Hey look, I haven't updated this in months. Sorry about that guys! Life took over for a while, but here's a new chapter for you. Let's hope the next one isn't five months away.
If you're wanting a quick recap of what's happened, but don't really want to go back and read the tens of thousands of words so far, then here you go: Zexion 'accidentally' killed Roxas, fled to Demyx's house, and is trying to figure out what mister Xemnas is up to. Axel's on the run for setting a building on fire and injuring the town's most favourite socialite. Riku pulled a strange disappearing act and then wouldn't talk to anyone on reappearing. Sora hates coffee, and Eyepatchman has revealed himself as secretly being god. One of those things is untrue. CAN YOU FIGURE IT OUT?
Epic thanks of supreme awesome goes BlueAcidRain, who Beta'd for this chapter and is incredibly wonderful in a thousand different ways. A thousand elephants parade in her honour : D
And without further adue, enjoy!
The Next Life - Chapter Seven
The thick sliding doors shut themselves silently behind Axel. The guards to either side of the door glanced at him briefly before returning their gaze to the room before them.
With sunglasses framing his face beneath his thick furrow of red hair, Axel felt like somewhat of a twat walking around with sunglasses on inside. People barely looked at him twice however, so he figured it was safe to leave them on as per his plan. They did go quite well with his other clothes too; he wore a tight black sweater and black jeans, both feeling precisely as new as they were. They hadn't been Axel's idea, but he had to admit, they didn't look as bad as he had originally thought they would. Wearing all black just felt comforting. He couldn't quite explain why, but he assumed it was just one of those things. You know, like global warming or something.
From the look of the décor, Pleasantview casinos were just like casinos everywhere. Thick red carpet stretched throughout the fancy looking wide room, with green layered card tables and slot machines arranged in sections designed to attract people in and never set them free. The ceiling overheard was richly furnished with an elaborate series of lights, casting a warm glow down into the chiming din below. People laughed and moaned as they gambled to sound of clinking money and short musical jackpots, the trained staff moving among the patrons with a strict sense of purpose. A purpose... yes. Axel had one of those as well.
He made his way through the tables slowly - there was no rush as far as he was concerned. The gamblers were exactly who would be expected to be gambling on a late Tuesday afternoon- that is, the same people who spent all their time gambling anyway. Their lavish clothes and loud voices were all it took to convince Axel that these people barely noticed any money they lost in fixed bets; they clearly had far more where that had come from. Fine suits and close fitting dresses surrounded Axel on every side. He ignored them all. There was only one person here who held any importance to him whatsoever, and for reasons he didn't quite understand completely. Were he not entirely convinced that his every movement was being watched from every conceivable angle, he would have considered trying out his newly found desire to pilfer something. The look of the amazingly stern guard watching him by the doorway assured him that he was probably making the right decision.
He squeezed his way around two well-built women, blocking the way between tables, only to be confronted by the casino mascot, waving his arms happily in a white puffball of a suit. The intended creature might have been a dog, or a rabbit, or even a bear. Impossible to tell, really. It was equally impossible to ignore it completely, dancing on the spot and blaring its megaphone, which was somehow held in place by a small black cat sitting atop its head. Axel supposed some people might find it creative. He simply found it annoying. As it turned it's head Axel quickly slipped past it, only barely resisting the urge to knock it over as he did so.
He quickly made his way to the back of the casino. The back wall was taken up by a small circular stage, with bright lights centered on the three female performers paid to entertain their wealthy patrons. After a quick scan of the audience Axel figured it couldn't hurt to see what they were up to. He was sorely lacking any source of entertainment these days. The three performers were putting on some kind of act, with two of them enjoying themselves greatly; laughing at their own jokes and occasionally jumping up and down on the spot. The third just seemed disgruntled, frowning at the audience with her arms crossed. They all wore indescribable velvet dresses, and while they looked expensive, they showed far more skin than even Axel would've thought possible. One was in pink, one in yellow, the last in blue. The sign before them read "Your Friendly Neighbourhood Gullwings." The one in yellow was announcing that they would be singing shortly, and Axel figured it was time to go.
Tearing his eyes away from the display, he continued his search, only slightly disappointed that he didn't have time to watch more. He rubbed his gloved hands together unconsciously, eyeing the people at each table closely.
Then he saw him. With a pair of rings at the top of each ear and a very well kept goatee, the light haired man was unmistakable. He wore a very rich looking black suit with a ruffle of red silk around his neck and white embroidered gloves. As Axel pushed his way closer the man's accent was unmistakably British; the crisp sound of cups of tea and scones with grey haired queens. This was definitely him.
Scuttling his way to the table somewhat stealthily and standing slightly to his left, Axel watched him play whatever game it was that he was playing. Axel couldn't recall the name, but seemed to involve lots of dice rolling and bets of exorbitantly high amounts of money.
The man rolled the dice.
Axel immediately clenched his fists. The tingling feeling he felt pouring off the other man was overpowering. There was simply no better way to explain it. As soon as the dice left the man's hand Axel's own hands seemed to vibrate from the inside out. Something deep behind Axel's navel tugged at him, seeming determined to pull him towards the man. Axel was so caught up in the strange sensation he almost missed it as the dice came to an abrupt stop, showing a three, and a four. After a moment of counting Axel confirmed that this indeed added up to seven. That sounded particularly lucky, so it probably had some meaning within the rules of whatever game it was.
There was polite applause from around the table as women dressed in silk laughed happily and made doe eyes at the roller of the dice. Taking it all in stride he made a flourishing gesture with his hand and spoke in his strong accent, showering them all with unspoken promises of a warm fondness and a gentle appreciation.
"Your delightful presence warms my very soul, my dears, I assure you. But now, I'm afraid you must excuse me for a brief interlude." He turned his head, staring straight at Axel. His blue eyes were piercing. "I have ... an unexpected visitor."
The women twittered happily amongst themselves as they left the table, obeying the man's request at their own careless pace. At this distance the man seemed far more elegant than Axel had expected from afar. His graceful short hair seemed to shine, blue eyes staring straight into Axel's as he smiled expectantly.
Axel spent more effort than he was willing to admit keeping himself calm. It was rare that he was so affected by an appearance, but something about this man seemed to gnaw at his memory.
Taking the initiative, Axel spoke the instructed line.
"'Off with her head.'"
After a brief hesitation, he made the hand motion to accompany it; a flat hand drawn across his neck. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous, but he did it anyway. It would be worth it in the end - or so he hoped. He wasn't very big on embarrassing himself for no reason whatsoever.
Despite any momentary suspicions that the whole thing may have just been a farce, the other man clapped his hands together and smiled in amusement.
"Ah, splendid. I had assumed it was you." The air around him tingled again - accompanied by the same tug from somewhere deep inside Axel - and the man fanned a hand of playing cards before him. "What does your master wish to say?"
Axel folded his arms, raising his head slightly higher as he did so. Somehow the man's flair just seemed intimidating, making Axel suddenly wish he was slightly taller. Looking down at the man would have made him seem far less pompous.
"He says, 'it would be a pleasant day for a stroll around the garden.'" It was an effort not to cringe at how silly it all sounded. Rich people really needed better things to do with their time. "He wants to talk of 'cabbages and kings.'"
Plucking a single card out and twirling it between his fingers, the other man considered him silently. His smile never lessened - that small upward twinge that spoke of mild amusement in a world of ever present pleasures. Axel watched him right back, never letting his stance waver. After a moment the man spoke.
"Some advice about this new master of yours," he placed the card back with the others, smiling intently as he ordered them. "Be wary of him. His greed and avarice exceed even my own."
"I'll keep it in mind."
His job done, Axel turned and walked away, keeping his pace as steady and uncaring as he could manage. How was it that you only managed to notice how weird you walked when you were trying to act casual?
As if they had been eagerly awaiting this, the silk garbed ladies from before rushed back to their places around the other man's table, laughing and flirting as much as ever before. The British accent of the man's replies rung in Axel's ears as he walked crisply out the front doors once more.
He looked up at the sky, letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. The bright sky was inviting after the dim atmosphere and flashing lights of the casino. To his left, a high voice giggled.
He turned around lazily, facing the woman who had clearly been leaning against the wall waiting for him. He wasn't about to give her any satisfaction for surprising him, even it had been completely successful. She wore a selection of clothing that all seemed to be made of tight fitting leather, with short cut blonde hair. Two strands of it stuck out above the rest, curving back like horns above her head. She twirled a single pointed knife between her fingers as she smiled at him, a smile of amusement much akin to that of the blond man inside. Her face was doll shaped and exceedingly pretty - all except her eyes. Her eyes seemed to flash with an unworldly light as she watched Axel.
Axel swung his arms out to either side in what he hoped would be read as bored annoyance. He had had quite enough of people looking at him like that - a look that spoke of him being a mere pawn in a game he could not understand, for he was a simple commoner acting out the wishes of the mighty lord who commanded him. It was absolutely, one hundred percent infuriating.
"Your stupid job is done, Larxene," he said, with more than a little irritation seeping into his voice.
The woman straightened, her knife disappearing into a pocket somewhere as she folded her arms.
"Well done, Axel." She smiled, considering him with amusement. "The master will be most pleased to hear this."
She fished an envelope out of her pocket and held it out to him. Axel snatched it off her, causing Larxene to let out a shrill giggle.
"Now now, play nice." She turned and waved a hand over her shoulder as she walked away. "We'll expect to see you again soon."
Muttering to himself in pure annoyance, Axel strode off in the other direction. These people irritated him to the very core, but he simply had no choice. As much as he didn't want to, he would run their errands. For now. Soon they would give him what he wanted, then he would be gone, and no prissy rich people would be stopping him.
Out of curiosity he thumbed open the envelope. Inside was a piece of card, complete with gold painted lettering and gilded edges. Did absolutely everything these people touched have to be expensive? A simple blue would've looked absolutely fine. There was absolutely no reason for an invitation to sparkle so much, no matter whose invitation it was. Axel couldn't shake the feeling that just by holding the excessively decorated card he was somehow approving of their frivolity. It was fair enough, he supposed. He had come to them for help, not the other way around. He would just have to put up with it for a bit longer.
He scanned the invitation quickly, found a date, then tossed it carefully into the nearest trash can. Yes, he would put up with them until Sunday. After that, he would be gone.
It was late afternoon by the time Axel reached the hospital. He felt like death. No, he felt like what death felt like when it walked for two days straight with hardly any sleep inbetween. And then a bit more death. It didn't help that he almost walked right into someone on his way through the sliding doors. A great way to go unnoticed right there.
"Sorry," the purple haired man grunted as he walked around Axel. His blonde haired companion was looking at him worriedly as they left the lobby. Neither one had looked too closely at Axel's face, so he was free to not care even the tiniest bit.
He sunk down onto the couch in the hospital's lobby with a great inner sigh. It was so soft. He wanted to sleep right there and then. But no, that'd be just about as counter productive as he could get. He'd gone through all the trouble of changing his appearance, he wasn't going to ruin it now by having some miscellaneous hospital staff member come up and recognise him in his sleep. In all truth, it wasn't that much of a disguise. He'd tied his hair back and pulled his hood up, but he hated tying his hair back, so Axel figured that counted as a drastic measure. Everyone was looking for the 'spikey haired red head'. Hopefully no-one would notice the red head with a ponytail.
As if in response to his thoughts the receptionist looked at him, caught his eye, and quickly made her way over to the couch. Axel groaned. Being on the run the police was really more work than he was prepared for. Next time he lit a building on fire he was going to do it under an alias. Not that he had done it on purpose, but still. He'd always wondered what he would look like as a blonde. Probably terrible, but something about blonde hair tugged at his memory nonetheless.
The receptionist reached him and planted her fists on her hips, her black braids swinging wildly.
Axel looked up meekly, ready to face his imminent doom. It figured that he'd be caught while trying to check up on the very person he mortally injured in a freak accident. Fate was being awesome like that to him recently.
"Excuse me, sir." Here it comes. Axel was too tired to run. He'd go to jail if they'd just let him sleep there. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but hoods are not allowed inside the hospital."
Axel blinked. The surly receptionist thrust a finger towards the very large and very unmissable sign plastered on the wall that said exactly that. Apparently Axel had sat right in front of it.
"Oh, Sorry Ma'am." Axel pushed his hood back. He tried giving the middle aged woman a polite smile. She was having none of it. Luckily for Axel, he was saved from a stern telling off when a bubbly young woman came through the front doors.
"I'm back from my break now Lu! Thanks for covering me."
The receptionist turned her attention away from him, and Axel sunk into the couch in relief. A growling wasn't exactly being arrested, but it was still more than he wanted to deal with in his exhausted state.
Axel closed his eyes momentarily, mentally willing himself to feel better - just a little bit better - so he could get this over with and go. Just find out if the guy was okay and leave. That's all he came for. After this he could go find some shady motel that didn't keep up with the news and just sleep his exhaustion away. It was a great plan.
"Sir?"
Axel's head shot up. A few seconds more and he would have drifted off right there. It was technically a good thing that he hadn't, but he still felt a bit sour about missing out on even a glimpse of sleep.
The younger newly arrived receptionist was calling him over to the front desk. The surly middle aged one was nowhere in sight. That was fine by Axel. She hadn't exactly been the 'receptive' type of receptionist, even if she'd only been covering. Axel put it down to her hair style. There was just something about people with black braids. They were all crazy.
Axel got to his feet and joined the much nicer receptionist at her counter. She really was pleasant, with that smile and all. Axel's hair style theory was practically confirmed here too, not a single black braid in sight. Her hair was brown, and was curling off to either side in two rather sizable waves. Much better choice. Not blonde, but still good.
"What can I help you with sir?" she chirped melodically.
Axel leaned against the counter, calmly trying to recall what he had been going to say. He had prepared it earlier, memorised an entire heart breaking spiel, but he couldn't remember it for the life of him. He fell back on Plan B: spontaneity. Oddly enough, it was usually his Plan A as well. It was just that reliable.
"I was wondering if you could tell me if my friend's been in here," Axel said slowly, flashing a very half hearted smile. He did not want to smile, he wanted to throw himself back on the couch and sink into oblivion. But no, crazy man in the burning building first. Then oblivion. Yes.
"Does your friend have a name?" the chiming receptionist asked happily, tapping her keyboard a few times as she did so.
Axel paused. He knew the name. He still didn't know how, but he knew it.
"Roxas."
The receptionist gave him a flat look.
"Roxas Cain?"
"Uh, I guess?"
"Are you a fan?"
Axel blinked. A fan? Oh, great. His mysterious almost-rescuer had been someone famous. No wonder the police were having a field day with his face on wanted posters.
"No no," Axel said, quickly trying to find a way in which they'd actually tell him anything, "I'm uh... from out of town, you see. An old friend of Roxas." He paused, as if considering. "You say Roxas is famous now? Get outta here!"
The receptionist's smile widened.
"He sure is! Just about as famous you can get around here." There was something about the receptionist's cheery attitude that just made Axel feel better. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad after all.
Then her face fell, and she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Oh!" she cried, "I'm so sorry! You mustn't have heard. Roxas passed away two days ago."
Axel let his happy expression drop at the news. It wasn't very hard to act it, he felt it on the inside too. The man really had died trying to save him. A bubbling pit of awful was rising up in Axel's stomach. Roxas was dead.
The burst of sadness he was feeling was more than a little confusing. Sure, guilt would have been explainable, but sadness? Over some guy he didn't even know? In his line of work? Perhaps he was far more tired than he had previously thought. This was really getting to him.
The receptionist was making her condolences. To her credit, she sounded genuinely sympathetic. Perhaps Axel could use that to weasel out a few details.
"How did it happen?" he asked croakily. He hadn't even tried to do the croaky, but it worked. The receptionist was giving him such a sad look.
"He was in a fire," she said soothingly, "but it wasn't really the fire that killed him. He passed away of natural causes later in his sleep."
Axel tried very hard not to look shocked at that. The fire hadn't killed him? What?
"What do you mean?" he managed.
The girl quickly scanned the room before leaning a little closer. "I'm not really supposed to say this yet, what with the arsonist hunt and all," she said in a tone that hushed enough to be a whisper, "but Roxas was all set to heal from his fire injuries. The doctors said so themselves. He just needed a good rest. But then he went and," she caught herself whispering a bit too excitedly, decided it was completely inappropriate, and continued in a much more sombre tone, "then he passed away in the night. No-one was expecting that."
Axel wasn't sure how he felt about that. Did that mean he was off the hook? He hadn't killed the man after all. But then, why did he still feel so sad? He mentally kicked the sadness deeper into his mind. He'd worry about that later. Right now, he could just revel in the fact that he was not actually a murderer. A hunted arsonist perhaps, but not a murderer. It didn't quite explain how he knew this Roxas, but there was still time for that.
That also meant his time here at Pleasantview Hospital was done. He was free to go off and sleep somewhere. He opened his mouth to thank the receptionist.
"Ms Tilmitt."
The voice had come from the other side of the room, by the elevator. The receptionist shot up attentively as the deep voiced man - apparently her boss - gave her instructions for while he was out.
Axel turned his head to see the man. Or men, it seemed. There were two of them. Axel froze. Then he very, very slowly turned his head back the other way. In complete contrast, Axel's thoughts were flailing out in a complete panic. WHAT THE HELL WAS SAIX DOING HERE?
Being very careful not to attract the attention of either of the two men, Axel casually pulled his hood back over his head, slow enough that it wouldn't catch anyone's eye. He did not move after that. He feared to even breathe. If Saïx even suspected that Axel was right in front of him, all hell would break loose. Maybe the entire hospital would burn down. And for what? He had no idea what game Saïx was playing at here.
The deep voiced man finished his orders for the receptionist and soon swept out of the building without even a pause. Axel waited until he heard the doors slide shut behind them before inching his head around to make sure they were gone. They were. Axel breathed out.
He spoke his rushed thanks to the receptionist and made his way to the doors as well. Once outside, he paused, scanning the parking lot quickly. His eyes latched onto a flash of blue hair just before it vanished inside a car. A very rich looking car. Clearly not Saïx's car.
Axel made sure his hood was hiding his face as the car pulled out and drove past. He took special care in reading the number plate. At the very least, perhaps now he had a lead on who these 'others' were that Saïx had betrayed him for. Saïx had always had a thing for power, and if he had been telling even a hint of the truth, then this big shot hospital guy was far more than just a simple businessman.
There was something abnormal going on here. Or was it more than just abnormal? Supernatural? Axel barely had to recall the spontaneous fire that he had caused to know that much, but if Axel could do that, and Saïx had ditched him for someone more powerful...
This was clearly more than he was cut out for. Fleeing town, now there was a plan.
Axel turned to walk in the opposite direction than the car had gone. Then something clicked into place. This Roxas had rushed in to save Axel from his own supernatural fire. Then he had been rushed here, to the hospital, where he was set to heal from his non-mortal wounds. Next, Roxas was dead, in the very building where Saïx's supernatural new best friend was the big cheese.
Axel felt a creeping sensation spreading across his shoulders. He hated that feeling. The feeling that he was running away from responsibility. He could fight it, sure, but he had just cleared his conscience of murder and he wasn't exactly wanting to heap up the guilt again anytime soon. Besides, he owed it to himself to figure out just what the hell was going on here. Hopefully he could manage it before he got himself killed in the process.
He had very few choices, and he didn't particularly like any of them. He'd been to Pleasantview before, a long time ago now, but the memory was still fresh in his mind. He would do things differently this time around, do things the right way.
He would head to the Pleasantview Casino. After sleep, of course. Sleep first, then the Casino of Doom. It was just about as solid a plan as he was going to get.
For the thousandth time that week, Kairi wondered whether she should call her sister. She quickly decided against it, just like every other time. It didn't seem fair only to call her now that she had a problem. It was an inexplicably odd problem for sure, but it wasn't exactly the right motive for breaking a long held silence. She could just imagine how that'd go down. Knowing her twin sister the way she did, things'd end up even worse than they were at the moment, and that wasn't exactly what Kairi was going for.
She settled on the internet. It was the solution to all her problems, it always was. It was also the cause of a fair number of them, but who was she to judge? She lived with Sora. It wasn't exactly the best choice for anyone who seriously wanted to retain their sanity.
But there she was, thinking about Sora again, and that was exactly what she was trying to avoid.
Kairi turned her thoughts to the computer screen. She stared at it for a while, unsure of just how it was supposed to distract her. The search for the PLFA had ended just as soon as it had begun. Kairi didn't exactly know what they had to do with anything at the moment, but it was the only real lead she had in solving the situation. Apparently they weren't a registered law firm, or even a company of any kind. They didn't even have a website. Who didn't have a website these days? Kairi herself had a dozen. Half a dozen. Well, four. That was practically half a dozen. Admittedly a good three of them were actually for her sister's artwork, which was far better than anything Kairi even hoped to ever achieve.
With a grimace, Kairi swivelled away from the computer screen. Therein was her infernal dilemma. Her thoughts were cycling between the two things she was trying her hardest not to think about, and it was infuriating. Well, if she had to pick between thinking about Namine and thinking about Sora, she would pick Sora. At least he wasn't ignoring her at the moment.
And so Kairi found Sora in the lounge, staring out the window at nothing in particular. It'd been a rough couple of days for all of them, but for him in particular. Well, possibly harder for Riku, but she didn't know what his case was yet, so she stuck with Sora for the moment. He had worried himself to death over Riku's sudden disappearance, completely freaked out when it was clear that something weird was going on, and sunk into total depression when Riku had reappeared but wouldn't speak a word to him. It would have been hard to handle even if Sora hadn't been madly in love with the guy. Not that he'd admitted it, possibly not even to himself, but that was Sora for you. Kairi could read him like a book. Not that it was hard of course, this was Sora, when it came to emotions he was practically a technicolour picture book
Kairi herself was supposed to be currently checking the internet for anything that might help the situation. It'd been a dead end. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting really. The internet, being what the internet was, had been quick to advise her that it had probably been aliens that had abducted Riku. Or ninjas. Or the antichrist. Or maybe even the time travelling Spartans, recently spotted in a nearby town. Kairi was quite honestly left wondering why Sora hadn't long since started living in the internet. It was exactly the kind of stuff he was constantly obsessed with.
Usually anyway. Now he was the opposite of everything a Sora was. Kairi supposed it was time she tried to fix it. She always ended up trying to fix these things, and it usually worked. Usually.
She took a step into the room. Sora immediately whipped his head around. For a moment, he was smiling. Then he saw that it was her and went back to whatever dreary thoughts he had been summoning out the window. Kairi smiled despite herself. Like a book.
"Hey Sora," Kairi said softly. She stood next to him. He didn't react for a moment.
"Hey," was his eventual response. Oh yes, Anti-Sora was in full force here.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
Kairi went to press the issue, but she caught sight of a piece of card Sora was holding in his hand. Kairi assumed it was the creepy lawyer's card from yesterday. Then she saw it was the wrong colour entirely. Her hands twitched.
Withholding her curiosity had never been one of her strong points.
"What's that?"
When Sora saw what she was pointing to, his face froze.
"Uh..." he even forgot to look depressed as he tried to shove it in his pocket. "It's nothing."
"Okay," Kairi said sweetly. She waited for Sora to go back to looking out the window. She counted to ten.
Kairi threw her hand into Sora's pocket, snatching the card before he even had a chance to react. That didn't stop him from reacting straight after though.
"Hey!"
He tried to grab it off her, but she danced out of reach and read it quickly. It was vastly disappointing. Kairi let Sora snatch it back off her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Uh." Sora unconsciously started tugging on a strand of his hair with a very clear emotion practically screaming off his face. Guilt. "You remember that guy with the belts?"
"The one at the door?"
Sora nodded.
Kairi fumed.
"You took his number?"
Sora, in all his idiotic wisdom, at least had the modesty to look ashamed of himself. Wait, the man had come last night. If Sora had the thing in his hand now ...
"Tell me you didn't call him."
Sora didn't answer, opting to turn scarlet instead. Kairi wanted to hit him. She wanted to scream and yell and throw things, big heavy things, namely Sora, out the window.
"Sora, you do not call crazy people who give you their numbers. Especially ones that know where you live," Kairi managed to say rather calmly. Well, calm compared to how she felt. It probably came out as more of a hiss.
"Yeah...About that."
Sora told her that the crazy people were coming to their house tomorrow, and that he had invited them. Kairi felt like Sora should be melting from the look she was giving him. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out.
Then she left the room.
Okay, so talking to Sora had been a bad idea.
Kairi's anger melted as she took a deep breath. She would just go out tomorrow afternoon, and stay out until Sora's insane stalker friends had left. That way she wouldn't have to deal with them. There, problem solved. She washed her hands of the issue and mentally erased it from her memory. Oh, if only memory actually worked that way.
On a whim, Kairi let herself into Riku's room, not even bothering to knock on the door. He looked up at her, silver hair messier than she'd ever seen it. Riku may or may not have wiped the corner of his eye as she walked in. It was quite frankly too dark to see.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
Kairi turned and left. She wasn't going to waste her thoughts on anyone else who didn't want her help today. She had better things to do.
Yet when she reached her room, Kairi was completely unsure as to what these 'better things' were. Unbidden, her eyes flicked over to the computer screen. Was that all she really had to do these days? She deliberately walked straight past it and sat on her bed, picking up the phone as she did so. Yes, she would call someone. She had friends other than the idiotic morons she lived with, of course she did.
For a long moment Kairi tried to think of who she would call. Namine came to mind. Kairi felt like screaming again.
What she needed was a puzzle. Yes, a puzzle. Any puzzle. It was her tried and true method of keeping calm no matter how extreme the situation was. She glanced at the computer screen for help. She had left her search for the PLFA open. Sure, why not.
One of the great benefits of being Kairi was her photographic memory. She could still remember the shady lawyer's calling card as clear as if it was still right in front of her right at that moment. Kairi had thought she'd tried everything in her search to find out who these people were, but there was one detail she had overlooked. The phone number.
She dialed it.
Kairi drummed her fingers as she waited for the mysterious organization to pick up. A small voice in her head was hissing at her what she had just said to Sora. You do not call crazy people who give you their numbers, especially ones that know where you live. She ignored it.
Kairi heard someone pick up, but they didn't say anything.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Ah, good evening," the slick voice spoke back at her, "I'm afraid I wasn't expecting any calls after hours." The man paused after that. Kairi wasn't sure what to say, so she didn't say anything. The man continued. "May I ask who is speaking?"
"Kairi."
Kairi sat straight up. She had not intended to say any such thing. She most certainly had not intended to tell the clearly fake and shady 'lawyer' who knew exactly where she lived her name. But there it was, she had said it, against all her will and logic.
"Kairi Smith," she said quickly, trying to salvage her dignity by giving a false surname.
"Ah, nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Smith," the smooth speaker sounded all too pleased with himself for Kairi's liking. She bit her lip in frustration. What had she been thinking? "If you don't mind, I may have to ask you to call back during business hours. Have a pleasant eveni-"
"Wait! Who are you?" Kairi yelled, throwing all self restraint out the window. The phone merely beeped at her uselessly. The man had hung up.
Kairi wanted to scream again.