Chances in Life
XO'MagickMoon'OX
.Chapter IV. … And Found
A/N: Aww thanks so much for your reviews for the last chapter! Every one made me smile.
-insert amusing name here- I have answers to your questions! I think I might use Back To Hell ... but other than that I'm doing songs from other bands, like The Starting Line, Mae, Yellowcard ... I'm really glad that you've heard the songs from Alkaline Trio (I'm assuming you have). I always find that the impact of a songfic is allayed when a reader doesn't know the song, so I'm glad that you know these ones. Oh, and as for your other question, this fic is also LeonxCloud ... so, yes, you will definitely be seeing more of Mr. Strife.
Novelist, as usual your reviews made me happy! You go to a Catholic school? Hehe, some of the things I write about the Catholic school in my story'll probably me off... cause I go to public school and had to ask my uncle about the way things are run in Catholic schools (since he'd gone to Catholic school). But yeah, I would imagine being homosexual, even half-homosexual, would suck going to a Catholic school. There are tons of kids at my school who are bi ... my best friend is bi. In fact, a lot of my close friends are bi. It's interesting. But I think you might like this story, since you might be able to relate to it more than others. And yes, I know that the 'band' idea has been used many times before, as well as the idea of Riku being a 'sex god' ... eh, just call me unoriginal. But everything comes into play in this story, especially the whole band thing, and ... I just love music. I had to include it! In a lot of ways, Riku's thoughts on music reflect my own, as well as the fact that he plays bass guitar. Oh, hey, and I just noticed ... I made his brother play guitar! And my brother plays guitar! Hehe, funny. Ahem, anyway ... And as for chapter three, yes I figured that Kairi probably could've let Riku know what was going on, or he could've gotten a message to Riku if he'd really tried ... but I needed it to work that way, with Riku not knowing why Sora had seemingly disappeared. And I made that whole part of Sora being grounded from Riku's POV so that readers could just kinda use their imaginations to reason why Sora hadn't contacted him. Kairi was most likely grounded, too ...
So ... yeah, on with the chapter! Enjoy!
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/Riku's POV/
"Where could he beee?" I slid down against the counter, momentarily disappearing from the eyes of the customers. If Leon came out and saw no one behind the register, I knew he'd be pissed, but I had no energy left to stand. I hadn't really been getting a lot of sleep lately. I sighed dejectedly. It was Wednesday again, and still no sign from Sora.
I couldn't take this anymore! I had to see him. Sure, I'd only just met him, really, but I just wanted him. It was so frustrating.
It was then that I made my decision to find him. If he wouldn't come to me, then I'd go to him.
But where to find him?
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"So where do you guys go to school?""At the local Catholic school."
Hah! That was it! I'd go find them at their school. I'd just Google the Catholic schools in town and drive there after lunch tomorrow. I only had classes in the morning, and the afternoon was mine.
"Riku, get up here!"
I jumped to my feet at the sound of Leon's angry voice. He watched me with a steady, molten glare. I laughed nervously. He just hmph'ed and went over to attend to a customer.
My day brightened considerably after deciding to seek Sora out.
On Thursday, I drove home after lunch and hopped on my computer. Searching the Internet for the local Catholic schools, I found only one, and figured that was Sora's school. I quickly scribbled down the address and got back in my car. I pulled out of the driveway, looking up through the windshield to the gray sky as I drove down the road. It took me almost twenty minutes to get there, but I was in no hurry. The school let out at three, most likely, so I still had another …
Hour and a half.
Damn, I'd driven all the way down here to sit in my car for an hour and half. What had I been thinking? Well, I suppose I'd just have to make the best of the time, so I pulled my backpack onto my lap and dragged out my books, deciding to do the little bit of homework I had.
By five of three, I was finished. I got out of my car and stretched languidly, stamping my feet to wake up my legs. It was cold, but my black turtleneck and jean jacket kept me warm enough. Kinda. I stalked up through the parking lot and past the buses that were lining up, waiting for the students. I found the main entrance and waited there, leaning against the brick wall.
But would he come out this way? Was there another way he took to leave the school? I prayed to any deity that would listen that I'd find Sora. I needed to find him.
The bell rang. Minutes later, students started to flood through exit, each dressed in a pristine maroon-and-gold-and-white uniform, although individualized by their jackets and hats and such, book-bags slung over their shoulders. I waited and watched.
Sora never came.
As the heavy flow of students thinned, my hope started to dwindle. I sighed and pushed off the wall, beginning my trek around the perimeter of the school in a final attempt to locate the inscrutable Sora. I passed the bare trees lining the walls, the various students lingering around the area, all insignificant.
However, there was one person who caught my eye. He was older, that was obvious, with blonde hair spiked up around his head, some falling to frame his face, blue eyes set above proud cheekbones. Simply put, he was gorgeous. I'd wager he was around Leon's age. Hmmm … maybe—
Someone called out. What they'd said, I hadn't heard, but the man, who had been walking from a nearby exit tucked away in a corner of the building, stopped and turned. He smiled and, as I followed his gaze, so did I.
I raced forward and before he could even reach Blondie, my hands were on Sora's shoulders, bringing him flush against me, and my lips were on his, initiating a swift, chaste kiss. Whoa, I don't think either of us had seen that coming. I pulled back to meet his eyes briefly, which were wide with shock, before sliding my hands around him to envelope him, murmuring beside his ear, "I missed you."
"You … I … uh …" He was speechless. He let out an exasperated breath, and then said, "Riku, people are staring."
"Then let them." Wow, I don't ever remember feeling like this before, like I needed to hold him, like I never wanted to let him go. I could feel my heartbeat beginning to pick up speed and, with a sickening jolt to my stomach, I pulled away and held him by his shoulders at arm's length. There was a wine-colored blush filling his cheeks.
It was then that I noticed Kairi standing beside us.
"Hi!" she chirped, grinning a bit too broadly.
As I opened my mouth to reply, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet angry blue eyes. "Excuse me," the owner of said eyes growled. "Who are you?"
"I'm … uh … Riku Ishiguro," I answered uneasily. Blondie's glare was so like Leon's it was unnerving.
"Do you attend school here?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
"I came to see Sora."
"How do you know Sora?"
"What is this?" I snapped. "'Twenty Questions'?"
"Why stop at twenty?"
"Why are you interrogating me?" Gorgeous as he was, Blondie was starting to piss me off.
"Mr. Strife," Sora stepped in, "Riku's just a friend."
Mr. Strife, as I now knew him to be, turned to Sora, his glare softening, though still with a fire smoldering in it's blue depths. "Really," he deadpanned. "Unless Mr. Ishiguro is from a place where friends greet each other with a kiss," I looked away sheepishly and Sora blushed again, "then I'd say he's more than 'just a friend'."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Strife," I inputted, chancing a glance up at him. "I was out of line." Wow, listen to me being all humble. I felt rather proud of myself for that.
"Hn." Mr. Strife turned to Sora, whose blush was beginning to recede. "Did you need to ask me something?" He obviously didn't feel like pressing the matter. Good for him.
Sora looked confused before a light of recognition dawned in his eyes. "Oh, right! Um … in order to raise my grade, is there any extra credit that I could do?"
Mr. Strife smiled fondly. "No, Sora, there is no extra credit. Your grade isn't that bad; you worry too much. But, if you want to raise it, just work harder. You'll be able to pull it up by the end of the marking period. I have faith in you."
Sora sighed. "Thanks, Mr. Strife."
The formidable teacher passed me another look, one that was clearly meant to be a warning, and stepped away. I swear he was just like Leon. If he was like Leon in every aspect, then I think I'd just found my oh-so-lonely boss a boyfriend.
But first I'd better fix myself up before I went to play Matchmaker for those two.
"Bye, Mr. Strife!" Kairi waved, giggling as she was wont to do.
He waved over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.
"So, Riku," Kairi said coyly, "did you say that you came here to see Sora?"
I grinned shamelessly. "Yup."
The Blush was back.
"And how did you know where to find him?" Kairi suppressed a smile and rocked on her heels.
"I did an Internet search."
"So, you … went out of your way to find Sora so that you could see him again?"
The Blush intensified.
"Yup."
Kairi lost it then. She began laughing and running around in circles, pirouetting and rejoicing. I chuckled, though I was slightly terrified by her behavior. She came up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders, murmuring, "Desperate, are we, Riku-sama?"
Now I was officially terrified, but I couldn't help but laugh at her eccentric behavior.
Sora had now become consumed by The Blush, from his nose to his ears.
"Sora! Kairi!"
Kairi stopped her manic prancing and Sora looked up from his previous studying of the grass. I turned, too, to see a woman coming towards us. She was very pretty, a red trench coat pulled tightly around her against the frosty air, her waist-length brown hair tied into a braid and a red bow knotted at the back of her head. She had the most stunning green eyes I'd ever seen.
"There you are," she said once she'd reached us. "I've been looking for you two." She turned to me and frowned bemusedly. "Who are you?"
"I'm Riku Ishiguro," I replied.
Kairi added, "The guy we met at the mall," with a suggestive arching of the eyebrows. There seemed to be some sort of wordless exchange between them that just went straight over my head.
The woman smiled and said knowingly, "Ah, I see. Well Riku, I'm Aerith Gainsborough, Sora and Kairi's friend and personal chauffeur."
I turned to Kairi in surprise. "You have a chauffeur?"
Kairi laughed. "Not literally; she was kidding." Then, she leaned in and whispered, "She was also Mr. Strife's high school sweetheart."
"Oh really?" Hmmm, not good. Maybe he's not like Leon in every aspect. But, perhaps … "Now, when you say 'was', you mean, they're not together anymore?"
"Mmhm. That's what I mean." Kairi rocked on her heels again before clapping her hands together and saying, "All right, let's get out of here."
Sora slipped to Aerith's side, but I think she and Kairi are plotting against him, because Aerith pushed Sora next to me. I just took his hand, much like I had in the parking lot the other night. And The Blush returned.
"So where are you guys going?" I asked.
"Well, let's see … it's Thursday, so …" Aerith adopted a thoughtful expression.
"We have to go to work," Kairi said.
"Where do you work?" I asked.
"At the Barnes and Noble in town," Kairi answered. "Sora and I. We work there on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays."
"Mind if I come?"
"Sure!" Kairi was enthusiastic, but Sora was as quiet as ever.
"Do you mind, Sora?" I prompted.
"No, not really."
I squeezed his hand. "Great!"
We piled into Aerith's Jeep Cherokee, with Aerith behind the wheel, Kairi beside her, and Sora and I in the back.
"Oh, my car …" I stopped in the middle of closing the door.
"I'll bring you back to it," Aerith offered.
"Ah, thanks." I settled inside, pulling the door shut.
Aerith started up the engine and pulled out of the parking space. Within minutes we were on the road. Aerith and Kairi began talking quietly in the front seat, seemingly oblivious to us two in the back. But that worked in my favor, so I wasn't complaining.
I glanced at Sora out of the corner of my eye. I stretched suddenly, shifting in my seat so that I could lean back and lay my head in Sora's lap. I knew that he wouldn't object. He jumped, startled out of his reverie, and looked down at me before a faint pink filled his cheeks.
"Uh, Riku …?"
"I really did miss you, ya know," I said quietly, closing my eyes. I hadn't expected this to be so comfortable.
"…"
"Where were you? You didn't call …"
"Did you expect me to?"
"Did Kairi give you my number?"
"Yes."
"Then yes, I did expect you to call."
"I got grounded."
"Oh?" I opened my eyes.
Sora nodded. "The night we saw your band. I came home and got grounded for several offenses."
"Which were …?"
"One: being out late without calling. Two: leaving the mall without calling. Three: leaving the mall with 'a stranger'. Four: getting in a car with 'a stranger'. And five: going to said 'stranger's' house."
"Oh. So, basically you got grounded 'cause of me." Oops.
"It's not your fault," he murmured.
"If you say so."
"So anyway," Sora continued, "my sentence was for two weeks. No going out, no computer, and no phone. So I couldn't come see you, and I couldn't call."
I sighed, closing my eyes again. "But did you want to?"
"…"
After a few moments of silence, I figured he wasn't answering, either because he didn't want to or because he couldn't. So, I said, "You had me so worried, I wrote a song."
"You … wrote a song?" There was nothing but astonishment in his voice.
"Yup."
"… Am I going to be able to hear it?"
"If you want to." I opened my eyes and met his gaze. This time, he didn't look away. "But that means you'll have to come watch us again."
He smiled softly. "I'd like that."
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Review, I beg of thee, lest my inspiration be depleted.