Riku woke up to the sound of soft purring.
"What am I going to do with you?" Riku shook his head softly with a smile once he transformed back into a human.
"M?" Sora's cat ear twitched.
"I'm going to miss you." Riku whispered ever so carefully.
"Hm?" Sora peaked open his eyes.
"Sora, get up." Riku sat up and poked the cats fluffy belly.
"Meer!" Sora swished his tail.
"Come on, let's go." Riku said, a bit less patient.
"Where?" Sora whined as he perked his head up.
"We can't both be here when my parents get back." Riku explained.
"You, you're kicking me out?" Sora turned back into a human, covering his lower half with the blanket on Riku's bed.
"Sora they could show up any minute we have to hurry."
"Why does it matter?" Sora knew the answer, but didn't want to admit it existed.
"You know just as well as I do that we can only ever be friends." Riku rushed the words, not happy about them, but not willing to argue about it either.
"But, you told me you loved me. And we kissed! And, and now you make it seem like none of that matters!" Sora pressed as his emotions rushed to his mouth.
"It does matter but we can't be together." Riku hated feeling so guilty.
"But, but why?" Sora pouted quietly.
"You know why." Riku whispered back. Sora felt tears rush to his eyes before he turned himself into his cat form and dashed down stairs as quickly as he could.
"Wait, get back here!" Riku chased after the cat, going into wolf mode to quicken his search. "I know you're in here Sora." Riku growled as he entered the kitchen.
He looked up to see Sora in the cupboards, hiding safely. "Sora!" He gave a loud bark.
"Meer!" Sora gave a forceful yet weak meow from his small feline body.
"I'm going to," Riku started but paused when he heard keys tumbling in the lock of his front door. He snarled at Sora, who took refuge further inside the cabinet.
Riku ran up the stairs as a wolf, changing back into a human and back into his clothes.
"Riku? Riku!" The silverette's mother called him as she entered her house.
"Hey," Riku jogged casually down the stairs.
"I'm home for lunch, so let's make something." His mom proposed with a smile.
"Good idea." Riku rolled his eyes, going to the cupboards to look for Sora. He opened the cabinet doors and when he didn't see Sora where he had last left him, he panicked. With wide eyes and a frantic heartbeat, the silverrete went on his tip toes to get a better look.
"Let me go out my purse down." His mother walked off and when Riku looked back inside the cabinet, he saw the lid to a pot slowly move upward, revealing bright blue eyes and orange fur.
"Found you." Riku smirked as Sora quickly and fully hid inside the pot again.
"So, what sounds good to you?" Riku's mother entered the kitchen without much warning.
"How about soup?" Riku mumbled sarcastically with the Sora's pot in his hand.
"Great idea!" Riku's mother smiled as the wolf teen panicked, not expecting her to agree.
"Oh, um, no, it's hot. What about a salad? Or take out! Yeah, you should go get take out!" Riku suggested frantically.
"I just got home, I don't want to go back out again. And soup sounds really relaxing. The pot is already in your hand; go boil some water so I can make a broth." She patted Riku's back as the boy sighed.
"Fine." Riku walked over to the sink and turned the water on knowing that his mother was still in the kitchen and was far too close to him to allow him to release Sora secretly.
Riku slowly shifted the lid over and looked inside the pot to see Sora huddled up, trembling at the sound of water with terrified eyes. Riku gave a calming smile before his mother turned around. Riku took advantage of the moment and looked out the window above the sink and with a tight grip on the pots handles, he threw Sora outside the window. Riku's mother spun around when she thought
she heard an angry cats hissing.
"What was that?!" She asked curiously.
"What was what?" Riku tried to look innocent.
"I, I could have sworn I heard a crying cat?" She scratched her head.
"I didn't." Riku lied with a shrug.
"Anyway," she shook her head clear. "How is the water running and yet the pot is still empty?" She asked as Riku face palmed himself.
"I forgot, sorry!" He washed the lot clean of cat fur and boiled the water as instructed.
Half an hour later, after rushing down a meal and excusing himself, Riku ran outside to see if Sora was still where he threw him.
"Here kitty kitty," Riku whispered in his backyard as he looked in the bushes beneath the window. "There you are!" Riku thought he saw orange, but when he realized that Sora was stuck in a rose bush, he frowned.
"Oh god," he sighed in sorrow as he looked straight into Sora's blank blue eyes.
They were so passive yet so heavy. So pitiful with a frown laced inside every dramatic blink.
"I'm so sorry," Riku bit his lip, hating how silent Sora was. The wolf mixed teen worked carefully to work his hands and arms into the thorn bush to minimize pain while attempting to save Sora at the same time. "There we go," Riku gently wrapped his fingers around Sora's fluffy body and tried to slowly pull the cat towards him.
"Meeeooooowwww!" Sora let out a high pitched yet soft cry as Riku pulled his body in one direction and the thorns caught in his fur tugged him in the other.
"Sorry sorry sorry!" Riku was quick to apologize as he tried to work the branches away from the kittens body. The frail cat shivered and trembled with aching breathes, trying not to increase the discomfort already upon him.
"Ok, here we go," Riku freed the orange tabby and scooped him securely in his arms. "You ok?" He asked, but Sora closed his eyes and remained silent.
Riku carried Sora up to his room, making sure that his mother wasn't in the hallway or by the stair case before he shut his bedroom door behind him.
He set the timid cat on his bed and went to his bathroom, returning just seconds later.
"I'm sorry." Riku sat on his bed, facing the solemn cat. "I panicked, and I didn't mean to hurt you. I know that if my mom saw you, it'd be way worse. I'm really sorry." He frowned.
He waited for an answer, but Sora only held up a front paw to show that a thorn was stuck deep inside it.
"Oh, here, let me get that out for you!" Riku started to pull as Sora sniffled.
"Eeyaaoow," the cat let out a broken meow as Riku swiftly removed the thorn before he rubbed the sore paw as soothingly as he could with his thumb. "Better?" He asked before Sora nodded.
"Good." Riku smiled and ran his hand down Sora's back, feeling dirt and twigs. He picked the cat up and carried him towards the bathroom, and when he opened the door and Sora could hear running bath water, he panicked.
"Meer!" Sora gave a baby meow as his tiny body tried to escape Riku's hold.
"You're dirty and need a quick bath." Riku said authoritatively.
"No!" Sora cried and to Riku's own surprise he went from carrying a light yet frantic kitten to cradling a naked boy.
"Ogh!" Riku fell to the ground without warning.
"Oof!" Sora's human body fell on top of him.
"What the hell?" Riku slowly sat up, pushing Sora off of him.
"We'll what else was I supposed to do?" Sora ruffled his hands through his hair.
"Warn me before you go from half a kilogram to fifty!" Riku slapped Sora upside the head, frustrated at the physical strain his body had just endured.
"Oww!" Sora rushed his hands to his head. "What the hell was that," Sora started but was cut off when Riku put his hand over the brunettes mouth as his mother's footsteps could be heard right outside the bathroom door.
"Riku? What's going on? I heard a crash noise."
"I slipped, I'm ok." Riku kept his hand over Sora's mouth.
"I heard voices," she jiggled the locked handle.
"Mom I'm naked and in the tub do you mind?!" Riku was running out of excuses to lie for all the events of just one morning.
"Oh I see. Well, if you need your alone time to explore your body then,"
"Ewww mom! Gross! I'm just trying to relax, is that alright with you?" Riku asked in disgust with a shudder. He looked to Sora, who smirked. "Shut up," Riku mouthed before Sora licked the hand that was covering his lips. Riku was quick to remove his hand and after rubbing his palm up and down his pants several times, his mother announced she was heading back to work. After remaining perfectly still for a few minutes just to be safe, the two boys sighed.
"Just let me know when you're done." Riku stood up and headed for the bathroom door, leaving Sora naked on the bathroom floor.
"Wait!" Sora called out.
"Hm?" Riku turned his neck around.
"Well, it's your fault I'm dirty...shouldn't it be your responsibility to clean me?" Sora asked with a nervous cough.
"Fair enough." Riku let out an indifferent shrug before he walked over to the brunette. "Get in the tub and I'll start." Riku remained standing over Sora before the cat mixed boy did as he was told.
"Riku?" Sora asked as Riku knelt down by the bathtub and stopped the water from overfilling.
"What?" Riku didn't seem to be paying much attention as he took a bucket full of water and carelessly dumped it over Sora's head.
"It's cold." Sora shivered as water streamed down his face.
"Well if you would have gotten in the tub when I tried to get you in then it would have been warmer." Riku rolled his eyes.
"Yeah but cats don't like water even if it's warm." Sora pressed with as much seriousness as ever.
"Not my problem." Riku shrugged.
It went silent as Riku shampooed Sora's hair, rinsed it out, and stepped back.
"There, done." The elder of the two stood up.
"But, what about my body?" Sora asked curiously.
"Sora, don't make this harder than it needs to be." Riku let out an unsatisfied sigh.
"You're the one who's complicating things." Sora brought his knees to his chest.
"I'm just trying to make things simple and painless for both of us. The longer you fight it the harder it'll be to accept that this is how things have to be." Riku folded his arms across his chest. The brunette didn't respond as he blinked thoughtfully. After the brief pause, he spoke out.
"Riku?" he asked.
"Yeah?" Riku wanted to see where Sora was headed.
"I want to finish alone. Can you close the door?" Sora starred at his knees with a sniffle.
"Sora, come on," Riku let out a disappointed sigh, tired of feeling guilty when he knew he was only doing what he thought was best.
"Please?" Sora looked into aqua marine eyes with his watery oceanic blue.
"Ok," Riku nodded to himself. "I'll be waiting out there," Riku pointed behind his shoulder before he turned around and closed the door behind him. He sat down, wondering what to say, what to do, and how to get Sora to see where he was coming from.
Ten minutes later, the brunette exited the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his body from the chest down, covering his nipples modestly.
"You ok?" Riku asked to fill the awkward tension as Sora found his clothes in one corner of Riku's room. The silverrete remained sitting on his bed as Sora ignored him.
"Sora, come on, you know I care about you I just," Riku watched as Sora tried to put his boxers on under the towel and tripped over his own feet, falling on his face with the towel disheveled, revealing his tan bottom cheeks.
"Ow," Sora said to himself, his face still on the carpet before he felt Riku helping him sit up.
"You ok?" Riku gently repeated his original question with as much concern as he could convey.
"Yeah," Sora fixed his boxers before he let out an exhausted exhale.
"We should talk." Riku helped Sora to his feet and motioned to his bed, where the brunette boy followed after.
"About what?" Sora played difficult.
"About us," Riku sat on the foot of his bed.
"What about us?" Sora shrugged. "There isn't even an 'us'." He sat lazily next to his crush.
"There doesn't have to be this animosity between us either." Riku tried to remain calm.
"I'm listening," Sora tried to look stubborn as he cooperated.
"I just, I want us to get along like we used to. I know we made it clear that we like each other, but Sora, we live in a world where that isn't ok." Riku said as plainly as he could.
"I don't care. I like you Riku. I don't need anyone to tell me if that's ok or not." Sora remained as honest as ever.
"I like you too, but I don't think you realize how dangerous this is." Riku frowned.
"That didn't stop us last night." Sora gave a small smile.
"We didn't do anything." Riku shrugged.
"But we made it clear that we wanted to! And we snuggled! Does that not mean anything to you?" Sora bit his lip in fear of Riku's response.
"I, I wasn't thinking clearly." Riku put a hand to his head before he realized how strong his words sounded. With the look of horrified panic on the brunette's face, Riku shook his head. "Sora, what I meant was, I love you. I always will. I just, I don't want to complicate things. I don't like how it has to be,"
"Then don't let it be that way!" Sora argued, frustrated at how Riku seemed to have been giving up.
"I don't have a choice! It's not what I want, but it's what's allowed and what's not allowed."
"We don't have to let them decide for us!" Sora refused to surrender.
"I wish it were that simple, but it, it just can't work." Riku shrugged.
"But, why not?" Sora asked with a devastated pout.
"Sora, we already discussed this. You're cat mix. I'm wolf mix. They just…they don't mix." Riku scratched his head, making as much sense as he could.
"But I love you." Sora whimpered as if that one phrase could excuse Riku's reasoning.
"And I love you. I just don't want either one of us getting in trouble for it." Riku sighed loudly, his head hurting from the confliction inside him.
"We don't know what they'd do to us, so why not try?" Sora suggested.
"Sora, it's against the law." Riku repeated more clearly, reminding Sora just how heavy the situation was. "It wasn't until our parents time that we were allowed to have classes together, but we still can't intermarry or date. We can be friends, classmates, teammates and coworkers even….but we can't be a couple." Riku bit his lip.
"I don't care about what anyone says. I don't care that I'm cat breed and you're wolf breed. We're best friends and always have been and always will be! And we love each other! That shouldn't matter!" Sora pounded the mattress beneath him in his raw anger.
"I know. But just cause it shouldn't matter doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. I love you, but I won't risk you getting in serious trouble for me."
"I'm willing to risk it." Sora gave a weak smile.
"I can't be the source of your pain." Riku frowned.
"If you deny me, you'll cause me more pain than anything they could ever do if they found out about us!" Sora sniffled as he yelled.
"Please don't make this harder than it needs to be." Riku begged with a hollow voice, empty and exhausted.
"I, I can't Riku. I can't live knowing that someone else might have you. I, I want you, for me." Sora's eyes watered.
"Just you." Riku gave a comforting smile.
"Then why can't we be together?" Sora's voice gave out as he barely spoke amongst the tears.
"We could be arrested. It's against the law. I could be relocated, you could be relocated, our families would hate us, our friends would criticize us," Riku started listing the obvious answers.
"But we'd have each other." Sora smiled. "Isn't that enough?"
"They'd separate us, make sure we'd never see each other again." Riku whispered quietly.
"We, we can act like we're friends and date secretly. No one would know but us!" Sora proposed.
"Don't you think it'll come out eventually? It'd be easier not to start at all than to try and hope we don't get caught cause by then we'd be too attached and it'll just make things harder." Riku let out a loud groan of annoyance.
"So that's it?" Sora asked with a smile so fake it pained him.
"It's not 'it', it is what it is!" Riku shrugged desperately.
"I just wanted to be enough for you." Sora looked down at the hand he placed over his chest.
"You know you're all I could ever want. I just don't want you getting hurt baby."
"You're hurting me right now by talking like I'm not worth it." Sora bit his lip to prevent himself from crying.
Riku thought for a moment before he shook his head. "Would you really be willing to risk it? No matter the consequences?"
Sora gave a small smile. "Yeah."
"I think I know someone who can help us." Riku let out a long sigh. "It'll be dangerous Sora, but, but you are worth it." Riku smiled proudly.
"I love you Riku." Sora crawled over to the silverrete and hugged him tightly.
"I love you too Sora." Riku smiled with his arms safe around the brunette's body.
"So, who can help us?" Sora asked curiously.
"The only other mixed couple I know of that hasn't been torn apart yet." Riku nodded to himself before he and Sora prepared to make an unexpected visit.
Author's Note: Awww, some ups and downs but of course the two have to give it a shot! And now they are going to make an unexpected visit to some mystery couple, who I'm sure you all can easily predict who it will be hehe.
Ok so this chapter is super short and was obviously super rushed but if I don't post it now it'll be another week before I'll be able to start working on it again so hopefully this can hold everyone off until then. I can't do author responses to reviews because I'm so sleep deprived I really don't know how I'm still awake but I do apologize for not being able to thank everyone who reviewed individually. I really did read each review, at least twice, and they all put smiles on my face, I'm so happy to have such wonderful support and feedback, thank you all very much. Ok, I need to get to bed, sorry for rushing!
Living Legacy, Sarabellum