Love Love Contest! Fight!

Disclaimer: Don't own KH characters or rights.

Warning: shonen-ai (boy x boy romance), crude humor, language, SoraRiku below.


Chapter seven: The difference between wrong and right

Previously…

"Well, since a contestant has already dropped out this time," Roxas continued, "There will be no eliminations of the remaining contestants. Now let me summarize who's left here: Number two, Number four, Number six, Number eight, Number nine and Number eleven."

Sora was… still in.

----

"You… came." Riku started softly behind Sora, who stood on a blanket of thick green grass under the bright blue sky and piercing sun.

"Hn." Sora replied with a hum. "I just can't let you go so easily… just yet."

"Why? I did that to you…" Riku felt no different from Selphie all the way back in the beginning of the contest who so blatantly betrayed Sora. He had seen this boy got hurt, one time after another, yet his will never seemed to be blunted by any of it.

"I can't tell you why." Sora chuckled shyly. "If I tell you now, it'd end before it starts." He turned around, pointing at Riku determinedly. "Someday, when I feel like it's the right time, I promise I'll tell you. For now, I won't give up. I won't mind if you go out with other girls and kiss them. I've learned to stand up after falling down."

Riku could only stare at Sora with awe. The brunet smiled, lowering his finger; it wasn't a very promising future, but when has Sora ever backed down from the intimidating?

----

As school began returning to its normal track, Sora had less and less free time for himself. Schoolwork was quite demanding itself; and the clubs demanded even more from him. Just this weekend, he had to attend a community service where he would be planting trees with kids. Well, actually he signed up for it; but still, busy was busy.

"Ah, ah, ah. No, no." The brunet said, shaking his head and hovering it over a child's administration. "That's not how you should do it. Remember? First pat on the soil to make it firm, and then you can water the plant."

"This is stupid." The child bluntly declared with a pout. "I don't want to do this." He threw the small spade in his hand into the dug trench, and stood up to run out towards the bustling traffic road.

"Watch out!!" Sora yelled and chased after the boy, sprinting out into the road without hesitation.

Beeeeeep!! A car honked with all its might as it attempted to stop before the brunet. Sora was able to push the boy aside but was hit slightly by the stopping car and sprang his ankle in the process.

"Sora!" Somebody's voice called out, and in the snap of a second he was picked up by two strong hands of a familiar warmth. He was placed down onto a bench on the sidewalk.

"You didn't have to go kill yourself." The voice, laced with haughty scorn, was highly manipulative – or at least trying to be.

"Fuck off," Sora seldom swore; but he couldn't help himself with this dick-ass jerk. "Ansem."

"I would fuck myself off to you." The man let a wicked smirk creep onto his face. Sora glared up at him with a murderous gaze, but Ansem pretended it was never there.

"So, how has it been going with the lover-boy?"

"Lover boy?" Sora's brows knitted further together.

"You know, the one you're trying to win his heart?" Ansem said it all-knowingly.

"Riku?" Sora's eyes widened. "How'd you know about this…?!"

"Oh, who are you kidding?" Something dark was lurking under Ansem's bright irises. "You know why he held this contest. And you know who sent you the pictures."

"It was you…" The truth finally dawned onto Sora. "It was all you…"

"You know you've always wanted me." Ansem bent down and moved his face close towards Sora's neck. The brunet was a little lagged before he came to his senses and screamed, attempting to push the silver-haired man away.

"Get away from me, you filthy-"

"You only entered the contest to take revenge on me. You still care so much about me-" Coldness was left wherever Ansem's lips touched Sora' skin as disgust almost completely consumed the younger boy.

"Hey you!" Someone else cried out, and Ansem was yanked away from Sora. Before the latter came back into reality, his rescuer was already assaulting Ansem in retaliation.

"Tidus! Stop!" Sora ran up and pulled the blond boy to stop him from kicking Ansem any further. The silver-haired man cowered and ran away shamefully.

"Are you okay?" Tidus pushed Sora back onto the bench gently.

"Yeah… I'm alright." Sora chuckled sheepishly. "Just hurt my ankle, 's all… Hey, at least I get to see the manly side of you!"

"You stupid…! This is nothing to laugh about!" Tidus revealed an expression of candid concern. "Who was that man?"

"He… was my ex." Sora sighed with an ineffable sorrow in his eyes. "But everything in between us was a lie. I fell head-on into a wall that looked soft… Haven't you ever get one of those feelings, Tidus?"

"I guess not." The boy shrugged, "I've never really been lied to by anyone. I guess I'm lucky."

"Believe me, you'd want it to stay that way." Sora drew out another sigh. "He made me feel so worthless in the end that I just wanted to do everything I can to break him. I know I sound selfish and scary, but I can't help it…"

"Did you feel the same… when you find out that Riku was playing around with all the other contestants?" Tidus inquired carefully, studying Sora's expressions.

"I don't know… Maybe." Sora laughed bitterly, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. "I'm such an ugly person, am I not?"

"Not at all!" Tidus stood up abruptly. "You helped me when Riku almost eliminated me from the contest! You've been such a great friend and support!"

"Thanks, Tidus." Sora sniffed, and stood up to wrap his arms around the taller blond boy. For some reason, some twisted and distorted cause, Tidus' heart sped fast and his cheeks burned.

---

"Alright, Sora. This isn't working out." Kairi declared the moment she waltzed into the boy's room. "You're so busy with schoolwork that you haven't talked to Riku for almost a whole week! The elimination's coming up!!"

"I know but I'm just too busy!" Sora rolled his eyes, flailing his arms up with the pencil still tucked in his fingers. As Kairi had said, the elimination will be up soon and Sora have yet to do anything to "please" Riku (the poor brunet still figures that this way of saying it sounds horribly wrong).

"How about this – you guys go on a simple date just for the sake of not getting eliminated?" Kairi tried sarcastically.

"And what 'simple date' would you suppose?" Sora retaliated.

"I don't know…" She leaned over Sora's bed and picked up some random magazine he left on the floor from a while ago. "How about… a day in the RG City Amusement Park?"

"Amusement park?" Sora laughed out loud, "Don't you think that's a little too typical?"

"This coming from the person who kept the magazine from which I suggested the idea." Kairi flipped the magazine so Sora could see the 2-page spread of the park. "Well?"

"…" Sora pouted grudgingly before flailing his arms once more, "Fine!"

As it turned out, though, this date was anything but simple.

----

Sora's manliness was degraded another step by the full two hours he used to prepare himself for the date. He was beginning to wonder if he seriously emitted girly pheromones.

Nonetheless, he primed himself to the best he could and left uneasily for the amusement park. Riku was already there, waiting for him. They wasted half an hour in the beginning between silence and awkward suggestions of where to go or what entertainment to board first.

When they finally decided, the line was long and they had to wait in the awkward silence for another hour or so. And Sora, being the dumb-dumb that he always was, decided that it was the best time to go to the bathroom at this point. He embarrassedly excused himself, unaware of a girl who had been following them.

----

As a humble apology for making Riku wait and embarrassing himself so much in front of Riku, Sora bought two cones of ice cream as he returned to the line they were waiting in – one for Riku and one for himself.

But, as fate has always been the quoted "bitch" she is, Riku was nowhere to be found. Sora was confused at first, and wondered if the line could moved so fast that Riku had already gone on the roller coaster first, so he went to the exit to see if Riku was waiting for him there. No one in sight was familiar to him. Scared, Sora began running frantically around for any sign of the soft silver hair that so made Riku stand out.

----

"Where is he?" Riku inquired, for the fourth time, the girl who was pulling at his wrist. "You said he got into some trouble; where is he?"

"Err… Well, he was here a moment ago!" The girl answered fretfully. "Maybe he got taken away by them! Oh no!"

"Okay, calm down." Riku shook her shoulders, but he was barely containing himself. "You said you saw Sora come out of the bathroom, and then what happened?"

"Then these two men began harassing him and bullying him… I recognized him right away and I ran to get help, and I saw you-" The girl burst into sobs and clung to Riku deliberately. "Oh God! They must've taken him!"

----

After running around in circles within the park, Sora finally caught on a shining silver amidst the daylight. What he saw next prompted him to drop both his ice creams onto the ground.

Why is Riku with another girl? A loud voice squawked within the brunet's head; his feet began moving. Why is she crying? Why is Riku touching her shoulders? He took it once; he can't take it twice. What is she saying?

"You said you saw Sora come out of the bathroom, and then what happened?"

What is Riku talking about?

"Then these two men began harassing him and bullying him… I recognized him right away and I ran to get help, and I saw you- Oh God! They must've taken him!"

I'm right here!!

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM!!" The sentence was accompanied by a loud "SLAP!". Sora's eyes were blinded by fury. Riku's eyes were wide as saucers. The girl's lip corner was tainted with blood.

"Sora…?" Riku squeaked weakly; then before he knew it his wrist was pulled by a hand again, this time Sora's.

They ran in no general direction until the fire in Sora burned out. Riku still had trouble recovering from the "trauma" he just witnessed. Sora was doubled over, panting.

"Sora…"

An abnormally high-pitched whimper, one of suffering, broke out before Sora dropped onto his knees. Riku didn't need to look twice to know that Sora was crying; he knelt down, softly placed his hand on Sora's head and shoulder and brought the brunet into his embrace. Sora's hand immediately balled fists in Riku's shirt.

"I… I thought you were going to hug her back and go with her…"

"Sora…"

"I don't know what I should do. I feel like I can lose you any minute. I'm anxious and agitated whenever I'm around you. I'm sorry… I feel like there are so many people who are better than I am and I have nothing to give compared to them. I'm so sorry… I didn't really mean to hit her like that but I don't know what else I'm supposed to do…"

"Sora, Sora." Riku patted the brunet's head. "Listen to me. You've got a lot to offer. You are one beautiful thing and I'm surprised that no one has claimed you before I get to meet you. I think I can claim to be the luckiest man alive to have you fall in love with me."

Upon hearing these words, Sora couldn't help but burst into another round of weeping. His heart was aching so much – not with pain, but love. He couldn't believe just how much he loved Riku.

----

The sixth elimination came with a storm. People gathered in the club room to hide from the rain. As per usual, all the judges and club officers came on time to announce the one that would be eliminated.

"The contestants who can remain in this contest are," Roxas spoke into the microphone, "Number eight, number two, number four and number six. Both number eleven and number nine please step up."

Sora was a little bit surprised that he was put on the bottom two. But then he remembered that he did give number nine a pretty hard slap.

"A word from Riku: 'Both contestants broke rules this week. We have one who had afflicted physical pain; and we had one who afflicted mental torture. In the context of this competition, neither should be justified. The damage done cannot be reversed; however, there are certain measures that can be taken to lessen the pain, and whether or not taking these measures is what made the difference.'

"That's all from Riku. Now, the contestant who will remain is… Number eleven."

Sora broke into relief while the other girl glared at him sourly with her swelled cheek. Sora then turned to her and apologized with a 90-degree bow. Tears of anger welled up in her eyes and she raised her palm, intending to return that slap. However the club officers locked her wrist in place.

"But he hit me! That's a crime he committed!" She yelled.

"Three times." Riku bellowed impatiently. "He apologized three times already, including the one he just did to you. He admitted what he did, and felt the guilt he deserved. And you? You lied bluntly to me without even a blink of the eye, and you never came out about it. I don't need a girlfriend who can lie to me without feeling guilt."

Furious and humiliated, the girl stormed out into the raining weather with shattered dignity.