A.N. Oh me, oh my…how long must these intervals grow before…um…you stop reading my stories? I cannot let that happen! Fie, fie, shame upon me and my family (who're the ones keeping away from the goddamn computer!)
Anyway, things'll start acting up pretty soon, just be patient, please. I know it's hard, but if I can do it, you can do it!
Love, Chris
Je t'aime!
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"You know, I thought that you would hate me," Roxas said, sitting next to Sora on the couch, his arms folded behind his head as he lay back, his bright blue eyes studying the ceiling with intense scrutiny. "You know…for the whole…love thing."
Sora sighed, flopping back, a slight pout forming on his lips. "You know, the thing is…" he admitted. "I kind of did. I thought that you had just come to take him from me, and I hated you for it. But…" he trailed off, and Roxas looked at him sideways.
"But what?"
"I…started thinking, and finally decided that it was his choice. My hating you would just pull our friendship apart, and I didn't want to risk that. I couldn't lose him as a friend." He sighed, covering his face with hands that were ever so slightly shaky. "Which is why I guess I'm taking this so hard. 'Cuz I might lose him."
The Nobody nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."
"I guess for you it's even worse."
"Why's that?"
"You have more to lose from him than I do."
Roxas shivered. "You really think so? I don't. You're the one that he's known all of his life. In truth, I think that you're the reason that he's not dead yet. When he was lost in the darkness, you were the one that pulled him through. I don't think that he'll ever forget that."
They sat in silence for a long time, reflecting.
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"Look, asshole," Cloud said through gritted teeth, trying to hold back his temper, "Just tell us what it is that he's after."
Loz shook his head, glaring. Yazoo smiled, retaining his own cold silence, and the smug expression on their faces nearly caused the blonde to completely lose it. Tifa lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to calm down.
"Hypocrite," Cloud muttered, and she smiled. "You're the one who nearly killed him not even two hours ago."
"True," she said, "But they were the ones who started that conversation. You're the one that keeps insisting on talking to them."
"I'm not talking, I'm interrogating."
"You might as well be talking, for the answers that you've been getting."
"She's got a point," Leon said, watching them bicker. "I don't think that you're going to get anything from them."
"Nope," Loz said cheerfully, making everyone glare at him.
"Just give up," Leon advised. "We can just try and find them on our own."
Cloud huffed, put off by the way that everyone was ganging up on him. "Yeah, but if there's an easier way to find them, then I want to find it."
"Don't try and take the path of least resistance, Cloud," Tifa teased. "It doesn't build character."
Leon smiled. "He's got character. Emo and moody."
"Shut up!"
Yazoo rolled his eyes as they walked out, sill arguing. "Seems like they're enjoying themselves," he grumbled, and Loz snorted. "Not for long," the larger man said. "Brother's coming, isn't he?"
"Yes, Loz," Yazoo reassured. "He's coming."
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He looked back for a second, and saw teeth racing towards him. He ducked, and the black shadow flashed over his head, almost going straight into a tree headfirst, and he raced past it without a second thought. It whirled, pursuing him, not even pausing, driving itself towards him madly.
His breath rasped painfully in his throat, his legs aching painfully, a cramp nearly splitting his side in two. He knew that it was only a matter of time until they would be able to catch up to him.
And there it came. He stumbled, and they fell on him, and he could feel their teeth sinking into his flesh, and he screamed, covering his face with his arms, feeling the skin being torn off, his entire body ripped to shreds. He opened his mouth, only to find it filled with blood.
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Tifa ran into Riku's room, past the two men who were just watching and laughing as the silverhair's scream echoed off the walls. Yuffie, who was in there bugging Leon, jumped up, watching Riku's writhing form in horror.
"What happened?" Tifa asked the girl, and she just shook her head, wide-eyed.
"I have no idea!" she said, "One minute he was fine, the next he's screaming bloody murder!"
"Shit," the black-clad woman muttered, trying to hold the boy down as the white bandages suddenly darkened, red flowers on a clean white field. "If he keeps this up, he'll bleed to death."
Yuffie scrambled to help, not really sure what to do. Tentatively, she held his arm, trying to keep it from moving, only to have it ripped out of her grasp as he flailed it. She hadn't expected him to be that strong. Glaring at him, she grabbed it, this time not letting go.
Tifa nodded at her in gratitude, trying to get a hold on the other one. Neither had any idea of what to do after that, but it was something they could figure out later.
Suddenly, a fist hit down, smashing into the side of Riku's head. The silverhair froze, and then collapsed, not moving. Both of the women turned to glare at Leon, who just blinked at them in confusion.
"What?" he said innocently. "He stopped, didn't he?"
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Roxas was jerked awake suddenly as Sora slipped off of the couch with a thud, the noise pulling him from his slumber, along with the fact that his head had been lying on Sora's shoulder, and he fell full-length on the couch. He rubbed his eyes, looking down at the still-sleeping brunette in amazement.
"How can you still be asleep?" he asked drowsily, rubbing his eyes. Sora just snuffled and tumbled under the couch as he rolled over, grumbling in his sleep. Roxas looked around, everything taking a few seconds to come into focus.
"Shit…" he muttered, realizing that he'd been asleep for several hours. They had been talking about everything that had happened to them, everything that could happen, everything that had happened to Riku…the blonde couldn't remember at what point he had fallen asleep, but he remembered (vaguely) drifting off feeling a lot better.
Nudging Sora with his foot, he said, louder, "Hey! Sora!"
"Mm?"
"We should go! It's getting late!"
"Whatddime izzit?"
"Four!"
Sora sat up, not opening his eyes. "An..?"
"We need to go see Riku!"
The brunette's eyes snapped open, and he bounded up, chirruping, "All right! Let's go see him, then!"
Obviously, he was feeling better for having talked to Roxas as well, as he pranced out the door, leaving the blonde to follow and marvel at how he could be half-comatose one moment, and ultra-hyper the next.
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Cloud walked into the room, seething at the aloof act that the brothers had been sporting the whole time, looking at the four occupants in sudden confusion.
"Um…" he said slowly, looking from face to face. "What…happened?"
Yuffie shot him a look that clearly said, 'Don't ask,' and Tifa growled out, "Leon here thought it would be funny to go and punch a certain someone who is already close enough to death."
"I didn't think that it would be funny!" Leon protested, now sporting a terrific black eye (courtesy of the great ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi). "He was thrashing around, and you kept squealing about stopping him…"
"So you punched him?" Cloud said incredulously.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?"
"That's not the point!" Yuffie interrupted, raising her fist again, and Leon gave an involuntary flinch. Cloud chuckled, turning around, planning to go back out until they heard a yelp and a thud.
Tifa and Cloud both glanced at each other, and walked into the adjoining room (reluctantly leaving a scuffle between Leon and Yuffie) to see Sora picking himself up, glaring at Loz.
"He tripped me!" the brunette said indignantly, and Loz tried to look innocent, but his stern facial muscles couldn't quite pull it off. Yazoo, on the other hand, looked up at Cloud with wide eyes.
"Loz didn't do anything, big brother," he said sweetly. "Don't send him to his room, please!"
"Shut the hell up," Cloud snapped, as Roxas tried to stifle a giggle. 'These two sure know just how to piss him off,' he thought with a grin. The blonde noticed, glaring at the two boys.
"Aren't you here to see Riku?" he grumbled irritably.
"What's left of him—" Yazoo mumbled before a kick interrupted him as Cloud finished. "Well then, go!"
Not really wanting to argue with him when he was being moody, Roxas and Sora hurried into the room where Riku was staying, only to pause in the doorway to watch the ninja beating Leon with a pillow mercilessly.
"Go! A! Way!" She snapped, berating him as he backed away, trying to grab it from her. She noticed the two, dropping the weapon and kicking it under the bed quickly. "Oh, hi guys!" she said, and Roxas looked at her nervously.
"What's going on..?" he asked, trying again not to laugh.
Yuffie glared at the Gunblader, snorting. "Nothing," she said, punching him on the arm. He rolled his eyes, rubbing the now-dead arm ruefully.
"That's right," he agreed dryly, "Absolutely nothing's happening," making Yuffie punch him again. Protesting, he tried to fend her off, backing out of the room as she followed him, continuing to punch him as he escaped.
"Well, that was…interesting," Roxas said, confused. Sora shook his head in exasperation and nodded in agreement at the same time.
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A.N. Hey, another chapter. The whole thing with Sora and Roxas was just filler, so if ya don't like it, ignore it. It has really no purpose but to make time pass faster for all of us. So, I'll see ya all next chapter, when things (might) start picking up!