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Heads, I Win

Heads

The young girl bashed her eyes shyly at him, a blush on her cheeks. She wished she had put on something nicer other then this, but not all things can go as planned. Her neat skirt went down to her feet, a white apron tied around her waist and over the white blouse. Her blonde haired had been curled and was pulled neatly back behind her head with a bright blue ribbon, sending the wavy golden locks cascading down her back.

And she still couldn't believe she was this lucky.

The fine young man smiled down at her. She adored his sparkling green eyes as they stared kindly down at her, but she could've sworn she saw what looked like a smirk spread across his lips for a brief moment. But after that, it was gone and he was asking if he could buy her a drink later on.

He looked like he had seen better days. His clothes were a bit dirty and torn in places. He was tall and extremely skinny, but he had wonderful muscles that lined his arms and she could practically see them through his thin shirt. She wondered what kind of work he did? It must be inside work since his skin was so pale, but it contrasted wonderfully with the rest of him. Especially his hair.

His perfect, shining, silver hair.

Tails

Riku had to resist the urge to smirk at the blundering ditz who was staring up at him with goggling eyes. Honestly, hadn't her parents taught her anything? Never flirt with a guy you don't know...

...especially when he was hot and had picked specifically her to walk up to.

She was standing behind the table of a small mart on the corner of the Main Street.Different fruits were piled into wooden baskets along the shelves, beautiful colors shining in the morning sun. The young woman's father, the shop keeper, had gone out on break several minutes ago. After careful observation for several days, they figured out where he went everyday; at 11:15, he headed down to the pub that was across the street and several blocks over.

When Sora signaled to him, Riku made his move. Normally Sora would be the one up here, being the distraction and flirting with the woman. But Sora usually blundered through it, stuttering and blushing too much. The girl would usually A. burst out laughing, which broke the moment so she would notice Riku swiping a few things off the cabinet or, if she was smart, B. notice that Sora kept glancing behind her at Riku to make sure everything was all right.

No, Sora was good at making a lot of noise for a distraction. But that only worked when the street was less crowded; people usually came running when they heard loud a loud BOOM! But it was close to noon, which meant everyone was rushing to the marts to get the freshest products they could get their hands on.

Riku stole a quick glance behind the girl, who was currently batting her eyelashes at him. Someone with a brown traveling cloak was the only other customer here. His hood drooped down to his chin and his back was hunched. There was a brown sack dangling off a thin wrist.

Sora made an excellent impression of an old man.

But the shop owner's daughter was too absorbed in the petty compliments Riku fed her to notice the 'old man' as his hands skimmed over the fruit, seemingly checking to see if they were fresh. It was almost impossible to see him lightly tap them so that they rolled off of the stack and tumbled into the bag on his wrist.

"So, how about I buy you a drink later on?" Riku asked, smiling down at her. He saw her cheeks blush even redder. He could've sworn he heard the 'old man' give a chuckle, to which he just ignored. He had a job to do. It wasn't his problem if she was waiting for a man that would never show.

"O-okay," she stuttered. "Um, th-that is, if Papa lets me go early..."

Riku smiled sweetly down at her. "I'm sure a lovely young lady such as yourself won't have a problem. Not with a pretty face like yours."

The old man was having a coughing fit that sounded more like laughter.

The girl, oblivious to the 'hacking' of the 'old man', said, "A-a-all r-right then. Um, when?"

Riku smiled, praying it didn't look more like a smirk. "Hm, about four? Sound good to you?"

The woman nodded her head, beaming. "Yes! Um, where at?"

"Don't worry," Riku chuckled. "I'll find you."

Spotting the cloaked figure start to make his way back to the street, the bag much bigger then it had been earlier, Riku picked up a shiny red apple from the stack on his right.

"Penny for your thoughts," he said sweetly, tossing the apple to her. She caught it in trembling hands, nearly dropping it. Riku dropped a coin into the tin can next to the old cashier, winked, and walked away.

Who would know the coin was fake? She sure as Hell wouldn't. She was too busy turning into a puddle of mush behind the counter.

Smirking, rather pleased with himself, he casually walked up to the edge of the street where the old man was waiting for a train of carriages to pass.

"'Penny for your thoughts'?" a voice beneath the cloak asked. Riku could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Honestly, Riku, can't you do any better? That line is so cheesy."

Frowning, Riku watched as the last of the carriages passed. He saw a group of girls eyeing him from the other side of the street.

Smirking, Riku said, "Here, let me help you across the street, ma'am."

His smirk widened as he saw the girls swoon at the act of kindness and from the mutterings he heard coming from under the cloak. He caught the words 'murder', 'got us food', and 'bastard' somewhere in there, but the rest was drowned out by the carrying voices of the other civilians.

Riku took Sora by the arm and led him across the busy street, trying not to laugh too much. He was failing dismally.

"Aren't you hot in that thing?" Riku asked once they were safely across. "You must be sweating like a pig."

"I am," Sora groaned. "I can't wait to get home so I can take this thing off."

Riku chuckled. "If you just stopped in an alley you could take it off, ya know."

Sora shrugged. "I'll wait," he said. "Better safe then sorry."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora, there are no guards around here. Well, not yet, anyway. And you're no use if you die of heat stroke."

They passed by a crowded fish mark, a joyous man shouting out bidding prices while other took tickets to get their turn. They squeezed through the mass of people, getting separated momentarily before joining each other a minute later, free of the group of customers.

"If you're so worried about me getting heat stroke," Sora began, fixing the hood of his cloak that had fallen off when a large man had banged into him, "then you can take this." He shook the sack of fruit he held in his left hand.

Riku eyed it before laughing. "Nah," he said. "Fix your back, people are beginning to stare."

And it was true. They were catching people's eyes; they were confused as to why someone would be wearing a cloak in this kind of weather.

Sora hitched his shoulder so it appeared his back had a hump again. A few moments later, when few people were staring, he muttered in a raspy voice, "What were you saying?"

"I was saying," Riku said, smirking, "that if we were caught by any guards, I don't want to be the one caught with the stolen goods."

Sora pouted. "Some friend you are," he said disdainfully, glaring up at Riku, but careful to keep his back hunched over.

"Hey, I do my best," Riku said smugly.

They were heading to the main part of the city now, and it was something Sora never stopped getting a thrill out of. He just loved seeing all these people doing their shopping, making jokes. Children playing hopscotch on the sidewalk to playing tag in the grass plains that stretched out behind the shops.

Then there was the place itself. It seemed they had something new every time you went there. Freshly baked pastries lay in glass shelves, steaming the windows and sending a wonderful, wafting smell spiraling through the air. Different jewelry gleamed in the sunlight, sparkling from their satin cushions.

Sawdust lay in heaps as skilled carpenters worked their way through fat logs, making them into masterpieces. Sometimes, if they had time, Riku would let Sora stop there to join the gaggle of people who watched the wood be chipped, carved and sawed down into stools, statues, figurines. Once, when they were little, the carpenter took a small block of wood and whittled it down into a small figurine pf a dog and gave it to Sora. The brunette still had it; it was bundled up in cloth and lay under his pillow at home. It was one of his few treasures.

They passed by a toy shop that was full of giggling little kids. Sora smiled, but no one could see, his face hidden by the cloak. He knew it was childish, but Sora loved toys. He liked how they saved you from boredom, the funny things they did, the smiles they put on other peoples faces.

When he was little, his friends always brought their toys to Sora when they were broken. Why? Because Sora could fix them like no other with only wood chips, paste and a rubber band. If the squeaker was punctured, he could make it squeak louder. If something stopped jumping, he could make it leap higher.

Riku once said that when they were older, maybe Sora could open up his own toy shop. But now that they were older, Sora knew better. They were thieves, now, and with no money to open a shop. Riku said things would get better, but as far as Sora could see, they had painted themselves into a corner. Now, the only thing they could do was wait to see what happened next.

"If you just keep on standing in the middle of the street like that you're going to get run over."

Sora's lower lip jutted out in a pout as he was snapped out of his thoughts by his best friend. Playfully swatting Riku over the head, Sora said, "Oh shut up."

Riku laughed. "You never get tired of this place, do you?" he teased.

Sora smiled weakly and chuckled a bit. "Nah, I guess not."

Riku patted Sora on the back and led him out of the center of the hustle and looked down at him. "How about you stay here for a bit?" Riku suggested.

Sora blinked up at him. "Really?"

Riku shrugged. "You deserve a break," he said simply. Bending down slightly, he took the bag of fruit from Sora and grinned. I'll take this home and you just hang out here for a while. Besides, I'm tired and I wanna take a nap. And with you, you'll stand here gawking so long it'll be night by the time we get home."

Sora grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "I'll see you at home later, then."

Riku nodded and was about to turn and walk off, but he hesitated. "Remember to be careful. If someone's staring at you, try and go in an alley for a while before coming back out."

Sora rolled his eyes in exasperation, crossing his arms over his chest. "Riku, chill. I know!"

Riku continued as if Sora hadn't spoken. "Don't' talk to anyone if you don't need to, don't twitch like you usually do when you get nervous; it makes you look like you're about to steal something."

"Which I usually am," Sora reminded him.

Once again ignoring him, Riku said, "Come back in before dusk and make sure you're not being followed. I don't care if you have to back track for a bit, just make sure no one sees you. And if half of this amount of people leave," he motioned around them with a hand, "then come back. There's nothing more suspicious then a kid wandering around in a small crowd in the dark."

Sora sighed. "All right, all right, I've got it," he muttered. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah," Riku nodded. "Just ditch the cloak; I don't want anyone bringing you back on a stretcher if you pass out from heat stroke."

Sora grinned his cheesy smile. "I will!" he promised. "You go and take your stupid nap. And I'd better not see half of that fruit gone when I get back."

"Sora, you're the glutton, not me," Riku pointed out. Technically, neither were gluttons. Neither had the chance to eat much except on holidays when they usually managed to steal a cooked meal from a restaurant, usually a roast turkey or something. It was extremely difficult; you were noticed every time you stole something that big. The only reason you got away with it on holidays was because people were just too festive and cheerful to really care. They just let it go in the spirit of the holiday.

Sora shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "You'd better get going if you want to catch up on your beauty sleep."

"I don't need it," Riku said smugly, but he batted Sora over the head for it nonetheless. Raising a hand in farewell, Riku left Sora standing at the corner of the market.

Shaking his head, Sora turned around and headed down the bustling streets. He was sweating up a storm underneath the stupid coat and he couldn't wait to find a place to take it off.

He stopped at the space between two of the emptiest marts and looked in. The gap stopped at a thin alley way that stretched between two warehouses.

He cast a weary eye over his shoulder to check to see if he was being watch, and then he ducked into the dim alley.

Stepping over small pieces of trash, Sora headed in deeper. The noise of the market rung dully in the cramped space. Sora headed back until he was quite sure that no one could see him, even if they were squinting. It was very dark, the only light coming from the inch of space between the two thin roofs. The light shown down on his face, bathing his middle in sultry light.

Smiling slightly to himself at the thin ray of light in such a dingy place, Sora flipped his hood off to reveal sweat soaked hair that hung down his head and over his eyes.

He rubbed at his hair impatiently until it sprung back to life and stuck up once again. He pulled the buttons free of their loops, freeing him from the heavy heat of the coat. Signing in relief as cool air hit his skin, Sora slid the coat off his shoulders. He held it before him for a moment before dumping it on the ground for a later day. He could come back and get it later, when it wasn't so crowded. Until then, he figured that no one in their right minds would come back here, let alone pick up a dingy coat. They probably couldn't even see the alley; their eyes would bounce from the fish market on the left to the shoe store on the right.

Grinning at his reasoning, Sora made his way out of the narrow alley. When he met the warm air of the huge market, he couldn't help a sigh of contentment. Without the cloth to muffle his hearing, the sounds and shouts of laughter were crisp and clear, getting rid of any unhappy thoughts that shadowed his mind.

Everything was bright in his eyes and he couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment at the dingy coat in the alley; it had been blocking this wonderful sight.

He wondered aimlessly through the market, dodging the rush of people who were trying to make it here or there. Salesman were barking prices at the throngs of people, trying to get their attention.

Something crinkled under his feet and it caught Sora's attention. Glancing down, he saw a crumbled up dollar bill underneath his feet. Grinning at his luck, Sora bent down and carefully picked it up, as if afraid it would rip into a million pieces if he went too fast. Holding it to the light, he saw that it was, indeed, real. Smiling, Sora folded it and carefully tucked it into his pocket for later.

He picked his away for a bit until he came to the Toy Shoppe. Smiling, Sora, glancing to his left and right first, stepped inside.

The jingling of the bell was soon followed by shouts of laughter. He smiled as he saw children looking around the shelves, occasionally squealing with laughter or picking it up, bringing it to their parents to beg for them to buy it. Sora remembered living for the days when his parents brought him here. Sora loved looking around at the brightly colored toys. Soft, plastic, bright, small, big, loud... he liked them all. It was always the biggest thrill when his parents let him pick one out.

He could see that this wasn't one of those overly-jazzed toyshops that hadn't been popping up everywhere. Sora despised them; the creators of those flashy, cheap toys always created them for money, not for the children. The one reason Sora would want to work here was for the bright smiles that lit a child's face when they got it. To hear them laughing, having a good time. Because Sora knew how much he loved it... he just wanted everyone else to have just as much fun.

He passed rows of jigsaw puzzles with mesmerizing designs and colorful pictures, stuffed animals, little plastic dolls with painted faces, toy dinosaurs, fake make-up kits, everything. Sora made sure to keep his hands in sight of the man at the cashier at all times. The guy was giving him suspicious looks. Actually, all of the parents were. And that was when he realized it.

They think I'm going to steal something.

He felt the joy begin to seep out of him, the smile sliding off of his face. With his head bent down slightly in shame, Sora walked out of the shop.

He understood completely, really. It just... hurt. No one was certain that he was one of the famed robbers who had plagued Disney Village for nine years There was no real proof. But they knew he was one of them. They knew he was dangerous, and they wanted him to just stay away form their kids, that was all. But... Sora didn't want to hurt anybody. Never! He wasn't dangerous!

But that wasn't what his reputation said.

Fuck my reputation.

He stopped paying attention to where he was going. He shoved roughly into people who gave a gasp of surprise every time, but the noise rebounded off of deaf ears. He was too lost in his own thoughts to either here them or care which direction he was headed.

Eventually, the noise died down. People were starting to leave the huge bazaar and the sky was beginning to darken into dusk. He vaguely wandered if his feet were taking him home, but he decided to let them have their way. He didn't really care right now. The light that the joyful city had brought him was put out. He was starting to feel cold.

Just as he was debating on whether or not to go back to get the cloak, he heard angry voices.

"It's all your fault it broke!"

"Nuh uh, Huey had it last!"

"I did not! It was Duey!"

"No, it was Louie!"

Sora blinked tiredly, searching for the source of all the noise. He found it next to a closed produce stand. At the side of it sat three ducks, all wearing shirts and a baseball cap. One red, one green, another blue.

Sora blinked and walked a bit closer, careful not to make a sound.

The one in the red squawked, "Well, who cares who did it? All that matters now is that it's broken!"

That caught Sora's interest. The brunette was very good at fixing things, even though most of the things he ended up fixing were things he had broken himself.

Looking down, he saw a bright green fro, the size of their head, lay sprawled out in front of them. It's painted blue eyes were wide as it stared up at the shy, as was the plastic smile. But one of it's legs was twisted at the hinge and as they set it up and pushed it down, it just flopped to the ground uselessly.

Sora smiled gently. He had seen it in the Toy Shoppe earlier on. Pushing aside the dark thoughts that were starting to re-enter his mind from the earlier visit, he stuck his hand into his pocket, searching for something. The dollar bill crinkled as his fingers brushed over it, a bit of lint stuck to his fingertips, and what he wanted was at the bottom. Grinning triumphantly, Sora pulled it out and brushed the lint off of his hand.

Stepping closer to them, no longer bothering to not make any noise, he squatted down. The three ducks blinked up at him.

"Huh?"

"Do you mind if I see that for a moment?" Sora asked, pointing to their fallen toy.

The one in the red shirt scooped it up in feathered hands and, after glancing quickly at his companions, handed it to Sora.

"What're you gonna do with it?" one asked.

Sora smiled gently down at him. "I'm gonna fix it." And then he set to work.

First, he flipped the plastic catch down at the foot, flipping the piece of plastic off of the broken leg. After staring at it for a moment, Sora used his nail and dug inside the leg until he pulled out a long piece of elastic that had been snapped down the middle.

Grinning, Sora took the rubber band and hooked one end on a stub of plastic by the foot. He wound the band around a small wheel at the joint of the knee and then, with his nail, brought it back around and to the foot where he tugged it on the same nub of plastic as before. It was a tight fit, but that was okay. If it was loose, it wouldn't work at all. The tighter it was, the higher the leap. An added bonus.

He flipped the small plastic hatch into place and squeezed, satisfied when he heard a gentle clicking sound.

"Ha!" Sora laughed in triumph. Grinning, he handed the toy frog back to its owners.

"Wow, thanks, mister!" the one in the green squawked happily.

"We thought it'd be broken forever!" the one in the yellow added. Taking the frog, he placed it on the ground and, after pushing it down, watched as it leapt high in the air and into his hands. "It even jumps higher!"

Sora laughed, heart lightening considerably. "Yeah, no problem," he assured them with a smile. "Just make sure you don't bounce it too much or the rubber band will snap."

They watched as the human teen stood up and stretched. "That thing was bound to break in a month," he pointed out, frowning. "But now I'm pretty sure it'll last longer now."

"Thanks, umm..."

"Sora," the brunette said.

"Thanks, Sora!" they chorused.

"By the way," the one in the red said, "I'm Louie."

"I'm Duey!" That was the green one.

"And I'm Huey!" the one in blue finished.

Sora laughed awkwardly. "So, um, I'm guessing you guys are brothers?"

Duey nodded. At least, Sora thought that one was Duey. Or was it Louie? "Yup! We're here with our uncle and his friend!"

"Oh," Sora said in slight surprise. Looking around, he said, "I don't see anyone..."

"They're right behind you!" the one in blue laughed. Duey? Or Huey?

But Sora wasn't paying attention to that right now. He was too busy waiting, or perhaps, praying, for the sky to fall and kill him. Just kill him now. Please, God have mercy.

There behind him stood the Court's Royal Magician and, right next to him, the captain of the Royal Nights.

"Ahyuck, hiya there!"

His life was so fucked up.

End Chapter

I've been writing this on and off all day. I had a nice time with it, too. It was nice to take my time and enjoy it at the same time. Well, until next week! And please drop me a review or I'll consider not posting for another two weeks. Hee-hee, bye!