. He was so adorable when he did that.
Riku chuckled and shrugged, letting go off Sora's hands again. "Well, who am I? Who do you think I am?" he continued, turning his head to look around the room. He lifted his hand to gesture towards the various things.
"All that stuff…it belongs to me. I have a hundred servants working for me. I've never been involved with anyone. I'm not a person but more like a precious item." He stopped, thinking of his mother again. She had never treated him badly, had she? Always giving him the best of the best, always sending at least ten servants with him wherever he went, just for his safety. He was like some kind of treasure but not a person to her. He wasn't a person to anyone.
"Yeah, you're probably something like that," Sora casually responded, scratching his head before he shrugged. "But then you're also a person, you know?" he continued, reaching out to squeeze his friend's shoulder.
"Because if you weren't, I'd be a dork."
Riku blinked and snapped his head to Sora. "Dork?"
Sora grinned. "I don't know how you feel about it but I don't want to love a thing. If I love, then it must be a person, you know? And you are a person. The greatest one I ever met." He shrugged a bit helplessly, finding it somehow embarrassing to be so honest about this. He wasn't sure if that was what Riku wanted to hear but he supposed that he could say whatever he wanted. Because they were friends.
Riku couldn't help but smile and he felt a tingling sensation course through his body. Why did Sora's word have such an effect on him? Whenever he said something like that, Riku would get this feeling…
"Thanks…" he muttered, uncertain of what to say.
Sora grinned and crossed his arms behind his head. "No problem, partner!"
Riku chuckled and ruffled the boy's messy hair. Somehow it felt like they had gotten closer again. Day after day they were getting closer, knowing more of each other and feeling like they belonged together. And Sora's idea seemed to stay in his mind for the rest of the day. 'Moving together…Sora and me…' he mused, smiling slightly at the thought. It would be fun. They would share everything and do everything together. It would be fun.
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Time had passed way too fast. Sora was glancing sadly at the clock while Riku smoothed out the sheets on his bed.
"Time to go…" Sora murmured, heaving a deep sigh. Riku went to hug him and withdrew to give him a kiss on the forehead.
"I'll call you later," he said, brushing the brown bangs away only to have them fall back stubbornly. Sora sighed again and his lips quivered. Riku had to laugh when he saw that.
Suddenly, however, there was a knock on the door. Riku's heart leapt into his throat when he heard that and Sora flinched in surprise.
They stood in silence, both unsure of what to do. There was another knock. Then a muffled voice.
"Master Riku? I came to inform you that your mother has arrived."
The silver haired boy's eyes widened. Sora opened his mouth to say something but Riku covered his mouth, looking around frantically.
"Uhh…yes…thanks!" he called, eyes still wandering about the room.
Sora frowned and decided to do something about that hand on his mouth.
"Ah!" Riku's hand reeled back and he stared at it, at the spot that had just been licked. He stared at in as if in trance and his eyes eventually came to meet Sora's eyes.
"What the hell?"
Sora pouted and stuck out his tongue. "Don't clamp your hand over my mouth," he simply stated. "I don't like it," he added, crossing his arms.
Riku blinked repeatedly. He wasn't upset about what Sora had done but it had excited him somewhat. The feeling of Sora's tongue... 'Ahh what the hell am I thinking?' he mentally asked himself, not really getting what was going on in his teenage mind. Then his thoughts came back to the current topic. His mother. Was at home. And Sora. Was here, too. What now?
Sora meanwhile went to pick up his schoolbag, getting ready to leave. He was at the door when Riku yelped and jumped to pull him back, resulting them to crash against the door with Riku pinning Sora.
"Hey!" the younger boy exclaimed, feeling strangely comfortable in that position. Riku's face wasn't far away right now. Tempting, indeed.
Riku pulled away quickly and shook his head. "You can't just walk out like that," he said, biting his lip nervously.
Sora cocked his head. "Why not?"
Riku sighed. "My mother. She mustn't see you!" He took Sora's hand and lead him to the balcony. "There. Can you climb down here? There's a rope-ladder on the right side." He showed Sora the ladder and gestured him to use it. He remembered using this rope-ladder when he was younger. He had often tried to escape for a while, using this. He would hide in the garden, sit under that tree he loved so much and just relax. The ladder was one of the best inventions ever.
Sora gave Riku a look.
"What?" Riku asked, slightly irritated by the situation. He knew it was rude to let Sora climb down there instead of going through the entrance but what else could they do? His mother wasn't allowed to know about this all.
"I'll get lost in this huge garden!" Sora exclaimed, pulling on Riku's sleeve. Riku wanted to cover his mouth again but stopped right before his lips. Sora blinked.
"I'll go with you. But remember this way," he whispered, indicating that they had to be careful. They were going to sneak out without anyone noticing so they had to be really careful.
Sora nodded and began climbing down the ladder. Riku followed and soon they were in the garden.
They ran through it, crawling sometimes when they suspected someone who would see them. At the gates, Sora panted to catch his breath while Riku smirked at him.
"Tired already? Don't tell me this little spurt has worn you out," he teased.
Sora glared and punched Riku playfully, pouting again. "Idiot," he mumbled, huffing a bit.
Riku chuckled and shook his head.
"Now, you gotta go before anyone catches us."
Sora nodded and turned. Before he walked away, however, he turned his head back to Riku once more.
"You said…" he began, drawing his eyebrows together in thought before he continued, "that I should remember this way…" He looked at Riku for a while.
"Does that mean…there'll be a next time?"
Riku smiled. "Come whenever you want. You know the way."
They hugged again and this time it was more than just a fleeting awkward hug. They held each other and clung to each other for what seemed eternity; Riku didn't want to let go. Eventually, Sora managed to tear himself away because he really had to get home.
"You'll call me, don't forget that," he reminded the boy before he skipped out of the garden.
Riku stood for a while, watching Sora leave. Then, he quickly turned back and ran to his balcony, climbing up the ladder and back into his room. He picked up his cell phone and waited. He'd give Sora fifteen minutes to get home before he called.
Riku smiled and sank down to the floor, leaning against the wall. Everything had been okay. His mother hadn't—
"Riku? Riku are you in there? Come out, now!"
He groaned. What in the world would his mother want of him this time? He had been so happy just now and that stupid woman had to ruin it. As usual.
He got up, placing his cell phone back on his table before strolling to the door to open.
"Yes, ma'am?" he asked, bowing his head so that he wouldn't have to look at her.
The woman was glaring at him, as usual. He could feel that expression, that hostile look on her face whenever she looked at him.
"Someone has called the residence," she said, voice piercing through Riku's ears. He hated her voice.
He shrugged. He half expected her to slap him for that kind of response but, hell, he wasn't interested in that crap. Who cared if someone called? Didn't everyone always call?
"It was a girl. Someone from your school, I think," she went on, not once shifting in her position. She always stood straight like a robot. She was an ice sculpture. Riku sometimes wondered how this woman could have given birth to him.
"She said she knows about 'you and Sora'."
Riku's eyes snapped up. Panic rose in him as he looked into his mother's eyes. She was wearing her make up as usual and those painted eyes seemed lifeless and cold. His gaze came to rest on her red lips. He feared those lips when they moved.
"You and Sora. Who, Riku, is Sora? Don't tell me you have made friends with someone," she scoffed.
Riku cringed at her voice. He started thinking of a possible answer, of something to make her stop talking to him. He also wondered who this girl was. Could it be Kairi? He didn't think it was she. Kairi wouldn't call and say something like that. It didn't sound like her. But then who? Someone of his fan club? A crazy girl who worshipped and stalked him? But why would a fan do that to him? Call his home saying she knows about him and Sora. And what did that mean anyway?
"Whoever that Sora is," his mother ripped him out of his thoughts, "I don't want you to meet her. I will choose a fiancé for you early enough, you don't have to look for one."
She (finally) shut her mouth and turned away. She scowled at Riku once more to make sure she had got her point across and then walked away, stiffly and mechanically but still somewhat graceful.
Riku scowled at her retreating figure. Like hell he would stop meeting Sora. She didn't know him. She had no right to judge. Oh, how he hated her. He hated the fact that she fascinated him sometimes. Like when he wondered how she could be a human being. Or how anyone could stand her sight.
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Sora came home, seeing his mother opening the door as she had come home, too.
"Mom!" he called, running towards her. Ryoko turned at the voice and blinked as Sora pounced her.
"Hiiiii!" he beamed, grinning from ear to ear.
His mother raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Hmmmm now what could have caused you to jump me like that? Why are you so happy?"
Sora giggled and let go off her, bouncing on his feet.
"No reason," he responded, picking up Riku's language, while he crossed his arms behind his head. Ryoko smiled and shrugged, walking in to sit down on the couch.
"Now, now. Be a nice boy and bring your old, hard-working mother something to drink."
Sora chuckled and stuck out his tongue. "You're not old, you can do it yourself!"
Ryoko glared and punched her son playfully. "Aww come ooon! I'm tired!" she whined, getting extremely childish. Sora grinned and decided to do what she wanted. He was far to happy to do anything else.
He brought her a glass of water and sat down with her, beginning to tell about his day.
Sometime during his tale, Ryoko exclaimed things like "Oh how sweet!" and "Holy penguin, you did what?!" and then something like "Awwwww…."
He told her every detail, ok, so not every single detail like all the stuff he felt awkward about. The kisses and all… But he told her about them watching TV together and he told her about the huge palace they lived in.
When it was time, Ryoko had to leave for work again. She told Sora to make himself some sandwiches for dinner and that she would be back at midnight.
Sora waved at her as she left.
Then he was alone. He sat on the couch, wondering when Riku would call. He had said he would call. Already one hour had passed. As he waited for the phone to ring he began to think again. He remembered wondering about Riku and Kairi's relationship before he came to the dreamland palace. He didn't know why he felt a little jealous when he thought of them being friends. Well, it wasn't them being friends that made him jealous. It was the fact that they could be more than friends. Which shouldn't really make him jealous either because it wasn't like he and Riku were…
Sora stopped. The phone was ringing, and it had been ringing for quite a while now without him noticing because he was too busy pondering.
He quickly went to pick up.
"Hey, love."
Sora grinned.
"Hey yourself, hunny bunny."
And so they talked. One would think that there wasn't much to talk but they always seemed to find things to talk about. Often they would lose track of the topic and go into random joking but even that, or especially that, was fun. Sora loved every moment of their conversation, no matter if they were talking or not.
Because when they weren't, they would just stand there and listen to each other's breathing; and it seemed the silence could tell so much more than words ever did.
– To be continued –
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Ending notes: Wondering who that girl was who called? Me too! I really don't know who it was. Maybe it's just a random idiot? Or was it Kairi???? But she has no reason to do that. Kairi will have a different role in here... also, wondering what Riku's mom meant with fiancé? You think she's gonna get another stuck up girl like herself here to marry Riku? Like, their marriage is arranged and all even though they don't even know each other? And what of Sora?
I'm rambling waaaaaay too much here. Any suggestions would be nice. You can state it in your reviews (yes please reviews are nice!) or email me or IM me or send your opinion through telepathy!
Anything is fine.