Kairi was thankful that they lived in a tropical area. It may be the end of October, but she felt perfectly comfortable in her little black dress without a jacket.
"At least we got out of there before Riku took his pants off," she muttered.
Sora smirked at her. "You should just ask him out," he decided. Kairi rolled her eyes at him.
"First of all, I'm too traditional for that. Girls don't ask guys out. Second of all, Riku's busy with his little project to date the whole school. I'd feel bad for interrupting him instead of supporting him. Thirdly, the last thing I want is to get mauled by the entire female population of this island. Don't think that every girl he's dated hasn't confronted the others, trying to find out if he actually showed interest in anyone." It was like a weird little club, actually. A club of gossiping high school girls that had all had their shot at Riku and missed.
"Did he?" Sora asked. "Show interest in any of them?" Riku hadn't been really forthcoming about the details of his pretend lovelife. He ignored it, and when Sora brought it up, pretended not to care and changed the subject.
Kairi shook her head. "No one has landed a second date with him, and he certainly hasn't kissed anyone yet," she shrugged. Namine had said they just didn't have much in common, Selphie had called Riku boring, and a few other girls he dated in the past voiced the fact that they had never met someone so full of themselves.
"Personally, I think he's hopeless," she said, adjusting her witch's hat. "Its too hard to deal with his attitude if you aren't used to it." Plainly put, most girls just couldn't or wouldn't put up with him.
"But you can," Sora prodded as they crossed the street and turned down a familiar shortcut to the grocery store. "Riku needs someone like you, or specifically, you."
Kairi gave Sora a little push. "Stop it, Sora. I'm not taking advice from someone who won't even make a move on someone he's so blatantly attracted to."
Sora turned a little red. "Roxas is still adjusting." It would be horrible for Sora to try anything while Roxas was still figuring out how his emotions worked. Besides the fact that he was impossible to read, because he hadn't yet learned what was socially appropriate yet.
The two turned onto a quiet residential street, and could see the blaring sign of the grocery store across a few houses. Sora looked around for a house that he could at least try and trick-or-treat at, when three teenagers suddenly burst out from a backyard, laughing hysterically.
Sora took hold of Kairi's arm and directed her out of their way. He didn't want any trouble and she paid them no mind at all. Despite their efforts to walk on the opposite side of the street and avoid looking at them, the trio started laughing as they saw Sora and Kairi approach.
"Hey, how are you guys tonight?" one of the guys asked, nudging the guy next to him.
"Fine thanks," Sora said with a bright smile, putting his arm around Kairi's waist and pulling her closer. They didn't stop walking, especially since Sora noticed the guys start to cross the street to intercept them.
"You guys coming from a party or what?" the guy who appeared to be the ringleader asked. The three of them fanned out, blocking Sora and Kairi's path.
"Yeah. We're just heading home, actually," Kairi said with a polite smile.
"I like your costume," one of the guys said in a perverted manner, pulling her hat off with one movement. He put it on his head and the other guy laughed at him.
"Uh, thanks," Kairi responded, reaching down and tugging at her skirt a little, wishing she wasn't showing so much leg right now as the three seemed to be rather enjoying it.
"Yeah so, goodnight then," Sora said, pulling Kairi out towards the road so they could get away.
One of the guys grabbed Kairi's wrist and spun her around, Sora losing his grip on her. "You should come back with us to this party. Its really cool." His hand trailed down her bare shoulder and she shivered, turning her head away from the scent of alcohol on his breath.
"Actually, we're expected home so-" Sora started to say and reached for Kairi when one of the guys intercepted his arm and twisted it behind his back, putting the other hand on his shoulder and pushing. It hurt somewhat and he tried to struggle immediately. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Kairi pulled at her wrist. "Sora! Get off of me," she tried to yank her wrist away, but the guy just grabbed her other arm, squeezing so hard he probably put fingerprints on her skin.
"Hey, you guys get rid of that kid and I'll escort our lady friend here to the party," the guy holding Kairi captive said, sniffing at her hair creepily. "You smell good," he drawled out, a perverted look in his eyes.
"Sure thing," the guy holding Sora's arm said, and Sora narrowed his eyebrows. It didn't bother him that all three guys were a good several SEVERAL inches taller than him and had more visible muscles.
"No its not a sure thing, let go of her before I kick your guys' asses," Sora threatened, pulling at his arm. He was pretty stuck.
All three of the guys stared at him and burst into laughter. The ringleader started to drag Kairi off and the guy behind Sora twisted his arm painfully.
"I said let go you jerk," Sora said, bringing his foot down hard on the guy's toes. It worked beautifully and he released his grip long enough for Sora to elbow him in the gut. He coughed and doubled over, and Sora took this opportunity to kick the other guy in the knees as he stood there dumbfounded.
"Kairi!" Sora called out, whirring around to see that she had successfully kneed her captivator in the crotch. Good girl.
Unfortunately, the three were only momentarily disabled. Sora pushed Kairi towards the grocery store. "Run. Go run and hide," he instructed.
"Sora-" she started.
"I said run NOW," and he watched her take off down the street. Sora sighed in relief. Thank goodness Kairi was fast.
"Go get her!" the leader of the trio barked at one of the guys. He nodded and made to take off, but Sora stopped him via throwing his shoulder into the guy's chest, knocking him onto the ground.
Sora backed up a little and went into a defensive stance. He could dodge really easily, but against three guys bigger than him he knew he couldn't win. Sora put his hand on his chest to try and stop his heart from being absolutely terrified. Even though it wasn't very manly, Sora knew his best option was to find a point in which he could safely run away.
The first guy threw a punch at him and he ducked, turning to kick him in the back of the knees. He stumbled heavily and Sora turned his attention to the second guy, dodging his punch as well. Okay, so far so good. Unfortunately, by the time the third guy came after him, he'd forgotten about the first. Sora felt a foot connect with his back and he stumbled forward right into the fist of the tallest and biggest assailant.
The three laughed hysterically as Sora managed to keep his balance. He went back into his defensive stance. He couldn't run yet, Kairi had to get safely away first. "C'mon, what? Is that it?" he taunted, knowing it was probably stupid, but not caring.
The biggest of the three smirked and cracked his knuckles as they advanced on Sora. He was on the ground in a matter of minutes, taking care to not hit his head on the pavement when he fell. Sora suffered a kick to the stomach, and another one. All three of the guys had to get their kicks in as they hurled insults at his injured form.
The laughter in Sora's ears was replaced with the sounds of sirens, and the swearing of the teenagers as they took off through a nearby yard, scrambling over the fence to get away. Sora just lay still on the ground, trying to focus on breathing and not on the throbbing from his eye, or the ache of his ribs. He heard Kairi's voice before he closed his eyes for a bit, just glad that she was okay.
After punching Axel for teasing Namine, who was quite clearly embarrassed about being practically naked, Roxas found Tidus snapping his suspenders back in place out on the back porch. Roxas slipped out the door, closing it behind him. No one else was out there, which was great for him.
"Dude, good game. You're hardcore," Tidus complimented him, noticing Roxas hadn't put his shirt back on.
"Thanks. Can It talk to you?" Roxas requested, figuring this was the polite way to engage in a serious conversation with a person you had an issue with.
"We're talking now, what's up?" Tidus asked curiously.
Roxas paused. "My face is up here," he said, pointing to his head. Tidus needed to stop staring at his exposed stomach.
Tidus laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I can't help it. You've got the world's flattest stomach."
Roxas rolled his eyes, glad that he didn't handle compliments by being embarrassed anymore. "Look, I just want to know what your deal with Sora is."
"Deal?" Tidus asked, cocking an eyebrow. "He's hott. And maybe I like him a little. We've known each other since grade school."
Roxas felt irritated immediately. "I realize he's hott, but-"
"Oh, you do? Oh, that's a big surprise," Tidus replied sarcastically.
"What?" Roxas asked, taking a step towards him. He hadn't known how this was going to go, but he didn't expect Tidus to be a jackass about it.
"You should leave Sora to those of us who actually have the guts to act on our attraction," Tidus said pointedly.
Roxas' fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. He didn't intend to 'leave' Sora to anyone. "Are you calling me a wimp?"
Tidus pat Roxas on the shoulder briefly. "Well, yes. You obviously have a thing for Sora, judging by how mad you are at me right now, but you won't do anything about it," he pointed out.
"I AM doing something about it. I'm telling you to back off," Roxas kept his voice just inside the threatening range.
"Okay, then what? You go along without doing anything or telling him. How's that going to work out for you?" Tidus stared directly at him.
Roxas was even more angry that Tidus seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, while Roxas was making childish threats and losing his temper. He bit his lip. "And what AM I supposed to do?" He had no idea how to 'act on his attraction' as Tidus had called it.
Tidus shrugged. "What do you want to do?" he asked. Roxas stared at him. He looked down at his stomach, it having grown nervous thinking about it.
"I…uh…" he stuttered. He hadn't actually considered it. What exactly did he want? "Just to be close to him. Sleep next to him. Protect him and give him everything he wants. Make him happy, I guess…" he trailed off, feeling like that wasn't completely all of it.
Tidus hit him on the back unexpectedly. "Dude, you're so sappy. I expected you to say something along the lines of 'hold him down and kiss him senseless' maybe with a little molesting thrown in there. Then I would've called you a pervert and told you to get bent."
"Uh…will you still call me one if I say that sounds like a pretty good idea?" Roxas asked, a little of his sheepishness showing through.
Tidus laughed and waved his hand. "No, no. I'd just call you a teenage boy with hormones."
Roxas thought of asking what hormones were, but figured he didn't need to look like more of an idiot than he already did. He'd ask Sora or maybe Namine later. She seemed to be learning stuff really fast. "How do you suggest I accomplish this, then?" It couldn't hurt to get Tidus' advice, anyway.
Tidus tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You look like you don't have a clue and honestly, its gonna take a significant amount of time to teach you all I know so, uh…" he thought about it for a second. "You have first lunch tomorrow?"
Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I have-" he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing loudly. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, giving Tidus a questioning look. "Its Kairi?"
Tidus shrugged and Roxas flipped the phone open. "Uh, hey, Kairi."
"Roxas," she said, her voice sounding strained. "Guess you noticed we haven't come back yet."
"Yeah. And?" Roxas pressed, leaning against the railing of the porch.
"We ran into some trouble," she started rambling in a hurried tone, "these guys, I think they were drunk, they grabbed Sora and I, but Sora told me to run so I got to the grocery store and called the cops but when we got there, Roxas they were huge they were like a foot taller than him-"
Roxas interrupted her, feeling his heart sink down into his stomach. "Is he okay?"
"Roxas he's fine he's just, he'll be fine the police brought us to your house and he's just got some ice on his face and I made him lie down," she sounded on the verge of tears at this point. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Kairi felt guilty for leaving Sora alone with those guys even though Sora had forced her to run and had she stayed, she wouldn't have done much good anyway.
"Calm down, okay? I'm coming home." Roxas said.
"But you can't drive the car-" Kairi tried to protest. "You should get Riku to-"
"Its okay, I'll just walk. I don't even know where Riku is right now. Tell Sora I'll be there soon, okay?" He hung up on her, not wanting to hear any more of her protests.
"What's up? What happened?" Tidus asked, following Roxas back into the house as he pushed past the people.
"I'll tell you tomorrow?" Roxas thought of finding Hayner, Pence, and Olette to say goodbye, but his stomach was flip-flopping. He just wanted to get home, where Sora was. How bad was he hurt?
Tidus stood in the entryway as Roxas ran out the door, barely stopping to put his shoes on. He didn't walk home, he started running headlong in the direction of his house, really hoping that he remembered the way. Roxas didn't even bother waiting for crosswalk signals.
After only two wrong turns, Roxas fumbled for his keys at his front door. When his pockets came up devoid of keys, he cursed. Sora had taken his keys to put on his keyring. Roxas pounded on the door. "Its me! Open up!" he called, hoping Kairi was still there. When there was no answer for a few seconds, he debated going for the backdoor, or maybe even climbing up onto the garage roof and climbing in through his window. Though his legs felt like jello from all the running, he doubted he'd be able to make the climb.
Finally, Kairi opened the door. Roxas let out a huge sigh of relief. "You okay?" he asked first. It was still important to be a gentleman.
Kairi nodded. "I'm fine. I called Riku and he said he'd send Tifa to come get me so she should be here soon. You should have waited-"
"Where is he?" Roxas interrupted her, coming inside the house and shutting the door.
Kairi smiled gently. She figured he'd be impatient to see Sora. "He's up in his room," but Roxas was headed up the stairs without taking his shoes off before she could even finish her sentence.
Roxas stopped at Sora's door, catching his breath. He inhaled deeply few times before knocking, and just opening the door. He didn't want to wait for an answer at all. "Sora?" he said, stepping into his room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
His face fell at the sight of Sora lying on top of his bed, a pack of ice pressed to his left eye. Sora turned just his head to look at the door of his bedroom. "Hey," he said, turning back to look up at the ceiling.
Roxas pushed his shoes off and practically tiptoed over to his bed, sitting down very gently. He surveyed Sora, who actually didn't look that bad. He found Sora's hand that wasn't occupied by the icepack and wrapped his fingers around it. He leaned down and let his forehead rest on Sora's ever so lightly. "You frickin' scared me," he whispered, with a small sigh. He sat back up after a brief moment and smiled warmly at Sora.
Sora smiled lopsidedly at Roxas. His lip was cut, so it probably made it difficult. "I feel kind of dumb. I kind of got my ass kicked," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "Look," he pulled the ice off his face and set it aside, reaching down to inch up his shirt. Roxas had no problem helping him pull his shirt up far enough to expose his stomach and ribs. They were covered in black and blue bruises.
Roxas sighed again, looking back up to Sora's face. "Your eye is turning black, too," he said, wondering if it really hurt. He felt his blood grow a little hot and angry at whoever it was did this to Sora. It frustrated him further that he couldn't do a single thing about it, either. Roxas scooted up a little and touched Sora's face carefully. He moved his bangs aside and winced a little. The usually bright and cheerful eye was half closed and bloodshot, still weeping a little. Roxas carefully wiped the tears away.
"How did you get back home?" Sora asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Roxas' light touches to his face.
"Ran," Roxas replied, running his thumb across Sora's cheekbone, avoiding his eye.
"All the way? Did you say goodbye to Hayner and them?" Sora remembered how Roxas had sort of ignored him for their company.
"No, I kind of just ran out," he avoided looking Sora directly in the eye. "I couldn't really think of anything but getting back here."
There was a bit of a silence in the room where neither of them moved. Roxas, feeling so heavy with relief, and Sora feeling weary from the fight and a warming sensation at how concerned Roxas had been.
"You want me to get you anything?" Roxas finally broke the silence and moved to get up off of Sora's bed.
Sora kept a hold of his hand and pulled him back down. "No. Stay here," he requested. Roxas sat back down, moving a little further onto the bed. He picked up the icepack and rewrapped it carefully, placing it back in Sora's hand and guiding it to his eye.
"Thanks," Sora said, again with his lopsided smile.
Roxas squeezed his hand in response, resigned to just sitting there with Sora for a little while.