Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Special thanks to Kayu Silver for pointing out my spelling error (which has been fixed) and for the funny link. Gomen.
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.:C h a p t e r III:.
"Relax… I'll come back…"
"You can't leave… not when you finally came back…"
"…I'm sorry… he's gone."
"…why?"
"…injury…won't make it through the night…"
"…Sora…"
Pain.
Starting from the base of my spine and blasting to the front of my skull, it felt like someone had just ripped a line of duck tape along my spine. It spread from there, an unbearable sting spreading from my neck, my fingers and toes going numb with a pins-and-needles feeling. I gave out a yelp and sat up abruptly, causing a wave of nausea to roll from my stomach. I would have run to the bathroom connected to my room—
…If it weren't for the fact that I was nearly mummified in my own comforter and sheets.
I twisted, trashing and trying to free myself from the cocoon of blankets that had wrapped around me. I thrashed and kicked, desperately wanting to make it to the bathroom. The idea of blowing chucks on my sheets was not the least bit appealing.
Apparently, whatever deity above decided to wake up grouchy and my comforter held onto me tightly, refusing to let me go.
"Dammit!" I rolled around when I felt my stomach give a lunch, telling me it was ready to heave its contents out very soon. I quickly wound myself back around and bit my pillow, gnashing my teeth into the fabric as I felt my nose sting and the vomit rise into my throat. It hovered there and I my eyes watered, the rancid smell cutting through the back of my throat. Finally, I relaxed my jaw as both smell and taste ebbed away, though my throat still burned.
What the hell had just happened?
My stomach was still rocking around, my throat felt like it had been burned, and my head felt like a rhino had River danced on top of it.
"Shit…" I gave a hoarse cough, wincing at the sharp pain in my throat as I unwound myself from my sheets. Rolling over to sit on the edge of my bed, I scrubbed my face with my hands, rubbing the balls of my wrist into my eyes. "Shit, shit, shit…"
It was just a dream. A dream… What it had been about, I couldn't, for the life of me, remember.
Only one thing stood out, the odd thing is, only one thing stood out.
"Where's Sora?"
0-0-0-0-0
"'M cold and tired…" A low rumble. "… and hungry…" Axel grumped, shooting a poisonous glare from his spot on the cold, metal, ferry bench. The metal was bitter from the morning temperature and his ass was numb, the cold having wormed its way through the fabric of his coat. The rocking of the boat wasn't helping his mood any, either.
Sora shrugged, opting to pull his hoodie tighter as he leaned over the railing, watching the waves lick at the side of the convey. "I know," his stomach gave a loud groan, and Sora didn't need to turn around to know that Axel was sporting a very large, and very smug, grin. "Naminé works at the eatery inside..." Sora sniffed, his nose numb. He shivered as a cool morning wind whipped about and stung his cheeks, tinting them a healthy rosy hue. Even on a tropical island, the summer mornings were quite astringent until the sun broke through.
Axel's glare became smoldering, his eyes narrowing into a sharp poisonous green. "Then tell me why we're up here in the fucking cold." The redhead hissed.
"Her break doesn't start until the afternoon and we can't let her see us till then."
"Why?" A strong gust of wind blustering past caused Axel to pull himself in tighter, hunching his shoulders when it licked the back of his neck. His glare, however, didn't dissipate.
"She'll probably freak and run."
Axel rolled his emerald green eyes, "On a boat? Out in the middle of the ocean?" The pyro's sarcasm was painfully obvious. "Ain't that a bit drastic? I know she's not gonna be happy with us, but you're not that annoying." He added, his glare lessening a fraction, obviously satisfied with the bout of sarcasm.
"Yeah, but if she slips through a corridor of darkness and ends up on another world, then we're screwed."
"Wha d'ya mean kid?" Axel uncurled a bit, leaning forward to get a better look at Sora's face. "It's not like you can't go back to the King's world a wait out for the kid again." Another strong gust of air passed, and Axel watched as the Keyblade master ignored it, turning to look at Axel with an almost sorrowful expression.
"No, Axel. I promised myself this is the last time."
0-0-0-0-0
After a long hot shower, I finally trudged downstairs; clad in nothing but my favorite boxers (the black pair with the little red hearts on them) and a white tee that had been hanging off my dresser, the black font on the front reading:" I'm not anti-social, I just don't like you".
From the sounds of it –or lack-there-of— I was guessing that Selphie was still asleep. It was Sunday, and Sunday meant no Saturday morning cartoons, which also meant no Selphie until early noon.
I stood in the hallway for a minute, halfway between the den and the stairs, staring blankly at my bare feet. For a minute I could see sand beneath them, a pair of darker ones next to mine, toes buried in the white sand.
"Riku?"
I shook my head, snapping my head up to look down the hall. My head was messing with me. It was Sunday… Sundays meant I was working on little to no sleep; that was all; mostly because four out of five voices in my head were telling me to go back to sleep.
…
Where was I going again?
'Kitchen? Yes, Riku... you remember where the kitchen is, right? Where the food lives?'
With a short detour to Seph's bathroom, and a few Tylenol pills later, I sat at the table, eating toast with a fork. I wasn't exactly sure why I was eating toast with a fork. Maybe I was too lazy to pick it up by hand…
Hey, it happens sometimes.
0-0-0-0-0
"One coffee and a Gatorade, plea—oh, hey!"
Naminé's blue eyes snapped to attention, meeting confused sky-blue.
"Naminé?" He scratched his head, smoothing down his odd fringe before it fell back into place; looking at the counter awkwardly and laughed. "Sorry..." Zell apologized, "Where's Kairi?"
The blonde smiled, shrugging her small shoulders. "She said she wasn't feeling very well and didn't come in today. I told her to stay home and rest." She explained, wringing the washrag in her hands. She'd been cleaning the phony, plastic marble counters for a while, so she was thankful that Zell had shown up. She may have started talking to the dishrag. Mornings were just like that…
"That sucks…" Zell's figure dropped, expression falling as well. It was something that Naminé liked about Zell; the blonde was so expressive, his body relaying his emotions. The term: "Wearing your mind on your sleeve" came to mind. It was probably his expressive behavior that made him such a people person.
"So…" Zell bounced back, leaning against the counter, resting his head in his hands, as he stared at Naminé. "How's it going?" His voice lowered an octave; just enough to hint at what he was really asking her.
Naminé let out a long sigh, looking from Zell, and then down at the empty cup in her hand. "I'm… worried." She confessed, looking at the cup instead of Zell. 'Worried? More like you having a near heart attack every time someone with red or brown hair came to order something.' Mentally, she could see herself smacking a hand to her forehead. But she would stick with worried. Worried sounded saner.
"I'm afraid she may be falling for a guy she used to like a long time ago." 'A guy she had waited for on an island for a year to come back. A guy you made her forget about when he left again.'
"Well… sounds to me like you're jealous." Zell shook his head. It wasn't a disappointed kind of gesture, just one that hinted that he felt he knew better.
"Maybe…" She whispered, flipping the switch and watching the coffee dribble into the cup. "Probably…" She turned away, crouching under the counter to grab the sports drink from the mini refrigerator. "You're total's three thirty-eight."
"Okay, well, I guess I'll be seein' you later?" Zell asked, grabbing the drinks into one hand and slipping his wallet into his pocket again after paying the correct amount.
She stuck out her tongue when he turned to leave, "Gee… thanks for your help."
"Always glad to be of service, babe." He called over his shoulder, turning to flash her a wide grin.
"Bye, Zell." Naminé waved, even if Zell couldn't see it, and watched him go. She liked Zell. He always had a smile on and was always ready to lend a hand. Perhaps that was why she liked him, because no one had ever offered before… Something she didn't want to go back to.
"Weird dude…"
"I dunno, I kinda like his hair…"
"You would, squirt."
Naminé froze, causing her to turn around slowly, praying she was just hearing things. Oh dear… it couldn't be…
"Heyya, Naminé."
0-0-0-0-0
"I see you're awake…"
Presenting his royal highness…
Dishes clattered, giving off a grating metal and glass sound echoing in the kitchen as my brother dropped his coffee mug into the sink. "You've been eating toast with a fork again, haven't you." It wasn't a question. It was a very flat statement.
I ignored him, eyes glued to the TV screen as Jackass faded to a commercial. What I had for breakfast and how I ate it was my problem, not his. I'd find a way to eat soup with a butter knife if I wanted.
Selphie somehow manages.
"What're you doing up so early?" I craned my neck back, looking though the window of the kitchen, where Seph stood behind the sink, the water running while he rinsed and put away the dishes in the dishwasher. Pft… Neat freak…
Sephiroth didn't look up, continuing his work. "I have to meet someone in a few hours."
Ah, that would explain why he was up so late. He never slept in, weekend or no.
"Then…" I turned around, leaning over the back off the black leather sofa to look at him better. "…some client booked you after hours…" Seph had a strict policy about his job: he didn't work on Sundays. "…and you took the job because they're loaded?" …unless quite of bit of cash was involved, that is.
I'd never admit it to Seph, but I liked his job policy.
"Actually, no." He reached up, turning the water off, "I'm going to be meeting a friend I haven't seen in quite some time."
"Who?"
If anything, I knew from living with him that Seph was a master schooling his emotions. He was one of the few people that could look into the abyss and have it laugh at him, because, if any metaphorical abyss tried to laugh at him, shortly afterward, he'd shoot it. It was this I-Don't-Give-a-Rat's-Ass-About-What-You-Have-To-Say-So-Get-On-Your-Knees-Bitch attitude that made him an unyielding businessman and probably why that old man Ansem had made him vice-president of the power company.
Still, being a businessman and his younger brother were two entirely different things. Which was probably why I saw the barely noticeable, but very tense, twitch his left shoulder gave. Sephiroth only did that when he was hiding something.
He opened his mouth, raising his chin into the air; something he did only to show he didn't have to answer my question and that I should butt the fuck out, but he didn't even get a word in as Selphie interrupted.
Or… her music did, anyway.
"Day-o, day-ay-ay-o Daylight come and he wan' go home"
"Day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day-ay-ay-o Daylight come and he wan' go home"
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying very hard not to laugh as Seph looked about ready to throw some form cutlery at me. The soup ladle looked pretty threatening with Sephiroth holding it like he was about to gut me if I so much as breathed.
"Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH!"
Something shot into the kitchen, clad in a pair of green shorts and a white tank. Oh, and a pair of wool socks, which would explain why Selphie was sliding across the well-waxed wooden floor. "Good morning!" She called cheerfully. Somehow, she stopped herself from running into the refrigerator and reached up, grabbing a box of cereal from the top.
Miraculously, she didn't run into anything as she moved about, grabbing a bowl and spoon and milk. It was probably one of those few times she resembled a somewhat coordinated person as she danced to the steady drum beat with surprisingly fluid movements.
"Hide thee deadly black tarantula"
Seph left a kitchen, mumbling under his breath about chucking a radio and a certain CD out the window.
"Come, Mr. Tally Mon, tally me banana"
.:E n d C h a p t e r:.
Author Ramblings:
Oh… foreboding memory/dream-like things, a(nother) cryptic message, and a cliffhanger in one chapter! More mystery even I don't understand 8D There are times when I read over this and feel like I'm making Sora and Axel out as secret agents… Like the FBI or MIB… . KIB? (Keyblade in Black?)
-is bricked-
Shorter than the other chapters, I know, but I had promised I would post it during the weekend and I totally neglected that to see "Snakes on a Plane" and "Accepted" at the cinemas. Writing the scene on the ferry deck was certainly interesting… I used to live in Seattle, Washington and I remember trips on the ferryboat were always quite cold when I was little, no matter how bundled up I was… It took me back writing that.
Music:System of a Down: "Lonely Day" and Harry Belafonte "Day-O" (The Banana Boat Song)