Author's notes: I must post this chapter too. I like it better than the last one, but that's my opinion. At least I don't hate it.
The Halloween thing is included here...even though it turned out differently from what I imagined and it's late, too.
But still...read this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! (unbeta-ed again.... --)
Leaves were falling endlessly, swaying gently with the wind. Sora loved autumn.
"Have you heard about the Halloween party next week?"
Their shoes created ripples in the little puddles on the ground, splashing cloudy water onto the dried up, colored leafage.
"Yup. Everyone keeps talking about it. Kairi said she's already got a costume." He scrunched up his face in slight disgust at that. "I don't really see why we have to dress up. It's not like…" Memories of his last Halloween party came back to him, making him smile and frown at the same time. It had been in his old school, a few years before. They had to dress up too and Sora had no costume so his mother gave him a white sheet, making two holes into it so he could go as ghost.
"It'll be fun," Riku softly murmured, sounding as though he was trying to coax Sora into this party thing. Well, it wasn't like he had a chance to say no anyway. They had to attend this party. Which sucked a lot. He pouted.
Riku chuckled as he saw this and shook his head as he put his arm around his friend. "Weird, I always struck you as the party-loving type of guy," he said with a smile. Sora sighed and leaned into the half embrace he was in.
"I like parties… but I don't want to go through the stress of trying to find a costume…" He knew he wouldn't be able to afford anything fancy, and going as ghost again was out of question. He would feel dumb with a white sheet over his head.
Riku frowned at the weary tone in his voice and absently pulled Sora closer. Curling his fingers into the soft fabric of Sora's sweater, he rubbed gently rubbed his arm. Sora was getting more and more exhausted from day to day, Riku could see it. But whenever he tried to ask what was wrong, Sora would just smile and say that he was fine. It worried Riku.
He remembered calling Sora after the last fiancée party. It had been late all right but usually Sora was still awake at this hour. At that time, however, Sora hadn't picked up. And on the next day, Riku had waited ten minutes, ringing the doorbell before Sora actually showed up. He had looked remarkably tired but when Riku offered to help him carry his bag, Sora refused to do so, saying that he was perfectly fine. It hurt Riku to see Sora pushing himself like that but what could he do?
Well, at least Sora seemed a bit better today. He hadn't yawned as much, hadn't tripped as much. He was looking pretty content today, so Riku was happy for that.
"I could get you one," Riku offered, referring to the costume even though his thoughts were far, far away.
Sora stopped walking. At first, Riku thought he was going to say something but when he felt the boy wrap his arms around him in an attempt to find some comfort, Riku quickly returned the embrace.
"I'm not going…" he heard the brunet mumble, and he couldn't help but note how much it reminded him of a stubborn child.
"Yes you are, I'll make sure of it," Riku gently replied, lifting a hand to run it through Sora's hair. It was times like these Riku wondered just how stubborn Sora really was. Because most of the time it seemed as though he would give in gladly and only tried to struggle for a bit to annoy Riku. Not that Sora would ever annoy Riku in any way…
He sighed, feeling the light puffs of breath against his throat and neck. It felt nice to be so close. Whenever they hugged, it was intimate and gave a feeling of such familiarity and comfort that he didn't want to let go anymore. Sora was closer than family, closer than anything Riku had ever known. It was like he had become part of himself, somehow.
"Can you stay with me this afternoon?" came a timid question, to which Riku could only blink. He adjusted to the feeling of Sora clutching to him, now more desperately than before, and thought for a while.
It wasn't like his parents would care, right? Sure, he was to come home right after school… but did they know when school ended for him? And why not use the massive attack of fangirls as an excuse? They had always believed that story. He'd just have to make sure that he got home before it got really dark.
Well, not that there was much time left. It was already beginning to get dark as the season seemed to make the nights longer and days shorter. The amount of sunlight was already decreasing and the misty and foggy weather only made it worse.
But he could stay out for at least another hour, right? He could say he had extra classes, he was sure his parents would believe him that. It had happened before.
"All right," he eventually concluded, gently loosening Sora's arms around him to push him away.
"We ought to get going, though. We shouldn't be standing in the cold like this." He gestured Sora to head on but the other boy shrugged.
"I like being here…" he looked around, eyes wandering over leaf-covered streets and muddy puddles from the previously fallen rain.
Riku followed his gaze, taking in their surroundings for the first time this day. He had been too busy thinking of other things to notice the streets. But it wasn't like he paid much attention to those things in the first place.
"Looks kinda hopeless to me," he commented, seeing the gray streets covered in mist and mud.
Sora spun around to glare – correction – pout at him. "It's not hopeless! It's beautiful, actually…" He cocked his head and watched the cascading leaves land in a puddle, creating little waves as they hit the surface.
"See?" he quietly murmured, smiling slightly at the sight.
Riku tilted his head, trying to see whatever Sora wanted him to see. Really, he couldn't understand what Sora liked about rainy weather. There was no beauty in it…was there?
"If you look closely it's not all gray and boring. Look at the leaves, they're all different colors! And the little motions they make when they sway in the wind! And…" Sora turned to Riku again, grabbing him by the shoulders which caused the silver haired boy to blink in surprise.
Sora leaned upwards, close to Riku's face and their lips met for an instant. But only an instant.
Riku blinked once more when he saw Sora's face move away from his; radiant smile beaming at him.
"What…was that for?" he asked in slight amusement, feeling relieved to see Sora smile like that. He'd been rather cheerless and wary lately; it felt good to see him happy again.
Sora shrugged and turned on his heels. "Just wanted to show you another nice thing."
Riku chuckled.
---
Sora was glad that Riku had agreed to stay with him for the rest of the afternoon. Having Riku there with him gave him strength and energy, even though he should have been exhausted.
Ryoko hadn't come home last night, probably spent the few hours of spare time outside before hurrying to her next job. It was crazy but Sora couldn't do anything against it. Telling his mother to take it easy only resulted in her giving him that smile and making the victory sign before pushing herself even further.
It was frustrating and depressing to see her act that way. He wondered how long she would be able to keep it up.
"I'll help you," Riku offered as Sora got up to do the laundry. They had been doing homework together. Well, actually Riku did most of the work, explaining everything while doing it so Sora could copy and try to understand it. He hated math, though. Sora wasn't much of a mathematic person.
Not that Riku was, but Riku was good at everything. Or maybe not at everything…
"No, that's okay," Sora chuckled when he saw Riku standing helplessly before a pile of dirty clothes. It was rather funny to see him so clueless and puzzled.
"You haven't done anything like that before, have you?"
Riku ran a hand through his hair before looking at Sora rather sheepishly. "Heh. I have maids to do that. I've never…even thought of doing this," he admitted, stepping to the side as Sora moved to the small shower.
Turning on the water, he quickly got a bit of washing powder, not bothering to measure how much exactly it was. He knew what he was doing.
Riku watched in curiosity as Sora began to make motions with his hands to stir the water.
"What'cha doing?" he asked, cocking his head in wonder.
Sora grinned and continued. "Just checking the temperature of the water. I don't wanna boil or freeze my hands…" He then walked to the heap of clothes and gathered it up in his arms before throwing into the water.
"Now we let it soak."
Riku stared in confusion. "Soak?"
Sora nodded and smiled. "Actually you don't have to soak it for very long but I'm lazy, so let's just pretend there are really bad stains. So I can leave the clothes here for a while."
Riku obviously didn't know much about washing clothes and just shrugged, thinking that whatever Sora thought was right would be right. When Sora left the bathroom, Riku just followed until they were back in Sora's room. Riku loved that room. It was so small and cramped but that's probably what made him love it so much. It gave off a feeling of protection, unlike that huge room of his. The huge room with the huge white doors he was so afraid of (even though there was no reason).
"It's almost time for you to go," Sora quietly mumbled, looking at the alarm clock on his desk.
Riku sighed, knowing fully well that he had to go but still hoping that there was a chance to stay here. However, reason took over, and reason told him that there was no way he could spend any more time than he already had. His parents would kill him. Well, his mother to be exact.
"It's all her fault. If she would give me a little more freedom…" he mumbled, heaving an annoyed sigh. Sora smiled and patted his head as though he were a little child.
"Aw, don't blame everything on your mother. I'm sure she's a nice person, she just doesn't know how you feel."
Riku looked up. Why was Sora saying those things? He didn't even know his mother! And from all the things Riku had told him about her, he must be hating her by now. But Sora said…
"How can you say she's a good person? She puts me through hell every day," he insisted, crossing his arms stubbornly.
Sora raised his eyebrows, as Riku seemed slightly offended by what he had said. Then he pouted, and looked down, crossing his arms, too.
"Just because you don't get along with her, it doesn't mean she's a bad person. Maybe you two just…don't understand each other," Sora answered, unfolding his arms to scratch his head in thought.
"Or maybe…"
Riku sighed again, shaking his head. "You're too naïve, Sora…"
"Am not!" Sora immediately replied, lifting his gaze to glare at Riku. The latter only smirked, shifting on the bed until he was moving towards Sora, lifting his hand.
Sora blinked and blushed a bit as the hand neared his cheek. He could feel the warmth of Riku's hand close to him, even though the silver haired boy's hands were cold most of the time. He could still feel the body warmth he emitted and it made him redden just a bit.
The hand, ghosting over his cheek, wandered up to his forehead and Sora turned his eyes to look up at it.
Riku poked him.
"….Ow!"
Riku withdrew his hand slowly, grinning at first, before he started laughing fully at Sora's absolutely adorable expression. He was just too…
"Why did you poke me?!"
…angry? Riku blinked, gazing at Sora who was currently scowling at him. Suddenly, Riku felt sorry.
"I just…" Well, why did he do it? Because Sora was naïve to think the evil woman who was supposed to be his mother was a good person? Yeah, that's right. Because no one as hellish as that could be a good person. And it bothered him that Sora was seemingly siding with that witch. So he poked him.
"You're siding with my mom," he replied after having it all sorted out in his head. For some reason it sounded incredibly childish and dumb after he said it.
Sora, however, blinked in surprise. "I did?"
Now what? He didn't even know what he was saying? Riku rolled his eyes. "Yes, you did."
He watched as his friend reached up to scratch his head yet again. "When? How? I just said…" Then he stopped, eyes widening in realization. After that, he gave Riku a doubting look.
"You…you thought I was on her side just because of that? I was just trying to make it easier for you. Maybe if you keep believing that she's not just evil, you'll get along with her. I didn't think you'd be so…"
Childish. Riku knew Sora was going to say that but had stopped before the word actually left his mouth.
Maybe he was childish…but still.
"Well, don't say those things about her if you don't know what's going on. If you were in my shoes for one day, you'd see how horrible she can be." For some reason, even that didn't sound as good as it should have after he said it. Seeing as Sora rarely saw his mother, he would probably like having that woman around to tell him this and that. Sora didn't seem to care if people cared for him as long as they were around…which Ryoko wasn't.
"I'm sorry…" Sora suddenly mumbled, looking down at the hands resting in his lap.
Riku looked up in surprise and cocked his head. "What? Why?" Had he missed something?
Sora shrugged and smiled. "Because I was siding with the enemy. It will never happen again. Promise!"
It made Riku smile again and when Sora stuck his hand out to make it an official pact, Riku gladly took it before pulling him into a short hug.
"Good then. I need a sidekick in my quest of fighting the evil woman."
"What? I thought we said I was the hero and you're my sidekick!"
Riku chuckled. "Nope, forget it." Got punched by Sora. Chuckled again.
Eventually, the boys dragged themselves out of the room since it was time to leave. Riku couldn't help but notice how reluctant Sora seemed when getting up; not so much because he didn't want to but simply because he couldn't.
"Are you all right?" he quietly asked, offering his hand to Sora to help him up.
The brunet nodded and sighed, gathering his strength to push himself up. "Just tired."
Tired. Sora was always tired.
"You're always tired," Riku commented as he took Sora's hand.
Sora gave him a weary smile and shrugged. "It'll pass. Once the holidays come, I'll rest and everything's fine." He just wished it were true.
Riku was hesitant to accept this but eventually decided that this was all he could do.
When they were at the door, it was already starting to get really dark and streetlamps were starting to light up.
"Want me to call you later?" They embraced just to feel the closeness once more before letting go.
"Yeah…but in case I don't pick up, I'm probably already asleep."
Riku nodded, giving Sora a kiss on the forehead and patting his head before he turned to hurry home.
As he was walking, Sora's words came back to him.
"I'm sure she's a nice person, she just doesn't know how you feel"
It was true. She didn't know how he felt. She didn't know anything about him, but neither did she care. Riku just didn't see the point in telling his mother how he felt when she wouldn't even listen. If she listened, all this wouldn't happen anyway.
So it was her fault. Her fault because she was evil.
"Just because you don't get along with her, it doesn't mean she's a bad person."
'Why not?' Riku asked himself. Just as she didn't know much about him, he didn't know much about her. Maybe there were good things about her he just didn't know?
"Nonsense…" he dejectedly mumbled, tugging on the strap of his schoolbag to adjust it. His mother was evil. Period. And she was probably oragnizing even more of those parties with lots of rich girls since they hadn't been able to find an appropriate fiancèe for him as of yet.
Yet, when he came home seeing his mother sit in the lounge reading a book, he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. When she was sitting there, reading this book. She seemed peaceful and there was no doubt that she was beautiful, very graceful.
Riku stopped for a moment before making his way to the staircase towards his room. He stood in front of the lounge, looking through the open door. Who was this woman, sitting on the upholstered sofa? What was she thinking, what was she doing all the time?
He shook his head and quickly went to the staircase. He didn't know a thing about her. But he was afraid of asking her, of breaking this wall of ignorance. He supposed it was better to hate the evilness of his mother and pretend that everything was all right.
With that thought fixed in mind, he walked upstairs and disappeared into his room.
He hadn't seen his mother lifting her gaze to look at his retreating figure as he had approached the staircase. Hadn't seen the softened expression, not the usual cold one he always saw, but actually an expression that was filled with emotions.
"Riku…" she murmured, looking a little lost for a moment before she managed to focus back on her book. She sighed. This boy was nothing but trouble, hating her as though she was incarnation of evil. She knew that he didn't like the way she treated him and handled things, but she also knew that it was her duty to be like that. She simply had to be like that.
"I promised…and promises are made to be kept."
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she forced her usual attitude back on, eyes staring at the pages before her.
----
The day of the Halloween party came faster than Sora thought and soon it was afternoon and he was standing in the restroom with Riku.
"Come on, let's get changed," the silver haired boy urged, unable to hide the excitement. Sora looked suspiciously at the pile of clothes that had been shoved into his hands. Riku had insisted on surprising him with the costume.
"Well…what is it…?" he asked, placing the clothes out on the floor to look at them.
Riku smirked. "You're the helpless, naïve victim that has been bitten by the great vampire…"
He pointed at himself and Sora raised his eyebrows.
"…and now you're a vampire too," the silver haired boy finished, slipping into his costume and putting on his cloak.
"…you're crazy." Sora sighed and shook his head, eyeing the clothes for some time before he actually began to change into them.
When they were finished with everything, they turned to look into the mirror. It was perfect. Except for the fake teeth but they were such a hassle to put on so Sora wanted to put it off as long as possible.
Sora looked at his reflection in the mirror. It wasn't bad. But Riku thought something was missing.
"What do you think?" he asked, wrapping his arms around his waist as he stood behind the boy.
"I don't know. What's supposed to be missing? I'll put on the teeth later…"
Riku smiled. "Not the teeth…" He leaned his head on Sora's shoulder, causing the other boy to blush again. It reminded him of the last time they'd been here. Kind of like a dejà-vu actually.
"You're my fledgling…you've been bitten…so where are the bite marks?"
Sora's eyes widened when he saw Riku's head turning to his neck. "Ummm….they…they healed when I was turned into an immortal…?"
Riku chuckled. "Would make sense, yes." He pulled away, looked at the door for a minute. "But actually… you've just been bitten, so the marks are still there."
Sora yelped as he felt Riku lick over his neck. "Gahh-h-he-hey! Don't!" He began to laugh. "H-hey that tickles!"
Riku snickered and drew away for a moment. "Hey, stand still, I'm trying to bite you here."
Sora pouted but calmed down, doing as Riku said. Which surprised the silver haired boy a little. He looked at Sora's reflection for some time before he turned back to his neck again. Without thinking, he kissed it, causing Sora to shudder involuntarily. Kissing turned into nibbling and nibbling turned into sucking, and Riku was more than determined to mark Sora. Even if this mark wasn't going to look like the little punctured marks of fangs.
Sora, meanwhile, was melting into a puddle. When Riku stopped, Sora almost thought his knees were going to give in.
"Soooo…" Riku grinned, inspecting his work.
Sora blushed a deep shade of red as he looked at what Riku had done. "This…you just…gave me a hickey."
Luckily, or maybe unfortunately, Tidus chose this moment to barge into the restroom, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey there you are! You gotta see the girls!"
He was wearing a pirate costume, which looked a little ridiculous on him but still kind of funny.
Sora and Riku exchanged a look before nodding at the boy.
"We'll be right there," Riku said, grabbing Sora's fake teeth to hand it to him.
Sora grimaced and forced the plastic thing into his mouth. He hated those things. Not that he had ever worn something like this before, but he had always suspected them to be uncomfortable and they were.
----
It was funny how the whole school was filled with students all dressed in crazy costumes. Sora had experienced Halloween parties in his school too, but they had been different. Fewer people. Probably because it hadn't obligatory. He wondered why this school made it obligatory to come to this party. When he asked Riku, he said that it was part of the 'social training' students had to go through. You were always encouraged to join clubs and attend parties to become the social butterfly you're supposed to be.
Sora really wondered what he was doing in this kind of school. He wasn't trying to be a social butterfly. But he didn't want to transfer either and it wasn't like they had the money to do so. Art school was expensive. Aeris had told Sora about the impressed responses of her colleagues in the conservatory of art, but going to an art school would cost a lot and the way Ryoko was working like crazy just for the basic stuff, Sora couldn't demand to go to a school like that. So he didn't even tell her.
He also liked this school a lot, he had friends here and didn't want to change again.
"Hey, Wakka's there too," Tidus cheered, running through the crowded hallway to reach the gym. The gym was always the place they held those parties, Riku explained.
The boy named Wakka, who was dressed in a similar pirate costume, was standing near the door talking to Kairi and Selphie. Sora raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw the girls. He didn't even notice Riku getting attacked by a horde of rabid fangirls.
When he approached the girls, Kairi immediately turned to him and smiled.
"Sora! What a wonderful costume!"
He smiled and nodded. "Riku gave it to me." Talking of Riku… He turned around to see the boy trying to get away from a pack of girls pulling on his cloak.
He grinned. Poor boy, he thought, but it was his own fault to wear an outfit that made him look so hot.
Wait. He didn't say hot.
Sora shook his head and turned back to Kairi. She looked awesome. "I never thought you were the gothic type…" he mumbled, looking her over.
The auburn haired girl smiled and shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me," she purred before she started to laugh.
"Actually Selphie talked me into this. Told me about a gothic French maid costume that just screamed Kairi, as she said."
Selphie, who was still talking to Wakka, grinned at the mention of her name and bounced up to Sora.
"Woaaah nice costume, Sora! How do I look? Ain't it great?"
Sora chuckled and patted her head. "Yep, you look great." She was dressed up as Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls, minus the blonde hair since she was brunet. But it really looked nice.
"She's the greatest!" Selphie cheered before turning back to her conversation with Wakka. The red-haired boy gave Sora a nod in greeting but was quickly pulled back into talking with Selphie.
So Sora was standing next to Kairi, watching Riku deal with his fans. It was fun to watch even though Sora wished Riku could be standing here with him. Well, at least Kairi was there.
"Say…what's this bruise on your neck?"
Crap. Sora tensed for a moment before he turned his head to give Kairi a shaky smile. "Um…that's supposed to be…the bite mark… I was bitten by another vampire… and turned into a vampire too…" He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, something that made Kairi melt inwardly, but she stayed calm on the outside.
"Oh…" she smiled, looking back at Riku in the mass. "So you're his fledgling?"
Sora blushed.
"Ahah I take that as a yes."
He blushed even harder.
"You know that fledgling and maker are often lovers, right?"
Okay, that was beyond blushing now. "Kairi…"
The girl smiled.
"It's just a costume…" he muttered, still avoiding her gaze and trying to stop blushing.
Silence spread between them. The sounds of the party inside the gym floated through the air and Sora idly wondered why they weren't going in there. A curt turn of his head to peek inside let him understand it, though. The room was already too crowded. He never knew the school had so many people.
"The hickey looks real, though," Kairi suddenly said, standing on her tiptoes to inspect Sora's neck.
"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, backing away instinctively. No one was supposed to be so close to your neck. He quickly covered the mark with his hand and frowned.
"It's not a hickey…and it's not real…" he mumbled, squeezing his neck slightly.
Kairi shrugged and decided to drop the subject. Instead, she turned to Selphie and joined the conversation.
Sora stood alone, watching Riku a little further away, stuck talking with some people. He sighed. This party sucked. And he was tired. And he was supposed to do a lot of stuff at home, how could he waste his time at this party? He could have gone grocery shopping, done the housework and his homework instead of standing here alone.
Alone. He sighed, leaning his head against the wall as he tilted it up to look at the ceiling. Eventually, he sank down and sat on the floor, hugging his knees. Kairi glanced at him in concern but actually, she didn't know what to do, suspecting that he was missing Riku. She couldn't help him there since she knew she could never be a good substitute.
And so the party went on, Sora sitting on the floor, people walking by every now and then. Kairi and Selphie had tried to go inside the gym to the 'real' party, though it was hard to say where the party was anyway. The whole building was being used as a party place, it seemed.
Wakka sat with Sora for a while, doing some small talk but gave up when he realized they were getting nowhere. Sora's mood was sinking from second to second. And eventually, he was ready to go home.
Getting up, he made his way through the masses, towards Riku. He didn't care about the looks he got as he pushed some people out of his way. When he reached his friend, he grabbed his hand to get his attention.
Gasps and surprised murmuring went through the people around them. Someone was touching the untouchable.
"I'm going home. I'm tired. Thanks for the costume and everything." He stopped, looking around at the staring faces.
He turned back to Riku and mouthed something, hoping no one would be able to get it. Riku smiled sadly and nodded, squeezing Sora's hand before he let go.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured as Sora walked past him. The boy smiled and turned back, shaking his head.
Then he went home.
----
At home, Sora crashed into the couch because he couldn't make it to his room. It was just too far away. He was still in his costume, hadn't bothered to change because even that would have cost too much energy. Energy he didn't have.
And again, a day had passed by while a lot of work had been left undone. Dust was starting to gather everywhere and Sora knew he would have to clean the rooms sometime. But not right now. Right now he just wanted to…
The phone rang.
He would have been annoyed at anyone who disturbed him now but he knew that only one person would call him since no one else had his number. So he forced himself up to get the phone.
"Yeah?" He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Sora… I'm sorry about today." Riku sounded tired, too.
"Don't be," Sora replied, sitting down on kitchen counter as standing was too much.
"I wanted to have fun with you there. I hate those parties because I'm always stuck with those stupid people… I thought maybe with you…we could…" He sighed. "I promise I'll make it up to you."
Sora blinked. Then he smiled. "Don't be stupid. It's not your fault the party sucked. Besides… we can have our own party sometime…"
Now it was Riku's turn to blink. "…when..?"
Sora continued smiling. "I was thinking…when we're on that school trip…" It had been officially announced now, so everyone was already anticipating it. "We could share rooms, right?"
Sleeping with Sora, Riku's mind supplied and he smacked his forehead for that thought.
"Yeah…" he absently replied before he actually understood. "We're definitely going to do that. So we can spend the whole time together."
He could almost see Sora beam at this. He liked it when Sora was happy.
The brunet yawned. "Hey, um, I'm tired. I'll hang up now…" He yawned again.
Riku frowned and nodded even though Sora couldn't see it. Silence followed and Riku waited for Sora to hang up, or at least say something. But the other boy didn't.
"Sora?"
Sora gave a weak "Hm?" but that was all he got.
Riku's frown deepened and he pondered. He couldn't think of anything to help his friend, yet he wanted to do something.
He kissed the receiver. "It's not the same as kissing you but the receiver might transfer the kiss to you," he mumbled.
Sora blinked and shook his head to stay awake. "You mean…you just kissed the receiver..?" he slowly asked, sounding a little incredulous.
Riku's cheek reddened a bit and he sighed. "Well, yeah… I do that a lot…but you never noticed…and I never told you…" he trailed off, finding it hard to explain why he did that.
Sora, however, didn't need an explanation. Not when he was doing the same every time they were talking on the phone.
He kissed the receiver too. "Maybe my kiss gets you, too. It hasn't worked until now, but you can still hope, right?"
He could almost see Riku wrinkle his nose in confusion.
"What…?" Then he paused. And smiled. "Oh. This is weird," he chuckled.
Sora agreed, smiling contently now that he knew that they had been both doing those things. Weird, yeah, but nice nonetheless.
"Well, I'm going to hang up now…really…"
"Have a good rest, love," Riku softly said, wishing he could hug Sora for comfort.
"You too. Don't get into too much trouble with your mother… it'll make you feel bad."
Riku nodded, knowing that Sora wasn't expecting him to answer this.
"Bye…" Sora murmured before hanging up.
When he placed the receiver back to where it belonged, he hopped off the counter and headed towards his room. Talking to Riku had given him some energy back, almost as though it was some kind of miracle cure.
Sora yawned a few more times as he stripped off the clothes that made costume, folding them neatly and putting them on his chair even though he should have been too exhausted to care. The fake teeth had come off sometime during the party so he didn't have to go through the hassle of getting those out.
Collapsing on his bed, Sora had only one thought.
The school trip where he would spend five days with Riku and share a room with him.
He fingered the mark on his neck, blushing again.
"Riku..."
– To be continued –
Ending notes: Okay, so I did the Halloween thing. Sorry if it was late and rushed, I don't know why I included that anyway. Oh, right... I needed and excuse for Riku to give Sora a hickey XD
Yeah... I wonder what Ryoko will say about that. If she ever gets to see Sora, she's working like crazy... and Sora's breaking down too. And Riku's mom... I actually have a lot of background story for her, might add it sooner or later.
All right, that's it. Hope you liked this one.