AN- I'm really enjoying writing this.
"Riku! RIKU!" Sora shouted waving his hand at Riku as he stood outside the school with Kairi.
It was late afternoon and school had just finished. Riku smiled as he walked his bike up to his friends. "Hey guys."
"You going to walk home with us?" Kairi smiled.
"Ah, sorry no. My mom is working late so I need to pick up my little brother. I'll see you guys tomorrow." And with that Riku hopped on his bike and casually rode down the hill to his littler brother's Elementary School. While he missed travelling and seeing the worlds, nothing could beat riding through the streets of their small island. It was alive and bustling with local islanders. A few even waved at Riku as he rode past. He was pretty much known by everyone and since his return was greeted with a warm welcome… to which Riku could only think what they'd say if they knew the truth…
A young boy, about 11 years old stood on the sidewalk after school. He had extremely pale blonde hair, which could almost be passed off as silver in the right light, and bright green eyes. He had his hair combed back with only a few strands of hair shaping his soft face and the cutest smile. His mother said, he always looked like his father.
"Hey Kiba…" Two boys sneered looming over the eleven year old.
"Leave me alone guys!" the 6th grader exclaimed trying to find a peaceful spot to wait for his older brother.
"Aww! Is that any way to treat your only friends? You know, seeing how you're such a pathetic excuse for a boy." The bullies high fived each other. "You'll never live up to your brother's skill."
Kiba grit his teeth. He hated how everyone compared him to Riku. He was six years younger yet everywhere he went, people expected him to be just as good as his brother at everything! Kiba grabbed a sharp stick off the ground and charged at the two boys with full fury.
"KIBA!" Riku shouted jumping off his bike and breaking up the three fighting youths easily.
"You better keep that mutt on a leash or else I'll get my father to sue!" The obvious leader of the pair shouted.
Riku shot the boys a deathly glare with a small flash of darkness just to scare them off. As expected they ran screaming away. The silverette sighed turning his attention back to his brother.
"Kiba…" He began.
"They started it!" Kiba immediately shouted.
"That's no excuse. You could have been expelled if the teachers caught you or worse! You need to learn to choose your battles more wisely." Riku advised calmly.
"Like you got to?" There was a hint of jealousy in the blonde's voice.
'If only you knew…' Riku thought to himself before kneeling down and placing his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Yes, I've fought many battles. And while it might be a great stress reliever sometimes, battles are really serious. You remember me telling you about mine and Sora's fight against a nobody named Xemnas? I nearly broke my back from protecting him. Could barely walk for a long time…"
Kiba sighed. He knew Riku was right. Riku was ALWAYS right. He had the battle scars to prove it. "I just want to be strong… like you…"
Riku swallowed hard seeing a reflection of his younger self. Memories flooded back with how he was so tempted by the darkness all in the pursuit of strength. He thought quickly on how to deter such drives. "Hey I have an idea. If you promise me not to get into anymore fights, I'll teach you to defend yourself properly."
A wide smiled stretched across his younger brother's face, "REALLY?!"
"Really, really." Riku replied.
"WOOHOO! I'M GOING TO BE STRONGER!" Kiba exclaimed dancing around his older brother.
The seventeen year old couldn't resist laughing at how cute his brother was being. He walked over to his fallen bike and the two started heading back to theirs… but first… "You want some ice cream Kiba?"
"Do I ever Riku!" Kiba beamed. "Hey do you think I could learn to use your sword one day?!"
"Heh, one step at a time now." Riku chuckled.
Since their mom was working late, Kiba and Riku spent the afternoon together in the park enjoying delicious fruity ice creams. Ever since Riku had returned home, the two of them had grown very close again. Kiba had a hard time making friends and Riku did his best to help him make friends, the blonde preferred spending time quietly in his room working.
Around 6pm, the sun was beginning to set indicating it was time to head home. The islands were rarely known for crime however there was still the risk of heartless. It was uncommon these days to see one but still, people were told to stay alert. As they slowly approached their house, both laughing without a care, they failed to notice the dark figure watching them from the rooftop. The last thing Riku heard was a strange ticking sound before Kiba screamed and then all went black and he was left with a searing headache.
"Kiba… Kiba… I'm sorry…" Riku muttered in his sleep.
Ansem came into the room again with a small bowl of soup just as Riku's eyes fluttered open. He winced painfully as he shifted his stiff muscles. It felt so strange waking up in a bed. It had been so long. His blue green eyes slowly adjusted to the yellowish light from the fireplace. He could barely remember what happened. There was the cell… and then…someone carried him… and took him here.
"Good to see you're awake." Ansem said with almost a touch of concern in his tone.
Riku instantly stiffened hearing that too familiar voice. He slowly turned his towards Ansem before springing out of the bed and drawing Way to Dawn. Well at least he wanted to. Pain shot through his legs causing him to fall to his knees. He crawled backwards pointing his keyblade at Ansem. It was apparent, his right leg was twisted the wrong way and the other ankle was badly bruised. And then he screamed again as his hand shaking violently until he released his keyblade.
It was then Ansem noticed a thick bracelet around Riku's wrist. He slowly approached.
"Stay back!" Riku screamed.
The silver haired teen even went so far as trying to reach for his blade again which again resulted in a shock to his wrist. It was clear the boy was very scared.
"I'm not going to hurt you…"Ansem raised his hands as if he was walking towards a wild animal.
"Yeah right!" Riku continued to crawl backwards hoping the wall would disappear.
"I'm here to help you."
"At what cost?! My heart! No I won't let you!"
"Riku… calm down… you're only hurting yourself more." Ansem tried though clearly getting more irritated.
"I have to save my little brother!" Riku shouted.
"Do you really want me to leave you alone?! Leave you to die alone in your condition?!" Ansem finally snapped having had enough of the teen's protests. He was just trying to help (even if it was for selfish reasons)… But when he calmed down he saw a small tear roll down Riku's face as he swallowed hard.
In the teen's eyes were fear… but not fear of Ansem… nor of being left alone again. Ansem could see he was scared of what that would mean for Kiba. The heartless knew he had the greatest chance right here to take advantage. He could easily use this against Riku; manipulate him into giving up his body to save his brother. But that would only lead to Riku finding a way to push Ansem further away. So with a sigh, Ansem snapped his fingers causing the bracelet on his wrist to explode in darkness. Riku immediately took the opportunity to attack; forgetting his leg was still bad. He attempted to do his sprint slash attack but only managed a few steps before falling into Ansem's arms.
Riku began struggling against him but Ansem held firm hoping to wear the boy out before he could injure himself further. "Calm down Riku…" He repeated quietly in Riku's ear. The voice sent shivers down his spine but he kept struggling until he had no more energy. He slumped against Ansem's body making it easier for the heartless to simply scoop him up and gently lay him on the bed.
"I didn't mean to shout at you…" Ansem said quietly, almost sounding like an apology, as examined Riku's twisted leg. It was really bad. The main bone had been completely dislodged from the knee joint. There was a simple way to fix it but it would cause a great deal of pain. So for the moment he returned his attention to the simple soup he had made, mixed with a little sleeping potion. It was clear from Riku's now bonier physique, he hadn't been fed well in a long time. Ansem would have to slowly readjust him to normal food. With a little effort, the older man slid Riku up against a stack of pillows and handed him the bowl. "Drink up."
"How do I know its not poisoned?" Riku asked cautiously. He may have dodged a bullet earlier but he was still willingly to push and see how for Ansem would go with this.
"Look, you are in terrible condition-"
"yeah no shit…" Riku muttered under his breath.
Ansem ignored him, "…and I can't use a broken body. So how about this? We call a temporary truce. Just until you're strong enough to face me again and then after this is all over, we can battle for your heart. Sound fair?"
The silverette paused and considered all the pros and cons. "Will you… really try to help me escape?"
"Don't mistake this as generosity boy. If you die here, then I die too." Ansem warned.
Riku smiled. "Like I'd ever consider you generous."
The two sighed quietly as Riku stared at the bowl before putting it to his lips and gently drinking. It was just a simple vegetable broth however it was warm and comforting and the boy couldn't help drinking every drop. It wasn't long before he felt the effects of the sleeping drug. Ansem pursed his lips slightly.
"Well now that we got that over… I have to fix this leg." Ansem said quietly tightly gripping the broken bones.
"Hmm?" But before Riku could fully lift his head Ansem squeezed his knee hard and then shunted the other bone back into place. Riku screamed bloody murder. Using his hand to hold the main bone to the knee, Ansem proceeded to set the other bones with his hands. Tears streamed from the teen's eyes. It hurt so much. Once in place, Ansem casted the cure and the bones began healing in place. Riku's crying calmed into a few hiccups and sobs feeling the magic course through his leg.
The sleep potion began acting again causing his eyes to droop. Ansem gently reached out and cupped the boy's cheek with hand; using his thumb to wipe away the tears: a rare act of kindness from the heartless. As much as he hated it, Riku turned his face into the palm more firmly. He hadn't felt a comforting touch in so long. It wasn't long before he drifted back to sleep again.
When Riku awoke again, he was sitting on his knees with his hands shackled firmly behind his back. With the tips of his fingers he could feel a chain, no doubt connecting to the wall. As his eyes adjusted he then realized a brown sack had been placed over his head. The teen began to shake slightly. Where was he? Why was he here? Who brought him here… and most importantly…
"Kiba! Kiba where are you?!" Riku shouted loudly turning his head from side to side hoping he could actually see.
His wish was granted as the bag was torn off his head. The silverette winced slightly as the bright light flooded his eyes. From what he could make out, he was in a large square room with the light source being some surgery lights hanging from the ceiling. And right across from him, was his little brother chained up exactly the same. Almost immediately, Riku stood and attempted to run towards his little brother.
"Riku!" Kiba cried, tears rolling down his face.
Riku kept pulling against the chains till his back hurt. He had to protect his little brother.
"That's enough now." Next thing Riku knew, he fell face first onto the concrete ground with pain in his ankles. Looking up he saw a tall man dressed in a red Victorian style coat sporting an expensive looking cane. He had long black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. "You and your brother now belong to the 1850's Elite."
"I don't belong to anyone!" Riku snapped. After Ansem's possession, he hated ANYONE saying they owned him.
The man continued ignoring his shout, "Your brother will be working in the factories along with the other children while you…" Riku's head was forced up with the ball of the cane. "Will be in the fighting group where Handlers will buy you and make you fight other teens for money; seeing as you're over 15."
The seventeen year old jerked his head away from the cane but glared up at him again wishing his eyes alone could kill. Not even the tiny flash of darkness seemed to scare him. "I refuse to fight!"
A creepy smile grew across the man's voice that could rival Ansem's in sending chills down Riku's spine. "Good." He whispered. "We do love a challenge here. There is only one rule. If you try to escape… we will kill your little brother." He looked to Kiba. "And if you try to escape, we'll kill your older brother."
"NO!" Both cried out.
"Doesn't matter if you do escape anyways. This town is the only one around here for miles. The rest is blanketed in snow. If you do escape, you won't get very far without freezing or starving to death."
"Why are you doing this?!" Riku shouted testing the bonds again.
"Why? Well because we miss the days when children worked under us. It taught them "values" and made them grow up. Otherwise they're useless… wasting all their time playing. As for the fighting, well… we just enjoy money too." The man chuckled. "There is no escape here… only death. My name is Lord Crimson; welcome to our world."
As Riku came to again, he could feel himself surrounded by warmth. For a moment it felt like he was lying in the warm seas of his islands. But then suddenly he began to panic feeling water being dumped on his head. His eyes snapped open and he gripped the sides of what felt like a bath tub; gasping loudly in fear.
"Riku! Riku calm down! What's wrong?!" Ansem exclaimed setting the bucket down and grabbing the boy's arms.
The teen panted heavily as his whole body shook in fear. His right fingers dug deeply into Ansem's arm, threatening to make him bleed. Steadily, his heart rate normalized and his breathing stilled. As his eyes refocused, he looked towards Ansem almost looking ready to cry. Ansem tilted his head slightly confused as to how a simple bath could freak his pet out so much. Very gently he reached out and placed a firm hand on the side of Riku's face. Riku closed his eyes leaning his head into the hand finding it comforting.
Ansem closed his eyes, digging through the teen's memory. He saw one of his previous Handlers, used water torture as punishment for Riku's mistakes (which was a lot). From the keyblade wielder's point of view, he saw how Riku was strapped to a chair then dropped into some freezing water until he nearly passed out. Sometimes the process being repeated several times in one session. It was… horrible… even from a heartless's standpoint.
"Shh… its okay. I won't do that again." Ansem cooed quietly. It was the first time ever he saw how fragile Riku really was after all this. A few more days and they could have actually succeeded in breaking him.
As Riku settled he took note of his surroundings. They were in a rather large en suite bathroom with the tub being along the far side of the wall next to the fire to keep the bath warm. Ansem sat beside him on a stool with a few bottles of shampoo and soap. And then it suddenly hit Riku he was naked in a bath beside Ansem. Doing his best to hide a blush he decided to try focusing elsewhere.
The heartless softly chuckled, "how does your leg feel?"
Riku shifted his leg slightly in the bath wincing a tiny bit, "not as bad as yesterday but it still hurts."
"It'll take about a week to fully recover with a few more cure treatments." Ansem explained as he soaped up a washcloth.
"Um… what are you doing?" Riku didn't like where this was going. The older man was probably just using this as an excuse to feel him up.
"You've been asleep for three days, if I wanted to do that, I would have done it while you were asleep. You are covered in mud and blood. It's a medical marvel you only got away with the flu. I need to clean the wounds and you're not in a condition to do so."
Riku forgot Ansem could read his mind. "Of course I am!" He exclaimed snatching the rag from the tan man's hands (to which he noticed, Ansem had taken his gloves off). He attempted to start by washing his shoulders but he could barely scrub with all the wincing. He tried every part of his body however it was just too much. Finally the teen sighed annoyed as he handed the cloth back to Ansem, who merely chuckled again.
"I promise I'll be gentle…" Ansem purred as he first took Riku's arm.
"Don't say it like that!" Riku shouted.
The heartless looked up almost innocently, "like what?"
The seventeen year old growled looking away again. He knew fighting with this man would get him nowhere. Best not give him any ideas. Ansem was surprisingly gentle. He took care with each bump, bruise and cut; only scrubbing hard when there was a greater risk of infection.
"So tell me… how did you manage to keep from getting your cherry popped?" Ansem asked ever so randomly as he washed his leg.
Riku's face went beat red from the out-of-the-blue question but ended up snickering in memory. "Let's just say… my last Handler who tried… now walks with a limp… and has to pee through a pipe."
At first Ansem chortled before breaking into a full on laugh, as the mental image grew clearer in his head. Riku smiled a little too before joining in. It felt so good to laugh, even though it really hurt his body. And it felt so good to actually hear a joy filled laugh; not one filled with evil intentions or malice from his misfortune. It was just odd coming from Ansem.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Riku rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling. Ansem gently continued washing him. The water had turned a murky reddish brown color from all the mud and blood. The heartless drained the tub before using the bucket to carefully rinse off the dirt resin from his body. Riku still tensed up gripping Ansem's arm but the man merely cooed him, whispering words of comfort. He then gently helped the teen out of the tub into a warm towel.
"I don't have any clothes…" Riku whispered quietly.
"Don't worry, I already took care of that." Ansem smiled as he carried the silverette back to the bedroom. The sheets had been changed to clean ones and on it lay a new yellow long sleeve shirt and some shorts. Riku was set on the bed, face going slightly pink. For some reason he felt safer in the bath. He had just enough strength to hold himself sitting up. The towel slipped off his shoulders as Ansem pulled the shirt over his head then carefully proceeded to push his arms through the sleeve. Riku winced a lot but it felt good to have warm clean clothes on.
"Now… lie back…" The heartless gently pushed his host down as he proceeded to slip the shorts on. Riku let out a scream as the material bumped his tender leg. "Just imagine if these were pants."
The teen admittedly looked very cute in the long sleeve shirt that was slightly too big for him and the blue shorts. Ansem shook his head slightly as he carefully moved Riku back onto the pillows. He wrapped the blanket warmly around the boy.
"I'm not tired." Riku glared though was rather comfortable.
"You may not be, but you still can't walk so what else are you going to do? I'm not carrying you everywhere."
Riku growled. He HATED being bed ridden. "Can I have some food? I'm starving!"
"Riku…" Ansem warned softly. "I am not your servant."
The silverette crossed his arms. The heartless shrugged and started leaving the room. He wanted to nurse the boy back to health, but that did not mean he was going to let Riku take advantage. Being a heartless, he still wanted Riku's heart and if the teen realized he needed Ansem, his goal would be completed soon. There was suddenly a loud gargling growl, which made Ansem smile.
"Fine…" He sighed. "May I please have some food?"
Those words tasted like vinegar on his tongue; saying please to the man he despised. As Xehanort's Heartless left, he swore to himself that as soon as his leg was healed, he'd escape and save his little brother. Riku didn't want to spend a second longer with this heartless.
