There is an idea from one reviewer's suggestion (you know yourself^^) of Sora cooking and Riku…heh, read and find out! Yeah, one more idea will be located in the next chapter.
Thanks for all the reviews!
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Chapter 4 I'll make you remember
4th Day
Sora woke up before Riku did. After minutes of twisting and turning uncomfortably, he found that going back to sleep was far from possible. He got himself up and sat on the edge of his bed, and spent a good minute glancing down at sleeping Riku. Bothersome thoughts started invading his mind.
'Riku is angry with me. What if he never talks to me again?' In consequence of that though, Sora felt like banging his head against the wall. 'What am I thinking! He did come back with me, didn't he? Why should I be worried at all! Grrr…' Rolling his eyes away from the sight of the cat-boy, he decided getting up and occupying himself with something was the best option to rid himself of such negative thoughts. He left the room in a quiet pace.
Recalling that Riku had actually had an appetite each morning, Sora thought that a decent breakfast would do him good… and maybe, to make it up for Riku? The temptation to bang his head against the wall returned to him and he had to declare to himself. "I'm doing this just because I can, it is nothing special!"
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Sora wasn't much for a domestic work, but unlike his older twin, at least he could manage to cook something eatable without burning up a portion of the kitchen.
After Sora had three sets of hot cakes readied on the kitchen table, he did a little clean up of the mess he'd made. He didn't see drowsy Riku appear from the stairway and was advancing towards him. Most importantly, he hadn't been expecting any sort of stunts from the silver-haired boy after the previous day's ordeal.
He'd let his guard down…which was a fatal mistake.
Sora gasped as two hands circled around him and trapped him against the sink. Although puzzled, he knew who it was. His first incoming thought was to yell at the other but he didn't want to upset Riku more than he already had. Sora had been guilty enough with forgetting him already. So he turned, a little painstakingly in the cramped space until they faced each other.
"Riku, good morning," Sora blurted with a sheepish smile. When he received an unreadable expression from Riku, he dipped his head towards the table, "I made hot cakes, if you're hungry…"
Riku's eyes shifted for a moment before returning to Sora's face, he said, "I'm hungry."
"Good, then-" Sora was cut short when Riku licked his face. Sora stood frozen, but he attempted to remain calm. He believed he must have had some flour spilled on his cheek; every cat did that, no biggie. Then again, from Riku, once had been enough, so Sora wasn't expecting the second, and most certainly not what seemed to be like an ongoing…
"Gah!" Sora vocalized, shutting his eyes tight instinctively and fought blindly to push Riku off of him. With all his might, he managed to push Riku back a step.
Riku smirked, enjoying the sight of the flustered Sora. When he was about to lean in again, Sora shot one finger up blocking his face and Riku's.
With a glare, he huffed. "For the last time! Stop doing-" Riku leaned past Sora's small obstacle and licked him again, making Sora close his eyes in utter annoyance, and he finished in a heavy tone, "-that."
He couldn't understand Riku and for the life of him he didn't think he ever would. The silver-haired boy had been deliberately ignoring him the day before; why was he behaving like this now?
"Breakfast," Riku said.
"You're hungry?" Sora, meanwhile, even though he was still trapped in Riku's arms, felt a small spark of hope that he could find a way out of this. "Your breakfast's on the table-"
Shaking his head, Riku pointed at Sora. "You." He said again, "Breakfast." That was a more simpler term…which infuriated someone else than clueless Sora.
"Back off from him before I burn you on the stove," came a warning voice, laced with indignation from behind them.
Despite being tangled up together, both boys turned. Upon seeing Roxas who looked ready to act according to his words, Riku drew himself back.
Saved by the bell, Sora tried to look casual despite the earlier fluster. "Eh, morning, Roxas. I made breakfast."
Roxas nodded to Sora, shooting Riku a glare while pointing to the actual food on the table. "That is breakfast. Eat it."
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After they were done, the twin headed out to school.
Roxas hoped, that at least, he and Sora could use some time at school to get away from the problematic cat-boy. But Riku showed up anyways.
"Can't you just give us some space?" Roxas grouched once he saw Riku's face in front of the classroom when lunchtime rolled around.
"Didn't come for you." Riku said, paused, and continued, "Came for Sora."
Sora, who trailed behind his brother, perked up at the sight of Riku, "You talked! More than one word!"
Smiling, Riku nodded. "Don't mind me coming?"
"Not at all! Man, you look a little more human when you talk in sentences, even if they are broken ones," the brunet remarked cheerfully. When Sora regarded his brother, facing away from Riku, he'd missed Riku sending Roxas a smirk. So he assumed that Roxas's growl had only been the product of his irritation with Riku appearing everywhere. He still was at a loss as to why the two seemed unable to get along. Well, Riku's overly teasing and Roxas's over protectiveness wasn't a very good equation.
It was funny to Sora, Roxas used to wish he didn't exist, but now…
"Man, he's stalking you! How come he knows that you were in this room?" Roxas accused.
"Followed Sora's smell," Riku explained, rendering the twins dumbstruck.
"See? He's been stalking you! What a pervert!" the older twin cried.
Rolling his eyes, Riku rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm hungry." A pause. "Something to eat?" Apparently, it seemed that he still couldn't exceed the limitations of six syllables.
"You better make sure that what he eats is food and not something else, namely you!" Roxas grumbled, unaware of the damage he'd caused to Sora whose face turned bright red.
Riku only smirked.
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"So tell us, Riku. Where were you? What have you been doing?" Selphie asked, interested.
They had rounded the cafeteria table. The twins and Riku on one side (Sora in the middle), their friends on the other. Attention from outside their circle was somewhat drawn, to Riku the most. Some people had come and gone, remembering him from years ago, which struck Sora as odd.
The brunet was well aware that Riku was known to this school to everyone but himself.
Riku, seemed eager to talk, but summoning a decent sentence seemed hard for him. So he mostly smiled, and tried to explain with simple phrases. "Gone back home." A short pause. "Accidentally turned." A long pause. "Spell needed annihilate." A very long pause. "Look for it." With that, Riku lapsed into silence, as if marking the end of his very confusing tale.
Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka stared at him wide eyed.
Tidus scratched the back of his head. "Is that your story, man?"
Riku nodded, his features seemed worn off.
"Eat, and drink, Riku. I think you need it to talk again, ya?" Wakka suggested, not even sure of that himself.
"I don't think I understand what he said. Would someone elaborate?" Selphie implored.
Then the three pairs of eyes fell on the twins.
"I believe they meant you, Sora." Roxas elbowed his brother.
"Er," Sora didn't know what to say, with his friends' expectations high that he ought to know more than they did. Fact was, Sora didn't even remember Riku like they did. "Well." He poked his food with his fork before stuffing it in his mouth, so it could be engaged in something than elaborating.
While Selphie's curiosity hung, her eyes flared in great interest when Riku moved towards Sora while the younger one seemed too busy thinking to notice. Riku inched close enough to peck the smeared food off of Sora's cheek.
A loud clank of fork clashed the plate sounded, following by the shuffling sound of Sora shoving himself away from one direction to another.
While the twins hadn't seen what Riku had done (Sora only felt it when it came), the other three witnessed the vision in wholly. That alone, was more than enough to leave Sora roll into one hell of a poor, little humiliated thing.
"A…a," Sora sputtered.
With trembling Sora, Roxas edged away on the chair, pulling Sora along and cast a death glare at Riku. "How many times do I have to remind you that Sora's not your food!"
Sora didn't know if Roxas was trying to help on his behalf or worsen his embarrassment. For one, Tidus and Wakka's jaws hung open, probably believing in Roxas, literally. Selphie, on the other hand, giggled.
"Riku thought Sora is a food?" Tidus was dumbstruck.
"He meant metaphorically, not literally." Selphie detailed and received a somewhat pleased look from Riku while Roxas shot her a glare.
"Selphie, do you know what that means?" Roxas asked, voice laced with warning.
The girl offered a sweet smile. "Oh yes, I do. For Riku, Sora is…"
"Arhgg!" the twins vocalized synchronously.
While Roxas did it to stop Selphie from saying it out loud, Sora had yelled only because all of it was becoming too embarrassing.
"Okay, that is it. This subject is closed!" Sora cried, lifting hands in the air in a frantic manner. "Tidus, Wakka, tell us about your latest Blitzball game."
"Good!" Roxas agreed as he pulled Sora away to switch seats with him, so he was in the way of his brother and Riku. He sneered back defiantly to Riku while the other rolled his eyes.
While the two Blitzball players started chatting about, Selphie continued to giggle like a maniac at the sight of Riku trying to shove his head back and forth to get a view of Sora while Roxas tried to obstruct him in every way possible. Given that Riku was good several inches taller than Roxas, the older twin had been the one dealing with all the difficulties.
Roxas growled.
Back at the time when Roxas got hit on by a college boy, Axel, Sora had been the one who took on the role of protector for Roxas from Axel who radiated an air of untrustworthy and craze around him. After they learned that the redhead had only been extremely playful, yet in fact, he was dead serious if it concerned Roxas. Only then had Sora resigned himself from the role.
Now that Riku showed up, Roxas knew he felt with Riku exactly the same way as how Sora did with Axel on their first encounters. Roxas didn't want to consider the possibility of the similar outcome, because at this point he didn't trust Riku.
It compelled Roxas to adapt the role of Sora's protector.
"Cute."
Riku's loud comment and Sora's choke broke into his thoughts. Roxas's brows furrowed at things he got to deal with.
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Sora's chagrin had yet to be over. He found himself being teased, and embarrassed for the rest of the school day.
While someone remembered Riku, those who didn't, asked for his identity. Riku's answers were all the same to everyone." I'm Sora's pet."
Roxas did stick with Sora as best as he could. But every time he looked away, Riku had to pull out some stunt like cornering Sora against the nearest wall.
By the end of the school day Sora had become an emotional wreck. He and Roxas flung out of school, with Riku shadowing behind. When they were well out of range from the people that started calling Sora and Riku a frigging couple, the twins folded their arms and gave Riku the same sour look.
"All right! That ends here!" Sora started.
"You will no longer act for his sufferings!" Roxas added, and received odd glances from his twin and Riku for such an exaggeration. "We talked, and concluded that you gotta tell us where were you from so we can send you back!"
To Roxas, Riku gave a confused look; to Sora, Riku gave him such a wilted look that sent Sora down guilty lane.
Roxas stepped in front of Riku and glowered. "Don't throw Sora that plea."
As Sora's view was blocked by his brother, Riku's head cast downwards, his hair obscuring his face. Sora tried to take a peek behind his brother, and saw that Riku's overall features spells it all.
Riku was sad, truthfully sad.
Before Sora said anything, Riku's leveled his eyes to them, his expression guarded, but not without a trace of grim in it. "Sora doesn't remember…" The way he said it, his tone, his expression made Sora's insides twist. Sure, anger and embarrassment had eaten him away when Riku did nothing but tease him all day, in front of other people around the school. But that didn't want to see him like this…
Unable, to supply the reason to Riku's behavior, plus Roxas's conviction, he thought it'd be best to quit fooling around and start resolving unsettled things.
"Fine," Riku's word broke into Sora's speculation. Riku looked willing, and dejected…
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Riku led the twins to where Sora had first picked him up. He looked around, in search of something, leaving the twins wondering.
From the corner of Roxas's eyes, something flashed under the sun. The elder twin followed the glittering object. Picking it up, he studied the piece which was a tag name chain labeled 'Riku.' Its back carved, 'contact Kairi in case of lost…' smaller text of address was edged at the end of it read 'Radiant Garden.' Roxas turned to the other two, but found that Riku was already beside him, tugging the tag from Roxas's hand. "That yours?" Roxas asked, already knowing the answer.
Nodding, Riku held the chain close to his chest, his expression thoughtful. "She must be worried," he spoke by the time Sora caught up with them.
Sora was bewildered. 'This was it, Riku had someone to return to…Kairi? Her?...a girl?' Sora thought he'd be glad if he set things to where they rightfully belong, so he and his brother could go back to their lives without this cat-boy's fuss. But then…why did it felt so wrong?
"Radiant Garden, that's frigging far from here. Not many people could afford the transportations," Roxas addressed to Riku.
The brunet couldn't help finding the comfort in that fact. He absentmindedly tugged the hem of his shirt, eyes anxious. While Riku took in Sora's unexpected behavior, Roxas studied both of them.
"Sora, you can't be having a change of heart," Roxas pressed.
Sora looked lost. "I-"
"I'm leaving," Riku announced, his eyes staring off into the horizon. When Sora gave another absentmindedly tug at Riku's shirt, his eyes were back to Sora. "You don't want me."
There was an awful pang in Sora's chest. It felt familiar to him. "Riku, I…!"
"Sora?" Roxas's eyes thinned.
"Well, how can we afford the transportation to Radiant Garden anyway?" Sora brought up, his voice failed to sound hopeless.
Riku's eyes wondered off and caught something. His finger pointed past Sora, addressing to somewhere behind him. The twins veered at the direction. At the far end of the anonymous shop, plastered a small documented poster that seemed to be an announcement.
Roxas 'wowwed' as they came to a well distance to examine the content. "What an opportune moment…"
On the paper, was a picture of a cat with green eyes and silver fur. Above the picture, a big bold letter read 'Help: Lost Cat…' below was a contact which contained the address different from Riku's tag, it read Destiny Island.
Then the thought invaded Sora's mind. 'What an inopportune moment.'
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They were at home, in their room. It was another miracle that Roxas grudgingly allowed Riku to sleep in Sora's room for one last time. It had been Sora's decision that the night was approaching, and their destination was on the outskirt of town; better make it the next day.
Sora was unaware of his persisting absentminded behavior. He kept regarding Riku and never realized for Riku never looked back and smirked at him like he usually did.
In retrospect, Sora felt the déjà vu about his friend leaving. He almost…couldn't take it…he didn't want to. The cat-boy had thrown him into a great deal of fuss. But Sora couldn't say that they were not friends.
Because they were…and maybe they had always been. Riku leaving was beating the crap out of Riku staying and bothering him.
"Riku, won't you tell me…?" Sora trailed off, his voice almost a plea. "Are you that friend of mine? My best friend…when we were younger."
Riku rolled his eyes. "You still don't remember." For the first time, Riku's tone took on the edgy sentiment, rather than communicating alone. Somehow, his tone provoked Sora.
"I can't remember, all right? That boy was my only best friend! When he left, we barely kept in contact! He never really gave me some confidence that he'd come back again! If not for the fact that I can't afford to travel from world to world, I wouldn't be goofing around here if I didn't want to see him again… to see him that bad! If I could go to his world in exchange of being responsible to save the world from the dark force, I would! I couldn't take the feelings, so I made myself forget about him!" after the revelation, Sora breathed and puffed, looking ready to burst. His hand gripping at his blanket, he looked away. "Damn it, though I haven't forgotten anything about him, along the way I had forgotten his face and name."
Riku was staring at him with the most astonished facial expression ever.
Heat rose up to his cheek in consequence of him pouring his heart out. He quickly amended, "Ah! What am I saying anyway! I was with that boy for years; he wasn't some kind of were-cat!"
"Really want to know?" Riku interrupted, his tone became profound.
Blinking, Sora nodded as he shoved his hands down the cushion, leaning over to where Riku was on the make-shift bed. "Of course!"
A flash past Riku's eyes. Riku leapt to his feet and impelled Sora against the bed.
"Wah!" The brunet yelped. Once regaining his senses, he demanded, "Not this again, you jerk! How does teasing me relate to this subject anyway!"
"Exactly," Riku said, bending closer.
"Exactly what!"
"I did that all day…" An expected pause. "You still don't remember."
Things fell into place.
"Is…is that all to it? What you've been throwing at me all day, being a pain in the ass, to make me remember?" Sora realized.
"You never remembered," Riku pronounced sharply. With a sigh, he backed off.
Sora didn't know what to say. He propped himself up upon the space offered, pondering.
Yes, in Sora's life, there was only one person that seemed unable to go about his day without pulling his leg. Could they be the same person all along? However, it wasn't accurate for him. Sora learned that there were different kinds of annoyance. While his childhood best friend was one type, talking him down and crushing his pride, this present Riku was another, embarrassing him by all the approaches and pinning him up against random objects.
The puzzles didn't fall exactly into place.
Sora's eyebrows began to knot, soon his face darkened with confounded thoughts. Shortly after, his neck was locked in Riku's arms.
Only by that simplest gesture, Sora's eyes shot wide at the sudden wave of memory. Aside from all the taunting, there was absolutely no one else in the world that did that to him. The feelings were right there, it was committed to Sora's memory.
"Oh boy, you're really him," Sora gasped.
Arching an eyebrow Riku retreated from suffocating Sora. It was dawn to him that that kind of act had been what he'd always done in his past with Sora. Doing only that, and Sora remembered, while he had wasted a whole day with a wasted endeavor. Sora never remembered him with his new type of affection. Wasn't classic the best?
"You remembered?"
"Ah! Stop saying like I'd forgotten! Face and name don't count. I remembered my best friend!" Sora declared, his countenance shone enough to hurt Riku's eyes. Sora proceeded to incline towards the older boy. He tentatively reached to tuck the silver strands. "I shouldn't have forgotten that there's only one person with this hair…and eyes."
'Sora remembered.' A heart warming sensation swept over Riku, mostly by the act of Sora approaching him. Without as much as a thought, he shoved Sora back on the cushion.
"Riku!" Sora warned.
"Sora," Riku murmured back.
"Now what the heck are you doing? I remembered you, so stop this!" the boy underneath threw his hands up against Riku's hovering form. His heart drummed against his chest when Riku kissed his cheek, and trailed down to his neck. Too often that Riku had pinned him down, but Riku had limited himself to the boundary of the chin. Riku's going lower, as of now, to his collar bone, smacked the red alarm in Sora's head. "Ri-!"
"Shh."
And since when did Riku 'shh' him anyway!
"Riku, this is not funny!"
"Who says funny?" Riku mumbled as he continued to nip alongside Sora's shoulder, hands already working on the collar of Sora's shirt.
"But…you're…gah! You're messing with me!" Sora wailed, feeling his limbs becoming jelly.
"Who says messing?" Riku talked into Sora's shoulder blade.
"Hah!"
Riku withdrawn back, only enough to held Sora's gaze. "I'm serious."
"Se…rious?"
Riku practically growled. If not for the fact that he was still bound to only a syllables to articulate, he would have narrated everything out for Sora. He was sure of his own feelings. It all began with his parting hug with Sora years ago. Before that, they'd always lived under the word of best friends. After the departure, an image of Sora, who barely cried, had cried when they waved goodbyes was fixed to his membrane. His reunion with Sora made it all the more lucid to him that he wanted to go beyond being best friends.
He wanted to test the boundary. If he did, would Sora allow him? That thought in mind, he leaned in to press Sora's lips with his own.
If in the morning Sora had froze with Riku licking him, now was the time he'd gone petrified. The little strength he had left to put up against Riku (which of course to no avail) left completely. His eyes widened, his voice rendered mute.
When Riku pulled back from that chaste kiss, Sora stared straight ahead, but focusing at nothing, while Riku observed every line on Sora's face. The lack of response became too much to Riku, he attempted to call to pull Sora back to earth. "Sora."
"Yeah?" there was a respond, but barely alive.
"How does it feel?" Riku ventured.
Only then had Sora's eyes flicked, life dawn back to them, and settled to Riku's.
"…"
"Sora."
"I…" Sora worded and drove Riku back. This time Riku let him. Given the space, Sora breathed and looked everywhere but at Riku. "I didn't know…I'd always thought we're best friends."
"You didn't know then," Riku echoed. "What about now?"
Sora's gaze returned to Riku. The gaze was held in brief moment before Sora turned away.
That night, Riku got no answer.
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X
"You gotta go at five? I'm all alone after that. Brrr, what a boring day," a fifteen year-old Riku trailed off as he strolled down the lane of the marketplace, alongside a fourteen year-old Kairi.
"Didn't Leon and his friends assign you to work on something?" The girl asked.
"Nah, they said I should take a day off."
"Probably. You've been working so hard for the Restoration Committee. But you're you anyway, you wouldn't survive a day without working on something. Why don't you sit and relax for a day?" Kairi suggested.
" I doubt I could do that," Riku grouched, his eyes then dimmed. "Maybe…I could do that if I'm sitting on that bent Paopu Tree on that island."
"Talking about Destiny Island again." Kairi pressed a finger at her cheek, eyes wondering to the sky. "You know, one more year to come, till I get the Gummi Ship."
"Yeah." A smile appeared on Riku's lips, only to disappear when Kairi glanced at her watch.
"Oh, I really gotta go!" She darted off the direction and waved back to the boy. "Maybe you should go to Merlin's house! Try Pooh's book or something!" then she was gone.
"Perhaps," Riku mumbled to himself, and veered to the borough direction. "Merlin's house, it is."
X
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Bleh, that wasn't something much, just some fluffs over and over, eh? By Riku's riddles and his recollection with Kairi, I believe you could already tell what really had happened to him, ya? Anyways, next chappie would answer it all.