Saving Me
Chapter 2: Two Special Visitors
Well, I'm terrified of these four walls
These iron bars can't hold my soul in
All I need is you
Lunch the next day was just as bad as it had been the day before. I entered, saw Kairi and her newly formed little gang--consisting of Sora, Selphie and herself--sitting at a lunch table together, chatting animatedly. Tidus and Wakka soon joined them, and I furrowed my brow slightly, wishing that I could be over there with them.
Sometimes I wished that everything could just go back to the way it was. Before everything. Before he came, before I become an emotional wreck and a cold-hearted bastard, and before Kairi started resenting me. I missed the old days when it was just me and the gang...Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka...but then of course, they had found someone to replace me now. Sora. Cheery, bubbly Sora. And maybe that was a good thing. I didn't blame them--after all, I was the one who had decided to betray them.
I sighed and didn't even try to go over there. What was the point? Kairi and Selphie would ignore me, and if Kairi had told Wakka and Tidus about the other day, then they would probably be on her side...undoubtedly. The only one who would probably even say "hi" to me was Sora. Stupid, oblivious Sora.
Well, whatever. Maybe I could find some leftovers somewhere...sometimes the lunch ladies gave me whatever they had left after lunch because they felt bad for me...but that didn't happen very often.
* * *
When I woke up the next morning I felt starved. I groaned and rolled over onto my side, clutching my stomach uselessly. Okay...so I never really got any full meals, but my stomach was used to getting some food from Kairi practically every day! Sure it was just a little, but it was something to hold me over.
I opened my eyes and groaned frustratedly, glaring at the alarm clock on my sidetable that read "7:45 A.M.". School started at 8:00 a.m., so I would probably be late. Sighing, I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, then proceeded to get out of bed and get dressed. I wasn't even going to bother taking a shower that day, it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. It took me a few minutes to get all of my school stuff together, but when I finally made it out the door it was around 8:00 a.m. I walked to school faster than usual, since I was already late, but there was no way I was going to bust my ass running the whole way there. It didn't even matter that much.
I eventually made it to the school, not bothering to check the time and instead heading straight to class. I opened the door and all eyes immediately landed on me, including the teacher's. Said man was sending me a harsh glare, but I simply avoided his gaze and headed to my seat.
"Mind telling us why you are so late, Riku?" I plopped down in my seat and threw my bag on the floor, then looked up at the badly-tempered teacher.
"Didn't wake up early enough, I guess," I shrugged, slouching back in my seat. The teacher gave me a critical stare and then rolled his eyes.
"You have detention after school, Riku. And I'm afraid since you keep coming in late and interrupting my class, I'm going to have to call your parents." I rolled my eyes.
"We don't have a phone." A few of the other students in the room snickered, but one glare from me shut them up immediately. The teacher seemed stumped by this fact for a moment, but then he shook his head.
"Well then. In that case, I'm just going to have to have a parent-teacher conference. Please be sure to tell your father to meet me in this classroom tomorrow after lunch."
"He won't come..." I murmured silently to myself, pulling out the book required for that class.
And he didn't. The next day was Saturday, and the night before I had told him exactly what the teacher said to tell him, and the only reply I got from him was an empty beer bottle thrown at my head. Luckily, I had learned how to dodge those, so I hadn't gotten hit. But the next day my teacher didn't see my father or me.
Well, what was the point of me going if he wasn't going to go? I would just tell him on Monday, and then he wouldn't believe me, and I'd probably get detention again. Oh, the joys of my life.
* * *
The start of the next school week came around rather quickly. I arrived at school on time on Monday, although I felt like I was going to pass out. I hadn't eaten in about a week, I was tired, and I didn't even wanna think about the teacher I would have to deal with in my first class. Not to mention detention after school.
I groaned and slammed my locker door shut, then nearly had a heart attack when I saw two big, blue eyes staring up at me curiously.
"Damnit, Sora, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" He seemed confused for a moment and then smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry." He stared at me blankly for a few moments and I raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"What?"
"You look really tired," he replied, a hint of worry in his tone.
Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, "You would be too," and started walking away. I don't think he heard me, which is probably better, because if he had heard me he probably would have asked a bunch of questions. Which I could definitely do without.
He followed close behind me as I headed towards my first class. "So, how'd the teacher-student-parent meeting thingy go?" he asked casually, and I paused mid-step. He stopped, too, and I turned to look at him.
"How did you...how do you know about that?" He stared blankly at me for a moment and laughed.
"The teacher announced it in class, silly! Remember?"
"Oh...right." Well, that was good to know. For a second there I thought that this kid was some kind of weird stalker. Not that I doubted that theory...what with the way he was acting like he knew me so well. I began walking again and he started humming a cheery tune; I also noticed a light hop in his step. I sighed. Was he really gonna follow me? "You know, you should head to your class," I suggested. I didn't really care if he was late or not--why should I?--I just wanted him off of my back. He turned and grinned up at me, and for some reason I got the scary feeling that--
"I have the same first class as you! Didn't you ever notice?"
Damn. I knew he was gonna say that.
"No, actually, I didn't notice," I grumbled, and he tilted his head in confusion.
"Really? Hmm...well, I noticed you right away."
"...Really?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Well, uh...great." We walked in awkward silence until I reached my classroom, then the bell rang. I was surprised that I had actually made it in time, and sat in my seat lazily. Sora, who was apparently in my first class, sat down in a seat in the third row. I was in the second row.
Throughout the entire class, I felt like someone was staring at me. A certain someone who went by the name of Sora. This was definitely a high possibility, but I didn't turn around to see. I would rather just ignore him. When the class ended and I got up I glanced over and noticed that he was staring at me.
Okay...that was kinda creepy.
I hurried out of the classroom and heard a loud "wait up!" I didn't stop walking, but Sora caught up with me anyway.
"What's your next class?" he asked cheerily.
"Science."
"Aww! I wish we had science together!" Sora put on a pouty face and I silently thanked whoever the hell decided my fate that we weren't in the same science class. The bell rang and Sora sighed. "Well, seeya later!" He waved and grinned hugely, then darted off towards his next class.
--
At lunch, even though I tried my hardest to avoid the cafeteria, Sora found me. He had a brown paper bag in his hand and a big grin on his face. I headed up to the roof of the school--no one else ever went there--and he, of course, followed me. However, when he saw that I wasn't going to eat anything, he frowned in confusion.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" I shook my head and rested my arms atop the brick wall that circled the entire roof--it only reached up to my mid-chest. I sighed and rested my chin on it as well, closing my eyes and breathing in the humid air. "Why not?" He came to stand beside me and --still holding onto it--put his lunch bag on top of the wall. I shrugged and, as if on cue, my stomach growled. I opened my eyes and glanced down at it in annoyance--it seemed like it was trying to make me remember that I was hungry no matter how hard I tried to forget. Sora laughed and I looked over at him just when he had stopped. "You must be really hungry." I rolled my eyes. Stating the obvious, huh? "Have you had anything to eat today?"
I looked away from him and out towards the front lawn of the school. The grass was neatly trimmed and there was no trash anywhere--all of it was in the plain, gray garbage cans. How boring, I thought mildly to myself, then stood so that I wasn't leaning on the wall. Sora was still staring up at me curiously, waiting for a reply. I sighed and sat down, leaning my back against the low wall. "Nope."
Sora plopped down next to me, an incredulous look on his face. I almost chuckled--he looked like he had never gone a day in his life without eating. Which...he probably never had.
"Wow...I could never do that! I love eating." He laughed and opened his lunch bag, pulling out a sandwich, a juicebox, a little bag of gummies, an apple, and a chocolate pudding cup. I stared in awe at the fresh food, but quickly tore my gaze away, not wanting to seem desperate. He seemed to notice, however, and sheepishly held out the apple to me. "Here," he said, gesturing for me to take it. I bit the inside of my cheek for a moment, thinking it over. But, after my stomach growled for the second time, I awkwardly--yet eagerly--took the apple.
"Thanks," I mumbled, and nodded slightly before biting into the fruit. He smiled and proceeded to eat the rest of his lunch.
* * *
For the next couple of weeks, I got used to Sora following me practically everywhere I went. At first he was annoying as all hell, but after the first week...I actually kinda started to warm up to him. We would meet before classes started, go to history together, part for science, and etc. I thought it was amazing how he made himself comfortable with people so quickly. As if he had known them their entire lives. It was kind of amusing how he would just go up to people and introduce himself...I tried to stay far away from him when he did that. Because, usually, if I didn't he would somehow drag me into the conversation.
Unfortunately, throughout those couple of weeks Kairi stayed the same. She wouldn't talk to me, look at me--she wouldn't even acknowledge that I was there. Sora seemed confused sometimes; like, for example, when I tried to talk to Kairi and she would ignore me or walk away. Selphie, of course, followed her lead. Wakka was doing the same thing...well, sorta. Not to the same extent as Kairi and Selphie were. Even Tidus was joining in, too. Tidus was never serious. He was always acting immature and doing stupid things.
Weird how we all used to be such good friends...it didn't even seem like we knew each other, now. Or rather, it seemed like we were almost enemies...I guess they were tired of waiting for me to suck it up. To change back to how I used to be...heh. I wish I could.
Guess I screwed up. Ah, fuck it. My whole life was screwed up.
"RIKUUU!!" I was suddenly attacked from behind, and I uttered a loud gasp, afterwards closing my eyes and sighing frustratedly. I think Sora really was trying to kill me. "Guess what!" In less than a second his beaming face was in front of mine, and I listened in mild interest to what he had to say. "I'M GOING TO A WEDDING!!"
...What?
"Uh...okay?"
"I've always wanted to go to a wedding! They're so beautiful and romantic," he said dreamily, bringing both of his hands up to his chest where his heart was and gazing off into the distance. I snorted. He seemed confused and put his hands on his hips. "You don't think so?"
"Well...weddings are okay, I guess. I just don't know why you're getting so excited about it. I mean, it's not like its your wedding," I explained, shrugging. Sora stared at me blankly for a moment, then furrowed his brow.
"Have you ever been to a wedding before, Riku?"
"Of course I have," I murmured, opening my locker door.
"Then I guess you didn't love it, huh?" Obviously, I thought to myself. "Well...I love weddings!" He was beaming again, and, leaning against the lockers, began staring off into space. I chuckled and closed my locker, turning to face him.
Wait..."chuckled"? I couldn't remember the last time I had actually laughed...hmm.
Sora suddenly focused on me again and grinned when he saw that I was actually looking at him. "Hey, Sora, do you ever actually go to your own locker?" His whole face took on a look of realization and he hopped up from his place against the lockers.
"Right!" In a second he was off towards his locker, like a bullet. I laughed and tagged behind slowly. When I reached his locker he was shutting the door, sighing in relief. "Thanks for the reminder," he said, grinning stupidly and scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. I nodded, and then the bell began to ring. Sighing, I turned to go to class. Sora followed, as was usual, and began blabbering on about something.
* * *
"I'm home!" I slipped my shoes off at the front door and walked into the living room, dropping my bag off there. My mom came in from the kitchen and smiled warmly at me, drying her hands on a pink kitchen rag and wearing her usual short skirt and tight-fitting blouse.
"Hey, hun!" I walked over to her and she gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, then continued to dry her hands. "How was school today?"
"It was pretty good," I paused, trying to look over her shoulder into the kitchen. "What're you making? I'm starved!" She giggled and led me into the kitchen, and I took a seat in one of the chairs.
"I'm afraid it's nothing too wonderful, honey. I tried to make pasta but--"
"You burnt it, didn't you?" I laughed, and she sent me a playful glare.
"I did not "burn" it...I just...accidently forgot to take it off of the stove in time, and then it got really rubbery..." I laughed again and she rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Hey, so do you remember when I told you about Riku?" My mother furrowed her brow lightly as she handed me a sandwich, then headed back over to the counter and began making herself a cup of tea.
"Mmm...no, I don't remember that." I lifted up one of the pieces of bread that made up the sandwich, inspecting it before I ate it. It was a simple PB and J, and it looked good enough to eat. That was surprising, since my mother couldn't cook anything.
"You don't remember?" She shrugged and came back over to the table with her cup of tea, taking a seat across from me. I shook my head and then took a big bite out of the sandwich. "Ell, Wiku is a woy I et in skull an e's ORJUUS--!"
"Sora! Sora, darling, don't talk with your mouth full," my mother laughed, and I grinned sheepishly, causing her to make a disgusted face. "And don't open your mouth while you're chewing, either." I finished chewing and swallowed, taking a huge breather once I finished. "Now," my mother began again, "what were you sayin'?"
I took a moment to edit my sentence mentally before I repeated it, and grinned. "I said, Riku's a boy I met in school." My mom nodded and stirred her tea, taking a small sip afterwards.
"Go on."
"Well, at first he didn't seem to like me very much...in fact, I think I was getting on his nerves." I frowned and took another bite of my sandwich, making sure to finish chewing and swallowing before I continued. "But I think he's starting to like me! Today I even made him laugh!" I grinned hugely and my mom gave me an amused look.
"Well, that's...good, I guess," she laughed, and I finished my sandwich. "Do you have any other friends?"
"Yup! Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka..."
"Ooh, Sora, sounds like a bunch of girls!" My mom got excited about this and I laughed.
"Tidus and Wakka are guys, mom."
"Oh." I laughed again and she did, too, and then we heard another voice.
"What's so funny?" I turned around to search for the source of the noise and grinned when I saw my older sister, Aqua, entering the kitchen.
"Aqua!!" I stood from my chair and she came over, smiling.
"Hey, Sora!" she chirped, and I gave her a tight hug. She laughed and I let go of her so I could get a better look at her. It was then I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, another figure who had come through the doorway.
"Terra!" My smile widened and I ran and jumped, landing in his arms.
"Woah! Take it easy, Sora," he laughed, and by this time my mom had stood up and was chatting with my sister.
See, my older sister, Aqua--who was now almost twenty years old!--was in college and she hardly ever got to come home. So whenever she did we got really excited, obviously. We were really close, all of us--my mom, Aqua and me. And Terra, my sister's boyfriend, was actually pretty close to us, too. He was practically like family! He usually came with my older sister when she came home from school. Of course, now we were living in a different house and town entirely. Before we moved to Destiny Islands we were living in Traverse Town, which is pretty far away from Destiny Islands. And Destiny Islands is where Aqua went to college. So, we decided to move closer to her college so we could see her more often! She probably would have moved in with us by now, but her and Terra both lived on campus, and they really, reeeally liked each other! I think Aqua had once actually talked to my mom about Terra moving in with us, but...my mom was a little strict when it came to that sort of thing. Not that she didn't like Terra--she did, a lot, but...I guess the whole idea of Terra and Aqua living under the same roof made her kind of nervous. Haha! She even wanted to put Aqua in an only-girls college at first, but Aqua wouldn't go for that.
"Honey, what are you doing here?" my mom asked Aqua, and said person sighed.
"Ugh, I had to come home. School has been terrible lately."
"Well, don't tell me you're just dropping out?" Aqua laughed and laid a hand on my mom's shoulder.
"Don't worry, mom. I'm still gonna go to school, I'm just staying here for a little while instead of my dorm," she paused in thought for a moment and then continued, "that is, if it's okay?"
"Of course it is, honey!" My mother took a pause and then looked over at Terra, smiling. "And I suppose you want to stay, too?" Terra smiled impishly and shrugged, and my mom persed her lips in thought. "Well...I don't know."
"Come on, mom, he's already come all the way over here! Besides, it's not like we're going to do anything that we don't do on campus," explained the blue haired woman, and mom gave Aqua a warning look. Terra winked at me, grinning, and I giggled, while Aqua laughed.
"I guess you can stay in the guest bedroom." Terra grinned and came over to give my mom a kiss on the cheek, causing her to giggle.
"C'mon Sora, help me bring my stuff to my room," Aqua said, and I grinned and nodded.
"Okay!" I grabbed one of her bags and we headed out of the kitchen and down the hall to her room. We lived in a one-story house, and it was kind of small, but that was okay. We didn't need a very big house, since there were only three people living here--two usually, and four at the most, thanks to Terra. Besides, we probably couldn't afford a bigger house--what with all the munny my mom spent on clothes and make-up!
Terra tagged along but instead of heading into Aqua's room went to the guest bedroom, dumping his stuff in there.
"So," Aqua began, plopping down cross-legged on her bed after we finished dumping her stuff on the floor, "what's been going on while I was gone?" I followed suit and sat down on her bed, tapping a finger on my chin thoughtfully.
"Well...school is pretty good so far! I have lots of new friends! There's Kairi, I think she was the first girl to talk to me--and she's really pretty! Selphie is her best friend who kind of follows her around everywhere; she's really into romance and stuff. Wakka and Tidus are best friends, too, and they're on the blitzball team! You can't miss Wakka--he has this CRAZY orange hair that sticks up and then curls!"
Aqua laughed and I grinned, and once she stopped laughing she looked back at me with a mischevious look on her face. "So," she began, "do you have a special interest in this "Kairi"?" I blushed and shook my head, and she giggled.
"No, no, no! Me and Kairi are just friends, believe me!"
"Really? Well you know, Sora, you just happened to mention how 'pretty' Kairi is." She smiled, and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm really not interested in Kairi in that way...although I think she might like me," I said.
"Well, you've got to be interested in someone," my sister pushed, ducking her head down as if we were speaking about an important, secret matter. I looked up into space for a moment in thought, then shook my head.
"Nah...not anyone..." Aqua sighed and, as an afterthought, I added "...yet." She smiled and I continued.
"Well you're gonna have to tell me any good news, alright?" I nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course!" She giggled and I continued.
"Oh, there's also this guy named Riku...I don't know exactly how old he is, but I think he's a bit older than me. His hair is really long and SILVER! Can you believe it's silver? And I don't think he dyed it, either!" My sister gave me a disbelieving look.
"I doubt his hair is naturally silver, Sora."
"But I seriously think it is!" Aqua shook her head and chuckled. "Anyway, he's SO gorgeous! His eyes are an amazing aquamarine color, and his skin is so PERFECT!" I sighed dreamily.
"Well, well, well, Sora. You seem to be pretty fond of this "Riku" guy!" Aqua laughed and I blushed and smiled shyly.
"Welll...I-I guess so...I mean, I dunno! He's...he's..." I paused to think, but couldn't think of the right word. "He's something!" Aqua grinned. "I don't think he liked me before, but I think he does now!"
"How long have you known him?"
"Mmm...I dunno...about a month?" All of a sudden we heard the unmistakable noise of a phone receiving a text message. Aqua held up one finger to me and took it out, quickly reading her texts and then smiling.
"Terra wants to come in." I grinned and nodded my approval, and she texted him back. Moments later the door swung open and a smiling Terra waltzed in.
"Hey, girls," he greeted, coming to flop down on Aqua's bed, right inbetween us, lying down on his back with his legs hanging off the side of the bed. Aqua giggled and I blushed, and the blue haired girl proceeded to lean down to give her boyfriend a chaste kiss. I giggled and Terra grinned mischeviously. "You wanna see something even funnier?" Aqua gave him a playful slap on the arm and he laughed. "So, what are we talking about?"
"Oh, just 'girl' stuff," Aqua said, resting her head on her hand. Terra stared at her for a moment and then grinned and, in a high-pitched voice that I imagine was supposed to sound like a girl's voice, he spoke.
"Oh, you know how I just LOVE gossip! So, Sora, do you have a girlfriend yet?" Aqua and I both laughed and Terra grinned victoriously.
We talked for hours after that--all three of us. Terra mostly just listened, although he did put a few words in a couple of times. Eventually my mom came in and joined us. I don't know how long we talked, but eventually we got hungry and headed for the kitchen.
A/N: ...8D.
Okay...first I just wanna say that I feel kind of weird writing such happy scenes...I'm not sure if it was good or not, but I really hope it was! And would you look at that? Two surprise guests! Haha, I couldn't help myself.
Well uh...yeah. I didn't originally intend for Sora's POV to last so long, in fact I only expected it to last maybe, like, 6 paragraphs or so. I just wanted to introduce some people because they will be making later appearances...muahahaha!
OH! BY THE WAY!! Thank you all sooo much for the favorites and alerts! I can't believe how many I got for the first chapter! :D But, as good as favorites and alerts are--and don't get me wrong, I really do love them and appreciate them!--reviews give me a LOT of inspiration to write! And I really love to hear what you think about my stories...so, please review! It'll just take a second of your time. ;)
Also, I think that this story might move along faster than I expected...I'm trying to drag out the first couple of chapters, and I think that turned out pretty well, but...yeah. I have a feeling that this story's plot bubble will probably start to burst sooner than my other story's plot bubble.
Haha...by the way, I don't know what Terra and Aqua act like...my older sister (and beta fish), who watched some of the cutscenes for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (I can't wait for that game! ZACK!!! RIKUUU!!! OMG! :DDD), told me that Terra acts like Zack Fair, only more mature...so, I dunno if I succeeded in making him act like that or not. xD
ANYWHO, I'm pretty sure that one of my best friends, Kassi, is reading this, so; HEY KASSI!! I MISS YOU SO MUCH!! LOVE YA, GIRL!
Thank you to my beta fish, flurry of dying flame, for beta reading! I think when I told her that there would be appearances by "two special guests" she thought I meant Lea and Isa...xD (by the way, they are ADORABLE! :3)
Well, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. =D
All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.
P.S. I re-read Death Note, Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, and its amazing how many little details you don't remember the first time you read a book. By the way, I just wanna say that DNANLABBMC has to be my favorite book of all time. I love Mello! xD I also feel really bad for B...and now I want to write my Death Note fanfic even more than ever!! Haha!
~orgymoogle
Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I don't own the song "Savin' Me" by Nickelback, or any of the lyrics, either. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.