Chances in Life

XO'MagickMoon'OX

.Chapter VI. The Fashion Consultants

A/N: Sankyu soooooooo much to everyone who answered meh questions! Everything has been cleared up. Pretteh much. I think. Anyway.

So glad Novelist is finally feeling better; sucks to be loaded with so much work. And, about Lulu, ... ehheh, sorry, she's not gonna be in the story. As much as I love her, too, she's technically not in KH, and even though this is an AU and it would be okay to include her, I'm trying to stick as closely as I can to the KH setting, characters, etc. But, I am thinking about writing another KH that will totally star Lulu. She has a BIG part. Tis a vampire story; how could one not include the Gothic puppet-master that is Lulu? Anyway, enough rambling, I shall be patient in awaiting your updates. And, of course, thanks so much for the great reviews! (I don't think I can say that enough!)

And for -insert amusing name here- ... well, you don't really have any questions I need to answer, but I just want to give you a special thanks for your awesome reviews. I love it when readers take the time to actually write a good review, so yours always make me happy, how you take time to actually really comment on the story. So, thanks again!

To astroalchemist, I'm glad you like Alkaline Trio. They are a kick-ass band! Did you know that one of the singers has a lisp? Matt Skiba - teh bassist - yes, he has a lisp, and he still sings! That amazes me. :D Anyway, I'm also just happy that you listened to the songs that I used. I've said it before, that I think not knowing the song(s) in a songficcie thing ruin the effect of the story ... and I'm just uber-happy that you've heard the songs I used. Iff'n ya want a heads up, the other bands I'm going to use are Mae (The Everglow), The Starting Line (Based On A True Story), and Yellowcard (Ocean Avenue). They'll all have songs in the next chapter. So I'm kinda nervous about it ... I'm afraid it will have too many songs that people dun know and they won't like teh chapter. But... oh well. Anyway, and thankies for the review!

And I'm soooo glad that everyone's basically picked up on the fact that Riku's in total denial about how he feels about Sora. I was planning on explaining it somewhere, like making it totally and completely crystal-clear that the reason Riku's acting the way he is is 'cause he's in denial, but then that would kinda ruin the whole effect of the story. I feel a lot of times that I can't express my characters' feelings well enough and things get way too confusing, and then I end up trying to make my points way too obvious and it ruins the whole story. Well, anyway, on with the chapter!

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/Sora's POV/

We broke away and Riku smiled down at me, my stomach doing that flip-flop thing again. It did that every time he smiled.

"It's kind of cold," I said. "Maybe we should go back inside now."

Riku smirked. "I can warm you up." He leaned in again, but I twirled away, giggling.

"Come on, now," I chided playfully. "I have to be getting back soon."

Riku pulled his phone out of his pocket, consulting the time. "But you still have … almost twenty minutes left!" He stowed it back away in his pants and grinned deviously.

I furrowed my brow. "Yeah, well …"

He took a step towards me, and I expected to feel his lips on mine again. But instead, he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on my head. It kind of irked me that I was short enough that he could do that, but at the moment I guess it didn't really matter. I felt so safe and so warm like that, in his embrace. I closed my eyes, leaning into his chest.

"Still cold?" he whispered.

"No." The seconds ticked by as we stood there in the quiet shadows of the alleyway-type thing between Barnes and Noble and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. But I broke it, asking, "Riku?"

"Hmm?"

"Does this make us … you know … boyfriend and … boyfriend?" I felt so childish then, and immediately my cheeks filled with that unwanted heat.

He chuckled, which made me blush deeper. Then, he said, "Do you want to be?"

I nuzzled my nose into his collarbone, nodding with a muffled, "Yes."

"Then yes, we are."

I smiled to myself. "Good." There was a certain uneasiness that stirred in my stomach at the thought, but I willed it away for the time being.

If I'd had any sense about me then, I probably would have thought that this was all moving too fast. I mean, I'd really only just met Riku, although it felt like I'd known him forever. Then again, nothing really made sense when it concerned Riku. Like how he had chosen me, of all the gorgeous people he could've picked from—he'd chosen me. I wasn't anything special, while he was a god, the manifestation of perfection. I was inexperienced when it came to relationships, while it was evident that Riku was very experienced. That had been my first kiss! And this was my first boyfriend! (I'd never had a girlfriend either). He was also a musical genius, a talented individual, and he was charming, witty, confident—everything that I wasn't. So why had he chosen me? Plain, inexperienced, untalented Sora Tsukada, boyfriend of the living deity that was Riku Ishiguro. It made absolutely no sense.

And suddenly, as he pulled back and watched me with those breathtakingly beautiful eyes, smiling faintly, it didn't seem to matter so much. He took my hand and pulled me out of the alley, into the blunt sunlight. Smirking, he grabbed my ass, which sent an excited jolt through my stomach. I laughed, blushing madly, and ran up to the doorway, Riku in pursuit. Before I could pull the door open, he practically pounced on me, taking me back into his arms and kissing my forehead, almost knocking us both to the ground. I was out of breath again, laughing uncontrollably, suddenly unexplainably giddy. He stepped away and grabbed his decaf latte that was still sitting on the window ledge, waiting for him, and took a sip, smirking around the straw.

I took a deep breath to steady myself, gathering what little composure I contained, and pulled the door open, trying to push my cinnamon spikes, which had been mussed by my recent antics, back into place. I guess it didn't matter; they were always a mess anyway.

We were greeted by the warmth of the store as we stepped inside, the usual soft din filling the air, riding on the aromas that wafted from the café. I spotted a shock of red hair peeking out from a shelf, indigo eyes widening as I caught them spying, disappearing instantly into the aisle. Immediately a relatively loud bout of giggles broke out from within that particular aisle.

"Looks like someone was watching us," Riku whispered, the amusement clear in his voice.

I knew what he meant. The entire front wall of Barnes and Noble was a window, so anyone looking down the center of the store to the front would be able to see outside. Obviously, Kairi had caught us messing around outside. No doubt she'd put the pieces together. As we came upon the manga aisle, I could tell by her smile that she had. Selphie was sitting beside her on a little footstool and immediately hid behind the copy of Gravitation she was reading, stifling her giggle.

Riku eyed the manga title and groaned. "Yaoi fangirls? No wonder …"

I laughed.

"So, you two have … fun?" Kairi asked, trying to make her voice even but failing miserably as a giggle broke through her words.

Selphie didn't even try to pretend she was oblivious. "You guys are so ADORABLE!" She jumped to her feet and immediately crushed us in a tight embrace, one arm around each of our necks. She turned to me and pecked me on the cheek, saying, "It's about time! I thought you'd never find a boyfriend."

"Selphie!" I hissed. "Not so loud."

She pulled back and looked me in the eye, her expression solemn for a split-second before she grinned. "Hehe, sorry!"

But during that split-second, something foul had sunk into my gut. We both knew what was meant by that look.

But I could worry about it later. If no one knew, no harm done, right …?

"Well," Riku checked the time again, "I think I better get going."

"I'll call Aerith to pick you up and take you back to the school," Kairi offered, pulling out her own cell phone and stepping away to dial.

"Okay, thanks." Riku turned to me. "Oh, hey," he said, "our band's playing in this show at our school, 'Battle of the Bands'. You guys want to come?"

He'd said "you guys", but he'd never once looked away from me.

"Yeah! That'd be totally awesome!" Selphie chirped. "Sora and Kairi had told me you were in this amazing band. When is it?"

He turned to her, then, saying, "It's tomorrow night at seven until ten."

"Okay, we'll be there!"

He turned back to me. I nodded, smiling. "Sounds great!"

Kairi appeared then, saying, "Aerith is on her way. She'll be here in about five minutes."

"All right," Riku answered, "I'll go wait outside." Before leaving, he leaned in and gave me a quick kiss, and, pulling back, said, "We'll play that song I about you."

I flushed happily, smiling wider than I thought possible. "I'd love that."

He passed me a trademark, charming smile and turned to leave. "I'll call you."

I nodded. And then he made his way down the middle of the store and out the door, and I saw him stand on the curb as he finished up his latte and waited.

"Come on Sora, we have to get back to work," Kairi said to me, taking my arm and pulling me back to the café. I nodded, only vaguely aware of my surroundings as I was dragged from my spot. Soon, we were out of the center aisle, and there were bookshelves blocking my view of my boyfriend.

... Wow, I have a boyfriend.

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/Riku's POV/

As I drove home that evening, my thoughts were filled with Sora. Sora, Sora, Sora, Sora. He was amazing. Just being with him … I felt like I was floating. I don't ever remember feeling this way before. Well—how long had it been since I'd last been in a relationship?—I reasoned with myself. I'd wager at least two months. That was a long time, by my standards. I suppose the thought of finally being with someone again sated my overactive libido. Or rather, the thought of what being with someone would escalate to, eventually. I idly wondered what Sora was like in bed. He was undoubtedly a virgin, but that didn't matter much. I could always teach him.

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove down my street. Pulling into the driveway, I started going over the bass lines for Dethbed. I think I'd done pretty good on them; they sounded great with the song. I'd ask Seph if he wanted to practice a little tonight. He should be back from work by now …

I jumped up the stairs to my room and grabbed my bass as I stepped through the door and threw my keys on my desk. I turned on the lights and flipped the switch on the amp, pulling the bass strap over my shoulder and thinking through the music again. It started out with the keyboard, and then the rest of the instruments came in.

The sound blared through the amp as I played four eighth notes on B flat, followed by four on C sharp, and then eight on F sharp. As I played through the intro, Sephiroth appeared in my doorway, leaning on the frame and watching me. I smiled in greeting.

I stopped after the intro. In first few seconds of the verse, there was no keyboard or bass. Seph spoke then.

"Sounds good."

"… Thanks. Wanna join?"

Seph seemed to think for a moment before agreeing, and appeared a few minutes later with his guitar. I had an extra amp in my room, and he plugged into it. We started playing, my bass harmony underlying his melodic chords, each complimenting the other. Music was awesome like that, a compilation of melodies and harmonies and rhythms, all coming together to flow into a song. It was really amazing. I'd always loved music, ever since I'd first saw Seph pick up a guitar and learn to play. A few years later, I'd started playing bass, and we began to write duets. Then, in middle school, I'd met Wakka and Tidus, and Seph had met Leon and Yuffie in high school. Together, we'd formed a band. We were pretty awful at first, but after playing with each other for a few years, we'd begun to develop a style and compose fairly decent songs.

Tidus, Wakka, Yuffie, Leon, and Seph were pretty much the only real friends I had. Sure, I had other friends, other acquaintances, admirers, stalkers, and quite a few enemies, but when it came down to it, the only people who I felt I could trust and confide in were my band-mates. They were my best friends.

We finished the song and sat down on my bed. I laid back, my guitar on my stomach, and sighed contentedly, staring up at the ceiling.

"So, what happened?"

I picked my head up to look at Seph. "With what?"

"With … whatever. You seem … happy."

"Don't I generally seem happy?"

Sephiroth sighed tiredly. "Well … I don't suppose 'happy' is the best word. More like … delighted, giddy, satisfied … something along those lines."

I smiled. Seph really knew me better than anyone. He could read my moods like a book. I said, "Sora," as if it was a sufficient answer.

"What about him?"

"I kissed him."

"… That's it? That's why you're all aglow?"

"Uh … yeah. He agreed to be my boyfriend."

"But … you only kissed? That's a bit chaste for you. Generally it takes something a bit … more … to put you in this mood." Then, as an afterthought, he amended, "Actually, even something a bit more wouldn't put you in this mood. You're just … You look like a love-struck teenager. You have this dreamy glaze to your eyes." He leaned over me, meeting my gaze, as if confirming his analysis.

I sat up, forcing him to sit back, and frowned. "'Love-struck'? Feh, yeah, okay." Love-struck. Like I'd ever be "love-struck".

Seph chuckled dryly. "Oh, that's right, you 'don't believe in love'." His tone was mocking.

I scowled at him. "No, I don't."

"And yet … here you are, walking on air because of a kiss."

"I'm not 'walking on air'! And I'm not in love. I don't fall in love. There's no such thing as love!"

Seph ran a hand over his face wearily. "How did my little brother ever get to be this way?" he asked himself.

I shrugged, laying back again. "Mom and Dad might know …" I muttered.

"I just don't understand," Seph continued, ignoring my comment, "how you can be so open-minded, so idealistic, so creative and passionate, but not believe in love."

"There are only two things I'm passionate about in life: music and sex. And I'm open-minded and idealistic about humanity."

"Humanity?"

"Yeah, uh … like I believe in … liberty and human rights. I think everyone should be free to do as they wish. … I think prejudice is moronic, and I think people who are closed-minded are just trying to avoid reality."

"And yet … you're closed-minded when it comes to love."

I, again, scowled at him.

"Don't deny it, little brother. You're a walking contradiction."

I just sat up and began plucking away at my bass, ignoring him. After a moment, though, I said, "Just because you might be right doesn't mean I'm going to change my beliefs."

"And therein lies your greatest flaw."

"Pft. Whatever."

Seph got up and unplugged his guitar, winding the cable around his arm and going to leave. "You know," he said, "in literature, there's something called a 'tragic hero'—"

"Where are you going with this?"

"A tragic hero is a character who suffers because of a flaw. A 'tragic flaw' is the weakness of a tragic hero, some error or misjudgment that they make that always leads to their ruin or downfall, usually their death."

"Seph—"

"I learned that in ninth grade, when we studied drama in Literature. Shakespeare and all that."

"Yeah, we learned that, too, but …"

He turned around and stepped out. I looked down at my lap and focused on my instrument as I heard his footsteps recede down the hallway.

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/Sora's POV/

"I'm sorry, guys, I just can't take you tonight," Aerith said over the phone, her voice sounding around my room. We had her on speakerphone.

"But Aerith!" Kairi whined.

"Kairi, I can't. I have a date."

"With who?" Kairi demanded.

"With none of your business."

"But it's Riku's concert!" Kairi persisted.

There was a muffled sigh from the speaker, before Aerith said, "What about your parents?"

"My parents are going out to dinner," I said.

"And my parents are working," Kairi grumbled.

I was beginning to lose hope. How would we get to the show tonight? I wasn't going to miss it. There was no way I was going to miss it!

"What about Selphie's parents?"

"They're on vacation. Selphie's home alone this weekend," Kairi said.

"Why don't you ask Riku to take you?" Aerith suggested.

"We can't get a hold of him," I explained. "He won't pick up the phone."

"He's probably at Leon's practicing," Kairi said. I nodded.

"Well … what if I call Cloud and see if he'll take you? He's probably free tonight," Aerith offered.

Kairi and I grinned broadly. "Would you do that?" Kairi asked.

"Of course. You know he'd jump on a chance to get out and do something on a Friday night."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," I said, laughing.

"All right, I'll call you back in a minute." There was a click, and then the dial tone began buzzing through the speaker. Kairi turned it off, and silence encompassed my bedroom.

"God bless her!" Kairi jumped in the air excitedly. I nodded in agreement. It seemed we'd be getting to the show after all.

Sure enough, Aerith called back soon after saying that Mr. Strife would be picking us up at six thirty. We praised her with thanks before dialing Selphie and relaying the plan to her. She said she'd be over in ten minutes to get ready with us. I had a feeling that she and Kairi were plotting something behind my back, but then again, they always were.

And I was right, as I usually was when it came to my friends. No sooner had Selphie stepped through the door at five after six than the two of them were dragging me to my room and pushing me down on the bed, looking me up and down calculatingly. They traded glances and nodded, and then Kairi went over to my dresser and started pulling clothes out, tossing them haphazardly across my bed behind me.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked.

"Dolling you up for the show! You gotta look good for your new boyfriend." Selphie winked an emerald eye, brushing her brown locks out of her face. She, herself, was already dressed for the concert in a pair of dark jeans and a green sweater, the collar of which circled her shoulders. The gold cross she always wore was hanging around her neck, glittering in the light of my room. Her face was accented with make-up, bringing out her already-prominent eyes, her lips and cheeks tinted with reds and pinks.

Turning to Kairi, I realized that she had yet to get ready, but I seemed to be next to get dressed up. Oh boy, this was going to be interesting.

There was suddenly a pair of jeans tossed in my face. I held them out in front of me, observing the curved, narrow cut, the somewhat wider waist, and came to a startling conclusion. "Kairi, these are your jeans!"

Kairi beamed. "I know. Try them on."

"What! But … they won't fit me! They'll be too tight and …" The look on the girls' faces told me that they were meant to be tight. "No! I'm not going to wear your jeans, Kairi!"

"Aw, come on, at least try them on!" Kairi urged.

I sighed audibly. "Fine, but that does not mean that I'm wearing them!"

Selphie giggled. "We'll see."

I pulled off my uniform pants and tugged on the jeans. They were tight around my thighs and pinched a little in the crotch, stretching across my ass. I winced as I zipped and buttoned them, wriggling to get comfortable, trying to smooth my boxers down through the denim so they didn't bunch. I glanced at the mirror and protested. "I. Am. Not. Wearing. These!"

Kairi laughed. "But you look great Sora!"

"Yeah, Riku's gonna be drooling over you," Selphie agreed. "You just look so … molestable."

"First of all, 'molestable' isn't a word, and second of all, I don't want to look 'molestable'!" My face paled at the thought.

"Aww, Sora you're no fun!" Kairi whined, pouting.

"But," Selphie stepped around me, "as your official fashion consultants, we're going to have to insist that you wear those. Along with … this!" Selphie grabbed a shirt out of my closet and flung it at me.

I held it out in front of my face and looked it up and down. It was a black, button-front shirt, pressed collar and all.

"Put it on!" Kairi urged.

I scowled but stripped off my uniform jacket and shirt, slipping my arms through the holes of the black top. I buttoned it up to the collar. It was a bit small; I'd had it since eighth grade (not that I'd really grown all that much since then). But the sleeves, somehow, still came down to my knuckles, although the cut was snug everywhere else.

"Wait," Kairi said. She stepped forward and undid four buttons up from the bottom and two down from the top. I had a sneaking suspicion that this didn't make me any less 'molestable'. Taking a look in the mirror, I confirmed my assumption.

"Guys!" I whined. "I look so gay!"

"Sora, you are gay," Selphie deadpanned.

"You know what I meant!" I snapped, flushing.

"You look fine. All you need is … this." Kairi fished around in one of my drawers and pulled out a studded belt that I hadn't even been aware I owned. "Remember when we bought it?" she asked. "It was like … five years ago!"

Oh right, that one time years ago when we'd taken a brief trip to Hot Topic (a store which I had a feeling I'd be visiting much more from now on). Kairi had told me to buy it, the day she had dubbed herself my "official fashion consultant". Selphie had later joined as my other "consultant". I always tried to ignore what was implied by the mere fact that they thought I needed consultants.

I pulled the belt through the loops on my—Kairi's—jeans and buckled it, trailing my fingers across the metal studs in the thick material before turning again to the mirror. "Happy?" I asked the ever-persistent girls.

"Not yet!" Selphie chirped. She reached into her pocket and brought out a black, leather strap that very much resembled a dog collar. "Put this on!"

"What!" This was going a little too far. She pushed the strap into my hands and, with one threatening look, willed me to buckle it around my neck. I did so, finding that the leather was surprisingly soft and fit snugly. And, consulting the mirror yet again, I found that it didn't actually look half-bad.

I turned to the girls, exasperated. "Done?"

Kairi disappeared into my bathroom and returned with a tube of gel, squirting some into her hands and then raking it through my hair, placing my natural spikes a bit more tactfully. Then, disappearing once more to rinse of her hands, she returned and appraised me with Selphie at her side.

"I think he looks good. You?" Kairi turned to her partner in crime.

Selphie grinned. "Perfectly molestable!"

I grimaced. But, I guess other than the fact that my pants were a bit too tight for comfort, I wasn't all that unhappy about the way I looked. Then again, I was never really thrilled with my appearance—far from it—but, still … they had done a decent job.

Soon, Kairi had readied herself with a thigh-length, pleated skirt and a tight, purple sweater, accentuating her facial features with make-up and running a few hair-care products through her short, red mane. Just as we came down the stairs and grabbed our jackets, a horn honked outside, and we jumped out the door, piling into Mr. Strife's car. Well, we actually called him by his first name when not in school: Cloud. He was a friend of our parents'—mine, Kairi's, and Selphie's—so we'd known him long before he'd been our teacher. We'd known him before he'd even become a teacher.

I guess I also had a deeper relationship with him because of the fact that he was bisexual and had to put up with all of the homophobes in our school, like me. Of course, no one knew we were gay (or partly, in his case), although there were already rumors circulating around my reputation. Cloud was pretty much safe, because everyone knew of his old relationship with Aerith. Even so, he was able to empathize with me, and so his friendship with me was a little stronger than it was with either Kairi or Selphie.

"So you know where we're going, Cloud?" Kairi asked, leaning forward from the backseat beside Selphie.

"Yeah, the public high school," Cloud answered, looking at the girls in the rearview mirror. "Right?"

Kairi beamed. "Yup."

"Well, you guys all look great," he said. "Especially you, Sora … you look … different. I suppose those two she-devils in the back are responsible?"

We all laughed. "Yeah," I said. "They are totally to blame."

"Well," Selphie cut in, "we had to fix him up, even if just a little bit. He has to look good for his boyfriend!"

The car jerked as Cloud reflexively hit the break. However, he soon regained his composure and murmured an apology, before casting a brief glance my way, not wanting to take his eyes off the road. I was trying to disappear into the seat, sliding down low. "You have a boyfriend?" he asked.

I nodded sheepishly.

Cloud's blue eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"Uh … Riku," I answered.

Even though it was dark, I could sense Cloud's hands tightening around the steering wheel. "You mean that punk who came to see you yesterday?"

I nodded tentatively again.

The car was silent for a minute. Then Cloud sighed and said, "Well … uh … that's great, I guess."

"Cloud, don't worry!" Kairi reassured. "He's a really nice guy."

"Hn." He obviously wasn't so convinced. I guess you could say Cloud was like an older brother to us, a somewhat overprotective older brother. I suppose he was kind of like our Leon, considering what Riku had told us about his taciturn boss.

Soon, we'd arrived at the school. Cloud pulled into a space in the almost-full parking lot. There were kids heading up to the entrance, the lights on the sidewalk illuminating the way. We piled out, Cloud locking up behind us, and began weaving around the cars, starting towards the school.

A flame of excitement flared in my gut as a smile automatically broke across my face, all just at the thought of seeing Riku again and hearing the song he wrote for me.

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TBC

A/N: Oh, and does anyone know who the mysterious girl with a grudge against Riku from the last chapter was? Cookies for anyone who knows! And can anyone sense what might happen later, with Sora? Note the forshadowng. :D

Critique, comment, flame ... anything! Revieweth, I beseech thee.