By Chance
There was a tapping at his door. Not a knock—a strumming of fingers. The noise was barely audible.
"Sora, come out here," Riku requested presently, as if he had just weighed his options. The brevity to what Riku said wasn't a surprise to the brunet who resided in the room. Not one bit.
Sora automatically wondered what time it was. Not nearly time for lunch, so why was Riku bothering with him? Perhaps if Sora had been more attentive, he would have noticed the heavy breathing from behind the door that screamed abnormal.
Cautiously, the brunet maneuvered his lithe body up and off the bed and over to the door. Vigilantly, Sora rested his tanned hand on the doorknob, contemplating on whether or not to open it or to keep it closed. "What's wrong?" he settled upon asking.
"I wanted to talk to you," Riku said stolidly.
"About?" Sora asked curtly. If he had been smarter, perhaps he would have just complied to Riku's easy request. But no. This was Sora. He had to make everything difficult for his new acquaintance.
"Just come out here," Riku grimly said.
Sora sighed and twisted the knob, allowing the door to open. Sora opened said door, allowing his body to step to the side when it swung in. It would have been a lot easier if the door swung into the hallway. That would have been convenient.
Standing in the hallway was the silver-haired pianist, glancing stoically at the brunet boy. Their eyes met—as they sometimes did, on occasion. Riku was the first to look away, settling his gaze on something much less appealing; namely, the floor.
"What'd you want to talk to me about?" Sora questioned gravely.
"Well, since you're staying with me, I figured you could pull your weight around here," Riku explained with a furtive sparkle emerging in his pools of a bluish green.
"… what do you want me to do?" Sora asked flatly, leaning his body against the door-frame.
"Clean," Riku stated simply. Perhaps a bit too vaguely, because Sora arched an eyebrow soon after, as if he had not understood. "And since I don't want you dirtying your clothes with the dust and whatnot, I'll let you use something of mine. Is it a deal?"
Sora cautiously nodded his head. "All right?"
"Follow me," Riku informed the brunet boy.
Sora timorously did such. At first they walked fast, but then slowed to a saunter of some sorts. Both party members was silent. Riku lead them down the hallway to his bedroom, barely able to suppress a smirk that was bound to appear on his lips sooner or later.
"I doubt I'll fit into anything of yours," Sora pointed out negatively.
"You are awfully short," Riku agreed with a distant laugh. And not a friendly laugh, at that.
"Just because you're a giant doesn't mean I'm that short," Sora muttered resentfully under his breath. "Don't you like, have job you should be at or something?"
"I work part-time down at Roxas' café. The one we were at last night," Riku explained in monotone as he pushed bedroom door open. "I do attend college so it'd be difficult to hold down a full-time job. 'sides, I get a lot of my money from stocks."
"College… I'm surprised," Sora whispered jealously.
"Figured you would be," Riku mumbled stately.
The silver-haired male closed the door behind Sora. Hesitation flared in the brunet's blue eyes. Was this safe? Was Sora's earlier accusation the truth? Was Riku going to rape him? An unsettling feeling took over Sora as he watched Riku began to rummage through his walk-in closest. Sora remained where he was by the bedroom door, just in case he needed to make a mad-dash.
"I hear your brother's having a good time," Riku called from the depths of the closest.
"That's good," Sora answered quietly, a bit uncertain why Riku was making casual conversation with him.
"It's really sweet of you to put your darling brother before you and allow him his own 'fun-time'," Riku said in a raised voice so that it would reach Sora. There was something in Riku's voice that made the kind words seem fake and more insulting than anything.
"Trust me, if I agreed to come live with someone like you for a month, I'm pretty certain that I really wanted Cloud to have fun," Sora rambled in a disorderly fashion.
"That's good. At least I know now that you won't call your dear brother up and ask him to come home early because of me," Riku said a bit too suspiciously.
"We've fought, you've insulted me, and you're a jerk and I haven't called yet," Sora replied pointedly.
"I love the emptiness of your words," Riku said with a hinted dash of interest in his voice.
"Emptiness of my words? What the heck does that mean?" Sora demanded as he willed himself not to move. Moving into Riku's closest with the man spelled doom. So thus, he remained standing by the door. By the safe-point.
"…never mind," Riku answered and emerged back into the room.
Sora's eyes widened. "What… is…. that?" Sora drawled in disbelief as he rose a disbelieving finger. The brunet then accusingly pointed it at the piece of clothing that Riku held in his grasps.
Sora had every right to be flustered. After all, Riku had said he was going to let Sora borrow something of his. But this, this was a French maid's outfit. This was something out of a cheap porno that degraded human beings. This was just not believable and Sora had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Oh, just what you're wearing," Riku explained casually as he closed his closest, allowing it to lock. The silver-haired male then sauntered past Sora, dropping the black and white outfit into his hands as he went. A smirk was plastered onto Riku's lips. "Only thing I can afford to get ruined."
"Why do you have this?" Sora asked in a demanding voice.
"Oh Sora, the question you should be asking is … 'Why wouldn't I have this?"
"You're sick!" Sora breathed in vexation as his fingers dug into the frill of the outfit.
"It's my friend's," Riku explained with a faint sigh. "He wore it last year to the Halloween party, and then stashed it here for safe-keeping. The sick fuck probably thought that he'd somehow get me into it. Yeah. Right."
"So you're making me wear it?" Sora wasn't believing what he was being told.
"I'd rather you not ruin my costly clothes, or yours, so there's the solution," Riku replied as he opened the door to his bedroom. He then promptly took a few steps into the hallway, eyes never leaving Sora's body.
"What could I possibly do that'll destroy my clothing?!" Sora hollered, eyes still wide with fear and apprehensiveness.
"Dusting… mopping the kitchen floor … cleaning the dish-washer and its filter… yeah, that sort of grimy stuff," Riku trailed off as his eyes met Sora's. "I think I'm being awfully fair."
"You're forcing me into a maid's outfit! How is this not registering as wrong in your mind?" Sora demanded as he violently gave the clothing a shake.
"It's not like I'm making you wear a g-string with it, so calm down," Riku murmured and then chortled distantly.
"Sick…" Sora groaned as he lowered his gaze to the new garments. "…I swear, if you make one snide comment about me wearing these… I'll punch you!" Sora threatened, wagging a finger across the distance at Riku.
"Okay, So-ra," Riku hummed as he exited the room, shutting the door behind him to allow Sora privacy to change.
Sora sighed heavily and stared at the outfit with disgust and worry. "Cross-dressing, way to start off my summer vacation…" Three days, Sora. Three days.
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"Stupid Riku, stupid house, stupid summer."
Sora vigilantly scrubbed the counters of the kitchen with a look of displeasure on his face. This outfit was uncomfortable and far too short. The material was itchy and the collar was all frilly and tickly. Not only that, but it was a horrible fit on him. The sleeves hung off his shoulders and exposed his collar bone. Whoever had owned this outfit was a lot taller.
"I feel so degrading in this," Sora whimpered as his fingers dug into the sponge, focusing his attention on an area of mould. "Die, would you?"
"Hey, Sora?"
Sora turned his head, anger and aversion displayed in his usually bright eyes. "What do you want, master?"
"Oh, kinky, I like that," Riku chuckled a bit sarcastically as he walked across the kitchen floor to Sora. The brunet groaned and turned around to face Riku, their eyes briefly meeting.
"What do you want?" Sora repeated, fingers tightly gripping the counter behind him.
"Just wanted to see if this was teaching you a lesson," Riku commented as he glanced beyond Sora's form at the now-clean counters. A faint smile appeared on Riku's lips before it turned slightly perverted when he noticed how much skin the outfit exposed on the brunet. And oddly, Riku found it quite attractive.
"A lesson?" Sora echoed, not liking the way Riku was staring at him. Does he want to strangle me?
"A lesson to respect the people that open their arms and allow you to stay with them. You know, a lesson that shows you that you need to have manners and whatnot," Riku explained as his gaze lingered on the short bottom hem of the outfit.
"Maybe if you were actually nice to me I'd respect you," Sora mumbled pathetically, feeling a bit uneasy having Riku staring so fixatedly at him.
"Hey… Sora?" Riku asked after a prolonged moment.
"What?" Sora questioned curtly.
"That one spot on the counter that you were working on, you need the purple-bottle stuff for that. It's under the sink in the right cabinet," Riku drawled, eyes still glued to Sora's lower torso. If it was just a bit shorter…
"…Thanks?" Sora replied cautiously as he made his way over to the sink. The brunet then proceeded to bend over to investigate the situation under the sink.
Riku's eyes watched curiously. A small wave of arousal filled the silver-haired male at his clever idea and the results he was expected to receive. Riku, a bit shamefully, watched Sora bend over. And of course, he was disappointed. The male's fist curled as he smacked it against the counter. "Fucking boxers?!"
"Huh?"
Sora spun around with the BAM in his hands. The brunet stared quizzically at Riku, not processing the other's statement thoroughly. "What… about boxers?" Sora inquired.
Riku's palm made contact with his forehead. I'm a pervert. A fucking pervert whose trying to catch a glimpse of his best friend's brother. "Nothing…"
"Okay?" Sora answered skeptically as he went back to work.
Riku said nothing as he exited the room and headed back towards his room. What did he have in mind? A bit more reading of Sora's diary, of course. What else did he have to do?
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"That was close," Riku mumbled as he shut and locked his door.
The male then plopped his body down onto the bed and reached in his drawer for Sora's diary. Once having collected it, Riku sprawled out onto the soft mattress and flipped the book open. In his mind he was replaying his and Sora's conversations. Perhaps if he gave a bit more effort he could befriend the brunet boy. It was just that Sora's pride in Cloud was almost that of worshipping, and Riku knew that if Sora knew the whole truth, he wouldn't 'worship' his older brother.
Today was an odd day, to say the least. Tidus and I went down to the docks seeing that we had nothing else better to do.
We met this girl there, her name was Kairi. Tidus at once fell hard for her, and I myself was a bit jealous of how well they got along. I didn't like her in that sort of way, but I just wanted to have another friend, and Tidus was hogging her. I felt a bit jaded.
I didn't tell Tidus or Kairi this -- I didn't want to look like a selfish pest, so I just sat on the pier by myself while they skipped rocks out on the water on the beach. They didn't bother inviting me. I guess I'm happy for Tidus…?
When I got home, I realized that I hadn't really thought about dating since the day that boy kissed me. He said it was an accident, today at school. How can you accidentally kiss someone? Was he… toying with me? … Why would he do that? I mean, I don't see why he'd waste his time on someone like me.
I'm kind of sad that he doesn't like me, you know? No one ever has. I mean, in that sort of way. Tidus and Cloud like me as a friend, and that's good. Being lonely would suck …. Even though both of them do have their jerky moments.
But you know, now that I'm fifteen (sixteen in four months!), I'm starting to feel so helpless. I've never been on a date. I've never had a real kiss that meant anything (tongue included… I bet that'd feel nice…?) I feel like a failure and a disgrace to the male race.
Like I said before, I'd never approach someone I liked. They'd just say no and tell me to go away. I guess I just won't date. I'll save myself a lot of heartache that way.
Though, I kind of wish I had a better friend then Tidus… or maybe just a good friend I could actually talk to about life and stuff. Someone that would really talk to me about the little things. I also wouldn't mind a boyfriend who swept me off my feet. I'd really like to know what a real kiss feels like…
Maybe I'm just being dramatic again. Oh well. I'll write again soon.
Riku frowned and poked the diary.
"The kid's really lonely," Riku muttered as he tilted his head off to the side. Silver hair fell off his shoulders and onto the book. Riku thought about the words for awhile. Sora, in this anyway, was fifteen and hadn't had a real kiss or boyfriend.
Riku, being fueled by curiosity to see if Sora acquired a new friend or a kiss, flipped the page to the next entry. Four months later.
I'm finally sixteen. I'm so excited.
I mean, now that I'm sixteen I'm officially in the prime of my life! Though, it's not really that exciting. I'm still dateless, boyfriend-less, and hopeless. Haha, that's kind of funny. Er, ironic. Something along those lines?
Anyhow, Cloud threw me a small party. Tidus couldn't come, he had a date with Kairi. Er, I hope they had fun? Heh?
Tidus told me that he's made out with Kairi and done stuff with her. He told me that telling me the specifics would taint my 'adorable virgin mind', and for that I punched him. I… really didn't mean to hit my best friend, it was just he made me sound like an idiot for being a virgin and without a boyfriend.
I'm not! I just… I just don't like people that much?
Anyhow, I'm pretty sure Tidus forgave me for that. I hope? Well… let's see, what else happened these part four months?
No kiss… nothing dramatic…. Uh… Cloud went out on a few dates, nothing major. Maybe it runs in the family?
Oh well….
"This kid is pathetic," Riku declared as he rolled his eyes. "Sixteen and he never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. I'm …. awfully surprised," Riku murmured before adding on under his breath, "his body isn't that bad…"
Riku sat there and pondered Sora's words once again. Perhaps this was why Sora was so distant towards him? Was Sora just used to people shutting him out and making snide comments to him? Riku tapped his fingers down against the diary. Now, more than ever, did he wish that he hadn't lost his own notebook. He really could go for a dark scene right now.
Then again, this was just as interesting.
Riku sighed and put the diary away, figuring it was a good spot to leave off. By now, he had read a lot about Sora's life, and there was a few days left of reading left.
The silver-haired male rolled onto his side and stared at the wall for a long while.
"Perhaps a change of heart is needed…" It was amazing the effect words had on you.
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Once Sora had finished his absurd task of cleaning, the brunet slipped into his bedroom and removed his outfit. Sora then promptly threw it into the trashcan and changed back into his normal clothing. Blue eyes were drenched with frustration and anger. "He could have given me something more reasonable than that."
Sora stretched and glanced at the clock. It was already five. Damn. His whole day had been spent cleaning Riku's house. Lovely. Maybe he could savor the rest of his day? How could he do that?
An idea struck and Sora smiled and headed out of his room and down the hallway. Sora cautiously made his way down towards Riku's room. Thoughts and ideas flew in and out of his head as he approached the door. It took Sora a total of five minutes and ten seconds to muster up enough courage to knock.
Then it took precisely ten seconds for Riku to open the door, their eyes briefly meeting, yet again. This time, though, Riku did not break the eye-contact. Neither did Sora.
"Yeah?" Riku asked, surprisingly not sarcastically or rudely.
Sora blinked in surprise and lowered his gaze to the floor. "Would… you mind if we went back to the café…? I like it there… and I wanted to see Naminé again…."
Riku gave the suggestion serious thought. Aquamarine eyes remained fixated on Sora's lithe form, as if memorized by it. Would kindness turn Sora into a normal human being? "I think I can do that. I wanted to talk to Roxas about something anyhow," Riku explained as he shut his bedroom door.
Sora blinked in amazement, yet again. "Really?"
"Really," Riku echoed and brushed past Sora into the living room to get his keys.
"…He's being… nice?" Sora wondered aloud as he stood by the door, too in shock to do anything else. People didn't change overnight. Or in Sora's case, over the course of an afternoon. So, Sora then asked himself, What is he planning?
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"Selphie… leave him alone," Riku said grimly as he shooed the pesky brunette away from the booth.
Selphie grumbled something under her breath, placed her hands fluidly onto her hips, stuck her nose up high, and then promptly stormed off, stomping her feet as she went. More than likely in search for Roxas to complain to, no doubt.
Riku sighed and leaned his forehead against his palm. There they sat, Riku and Sora, in a booth, together. Without fighting. Without glaring. It was odd. It was a bit … unnerving. "Excuse her. She likes to flirt aimlessly with guys. Sadly, all the ones she does like are either gay or taken."
Sora laughed nervously and glanced down at the table. "Yeah…"
"I swear, that girl would do anything on two legs and a-" Riku began but silenced himself, not wanting to be too vulgar around Sora. Instead of finishing his thought, he lifted a menu and stared at it. Being nice to Sora wasn't that hard after-all. In fact, the brunet was actually quiet when he wasn't being snapped at. It was a peaceful change.
"… I saw you play the piano last night," Sora commented as he flipped open his own menu shyly. This must be a trick. By now Riku would have yelled at me for something. Or made fun of me. What is he doing?
"You did?" Riku asked with honest surprise in his voice. "I'm… not that good. I'm surprised they haven't thrown me out of this place yet."
He's being really friendly… I'd ask why, but I'm afraid… that he'd just go back to being rude and mean… "You actually play pretty well," Sora complimented the other with a faint smile. And honestly, Sora wasn't lying. Riku did play marvelously.
"Is that flattery coming out of Sora Kayaki's mouth directed at me?" Riku asked in disbelief, raising a hand to dramatically place it over his heart. The odd part was that Riku's voice contained no sarcasm or discontent. It was just… teasing, but in a gentle way.
Maybe he's on something… "I think so?"
"Listen, Sora." Riku put the menu down and laced his hands on top of it. "I'm willing to start over if you are, okay kid? I'm tired of playing the blame-game. And I'm tired of arguing with you over stupid things. Being in a constant war of insulting with you isn't really making me all warm and fuzzy inside. Okay, what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to try and get along with you and make this month tolerable. That is, if you try to do the same."
Sora was truly taken-back by the deal. "You wouldn't call me a girl anymore? You wouldn't make fun of Cloud and me?"
"That's correct," Riku confirmed with a stiff nod.
"Would… I be able to use your computer?" Sora asked softly.
"If you wanted to, I guess. Just don't do anything stupid on it that may make it get a virus. I mean, not like you would," Riku said in a mumble before finishing with a hasty, "You can use it."
"Wow… thanks, Riku," Sora said with the smallest of smiles appearing on his lips.
"You look nice when you smile," Riku stated as he picked his menu back up and began searching it for a meal to order.
Sora blinked and then flushed a cherry red. "That's not true."
"It is," Riku argued, eyes glued to the menu.
"I'm not… nice looking in general, so I don't see how a smile could make me look nice," Sora mumbled as he lowered his gaze to the table again.
"You've got a nice body," Riku said non-perversely.
Sora took note of that. "You said it looked like a girl's," Sora pouted as pools of blue met seas of aquamarine.
"That's not a bad thing. You'd be surprised at how many guys aren't into the muscular and buff men. Thin and curvy is rare but enticing," Riku hummed as he grabbed for his water that had been placed there earlier by Naminé.
"Now I know you're lying. No one's ever complimented me before. Why should I believe you?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Because I speak the truth?" Riku reasoned. "And I don't have a reason to lie to you."
"…Then, um…. Thanks, Riku." Sora offered a timorous smile and opened his menu.
He's really sweet when he's not a fucking twerp…
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"Sora, this is the store-owner, Roxas."
Naminé smiled and laced her hands together in front of her. The blonde female was standing next to a dirty-blond male who was wearing a form-fitting black shirt along with loose white pants. The colors contradicted themselves, and yet at the same time went nicely together. The three of them stood near the counter of the café, right in front of it.
The man, addressed as Roxas, extended his hand to shake Sora's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, a friend of Riku is always a friend of mine," Roxas answered as a shimmer of something undetectable sparkled in his eyes.
"Riku and I just live together, I wouldn't really call us-" Sora began nervously before he felt an invasive touch. A hand on his shoulder, to be exact.
"Don't be modest, Sora," Riku hummed, his fingers curling around Sora's shoulder.
Sora laughed softly to himself and fought off a blush. I have to get used to Riku being nice. This is going to be really hard. "It's nice to meet you too, Roxas." That was a bit overdue, wasn't it?
"So, you're Cloud's brother?" Roxas questioned as he leaned back against the counter.
"That I am," Sora answered shyly, quite aware that Riku hadn't removed his hand yet. It felt like it was burning a mark onto his skin.
"You two are complete opposites," Roxas remarked.
"You've known him for what, two seconds, and you're saying that?" Riku asked from behind Sora, an eyebrow arching curiously at the blond male.
"It's obvious, Riku. You must not be perceptive. Cloud's a lot more assertive and a bit mouthy at times, and you can't forget boastful. Sora here is shy and timid and reserved. And humble, too. They both are wonderful, but opposites, you see," Roxas said quite verbosely.
"Everyone says that," Sora whispered quietly.
"I've never had the chance to meet Cloud, so I wouldn't know," Naminé added in with a shake of her head.
They're opposites? Riku thought, mind drifting away from the conversation at hand. I… never really gave that idea much thought. Usually siblings are complete opposites of one another… in some cases, I guess. Sora and Cloud must be one of those cases. …Now I feel sort of bad of having judged Sora by his brother…
"Are you Riku's boyfriend?" Roxas asked bluntly, eying the pair with curiosity.
Sora paled and then blushed darkly, heat rising to his cheeks. "N-no!"
"Nah," Riku replied calmly. Though, to be honest, he was caught off guard by the question. Roxas, along with Cloud and Naminé, knew that he didn't really do boyfriends. He did dates.
"Well then, stop touching him," Roxas snickered, crossing his arms to his cheeks.
Riku blinked and quickly pulled his hand off Sora's shoulder.
"Sorry," Riku and Sora mumbled in unison.
"Aw, look Naminé, they're already at the stage of reading each other's mind," Roxas taunted with a jovial laugh.
"They are kind of cute together," Naminé commented, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at the pair.
Sora kept turning shades darker as his eyes became acquainted with the floor. Riku, on the other hand, was paling and narrowing his eyes at his friends. The silver-haired male brushed past Sora to stand beside him, and not behind him, and somehow ended up allowing their fingers to lightly brush. Sora didn't notice this, but Riku did. The touch sent fire scorching up and down his spine.
"Riku, are you blushing?" Roxas asked as he smirked at his taller friend. "That's new."
"Oh yeah, like I'd really fuck my best friend's brother," Riku muttered darkly, pushing the uneasiness to the side.
"Jeez, don't get vulgar. We're kidding," Roxas said with a laugh as his looked softened when he noticed how uneasy Sora looked. "Hey Sora, we were joking. Don't mind us. We do that a lot to Riku."
Sora rose his head and laughed sheepishly before looking up to the Riku, staring at him for a long moment. "Ah, okay," Sora responded quietly, eyes still looking at Riku.
"How long have you guys been living together?" Roxas questioned.
"About three days now," Riku answered and Sora followed with a nod.
"So, friends yet?"
"Getting there," Riku chortled and looked at Sora, surprised to see that the brunet's gaze was on him.
"I'm glad," Naminé whispered, adding in her own two-cents. "I was worried about you two after yesterday and all. You seemed really … tense about being around one another."
"Well, people change," Riku answered briskly.
I just hope that I can change someday…
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It was late. Ten. Not that late, but still.
Riku figured that Sora was already asleep, but no, the light to the brunet's bedroom was on. Curiously, Riku made his way down the hallway towards the cracked door. Riku fully opened it and smiled when he realized that Sora had passed out on his bed and had left the light on. "Clumsy," Riku mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
The silver-haired male walked across the room and proceeded to get Sora into a more suitable sleeping position. And that involved grabbing Sora's pillow and placing his head upon it and pulling down the sheets. (Thankfully, Sora had shoved the notebook under his bed and not under his pillow.)
Riku was about to leave Sora's side, tired himself, but what stopped when Sora stirred, pulling the blankets tighter around his body.
"R-…riku?" Sora asked in a yawn, eyes slipping open to stare up at the silver-haired teen. "W-what…?"
"I came in to say good-night," Riku replied smoothly as he bent over. Okay… what the fuck am I doing? Riku's lips hovered over Sora's forehead briefly. Was I about to kiss him good-night? God, what am I? A mother?
"Night, Riku," Sora hummed quietly with a bright smile. The brunet nuzzled his head against the pillow, vaguely aware of the world around him.
"Yeah… night, Sora," Riku said uncertainly as he exited the room, headed to bed.
I thought that maybe it'd be nice being his friend.. But I had no idea how sweet he was… Or maybe he's just shy… Oh well, I have his diary, I'm sure I can figure out what he's all about…
Riku had no idea how true he was.
review puh-lease?