Fan Number 61
by a quirky little tune
When Sora became king of the world (as he was the saviour of a couple different worlds, this was not so much a ridiculous declaration as it was a slightly scary promise), he would make it illegal for people to be awake before eight o'clock in the morning. Because honestly, as a true sleep enthusiast, Sora could not understand for the life of him why anyone would want to stop sleeping to get up early – let alone why a whole board of administrators would dictate that all high school students get their butts to school by seven.
Seven.
Seven in the morning.
Sora thought he had met some pretty evil beings and creatures over the past two years, but apparently the worst kind of evil (the legal kind) had been waiting for him right at home – the sneaks.
"Is he okay?"
Honestly, what was the point in being the keyblade master and risking his life countless times over to restore worlds that simply wanted to torture him in times of peace? The least the school board could do to thank him for saving their butts from nonexistence would be to let him sleep in, damnit! The fact that the school board had never known they had been in danger in the first place was unimportant, really.
"I think so. He's been out of it since he got here this morning."
"Hm. Sora? Soraaaa?"
His head hurt. Seriously hurt. His body was slow and unresponsive and his brain was like the mushy cereal he managed to squeeze down earlier. Ick. Mushy brain cereal.
"Sora."
What kind of keyblade master had mushy brain cereal? If he was expected to be competent at all times to save the worlds on a whim, then for crying out loud –
"SORA!"
"WHOA!" Sora jerked his head urpight and blinked blearily at an amused Riku. The older boy smirked at him quite meanly and poked him in the cheek. "Ow, you jerk, what was that for?"
"It was for your own good, my man, your own good." When he noticed Sora did not look too convinced, he raised an eyebrow and continued, "Sora, you were so out of it, Xemnas could have come in wearing Selphie's yellow bikini and you wouldn't have even noticed," Riku half chuckled and half grimaced at his own imagery. "A best friend's gotta do what a best friend's gotta do, after all."
Sora made a face. "I don't know where you came up with the imagery, and I don't think I ever want to know. Just promise me you will never mention that picture again."
Riku scowled, then considered the image once more and winced. "Fair enough."
Kairi laughed at their conversation and seated herself besides her brunet friend, fitting her slight body quite nicely in the corner of the hallway nook they had unofficially dubbed their 'Play Hallway' (Riku had protested against such a cheesy mock up title of their Play Island, but had been ignored by two fiercely amused best friends). She placed her school briefcase next to her and undid the small latch. "You look exhausted, Sora."
"That's an understatement," Riku added in, leaning, as he always did, against the wall with style. How anyone could 'lean with style' was beyond Sora, but it was obviously possible, as evidenced by Riku Karada.
"Thanks, guys," Sora mumbled, trying to stretch the sleepiness out of his body. "Really 'preciate th' kind words…"
Riku didn't respond for a moment, expression distant but eyes understanding as they focused on a random point on the opposite wall. "You didn't… have any nightmares or anything last night, did you?"
Nightmares. What an ugly title for such ugly things. Maybe a few years ago, Sora would have been embarrassed by the concession that he still suffered from nightmares, but two years in battle for the good of the universe had shown him they were far worse things. And maybe a few years ago, Riku would have teased Sora about his bad dreams, but two years battling against the darkness and against himself had taught him that the darkness that sheltered nightmares was very much something to take seriously.
Sora shook his head and moved to sit with his knees pulled to his chest. "Nope. Just the opposite, actually." He shoved his head into the crook of his folded arms, hiding the soft blush and tiny quirk of his lips as he remembered his dream. Remembered who that dream was about.
Riku and Kairi shared a look over Sora's head and shrugged. Turning her attention to her open bag, Kairi dug through her books to retrieve her Biology notebook to attempt some extra study questions. Riku angled his body to face Sora better, crossing his arms and completely prepared to tease his weird best friend some more when he heard a sharp intake of breath. He glanced over to Kairi, then smoothly situated himself to look over her shoulder.
"What's up?" he asked, concerned when he turned and saw the rather pinched look on her face.
"Nothin –Hey!" Kairi gaped, as the notebook she had been subtly shoving back into her briefcase was snatched from her hands. Riku scrutinized her tenseness and decidedly flipped through the pages, Sora picking up his heavy head from his arms to watch the proceedings with confusion.
Riku didn't notice anything unusual until he got halfway through the notebook. He stopped to peer at one particular page, angry black words written in permanent marker glaring against the white paper. Slurs and insults were written directly over Kairi's organized notes, filling up the page and several consecutive pages after it.
Sora had now joined Riku, sleepiness all but gone as he glanced at the words with a shocked look on his face and a serious light in his eyes. Kairi sighed and wondered what she could possibly say to delay what she knew was coming.
"This isn't that bad," Kairi finally offered tentatively, making to take her notebook back. Without even averting his eyes from the graffiti, Riku held the offensive item off to the side, out of Kairi's reach. The redhead huffed.
"Isn't – isn't bad? Kairi, someone wrote horrible, awful things about you!" Sora finally cried indignantly, surprise gone and anger taking its place. He continued, spluttering, "In your own notebook!"
The young girl gave a strained smile. "I think I can recognize my own notebook, you goofball."
Riku turned to the last page, read the very last insulting word, seemed to absorb what was written with an iron expression on his face, then quietly shut the notebook. He slammed it on the linoleum floor, the sharp fwap of its collision doing nothing to distract him from his emotions.
Riku was pissed. He was beyond pissed, he was downright infuriated. Incensed. Enraged. Not only was Kairi a close enough friend to be considered a younger sister of sorts, but she was also one of the most supportive and, to risk sounding cliché, pure beings he had ever had the fortune to meet. She had been the catalyst in the very beginning, forcing him to dream big even though he lived small. She had been one of the first to accept him as he was, even when he was afraid to accept himself. She had been one of the first to help him truly cope with what he had done after he had taken on the guise of Ansem. No kid deserved harassment like this at school… and to do such a thing to Kairi, of all people—
It was both a morbid exaggeration and a frightening threat when Riku thought he would like to blow something up to make him feel better.
"Who the hell would write this stuff about you?" Sora asked, heat in his voice and his eyes ablaze. Riku was now wondering the exact same thing. Kairi hesitated for a second.
"I don't… know."
Something in that reply didn't sound right, as if Kairi was hesitating with the name of the bully on the tip of her tongue, rather than hesitating in true ignorance of the answer. The silver haired boy finally opened his mouth before Sora could take the bait, trusting as the kid was. "Really? To me, it sounds like you do know. Or at least have a suspicion." His eyes met hers straight on and nearly commanded her to tell the truth. "Actually," Riku said tightly, "considering your response – or lack thereof – when you first opened this notebook, I'm beginning to think that this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
Both boys had shuffled closer and closer to her as the questioning had continued, so much so that they were now towering over her in her seat. Kairi knew better than to ever be intimidated by them, but nevertheless pursed her lips and turned her head the other way to avoid their displeased faces. "I'm a big girl, guys," she replied sharply, "and I can take care of myself."
"Whether or not you can take care of yourself is not the issue here. Sora and I know full well just how capable you are. But you're stupid to think we're just gonna let this go because you say you have this under control," Riku told her in a lighter tone, pushing back the anger and impatience. "C'mon, Kairi – how long have you known the two of us?"
"And how often have we have we ever given in?" Sora continued, resting a limp arm on Riku's closest shoulder. The pair made quite the sight, grinning slightly and the sides of their heads nearly touching from their pose.
"Point," the redheaded girl muttered dryly, sighing as she finally put away the incriminating notebook. She got to her feet as well and shoved an irritated finger in the boys' direction. "Since you're being totally blockheads about this –"
Sora beamed, "Of course!"
And Riku smirked, "Naturally."
Kairi huffed and tried to conceal a small laugh. "No interruptions from the blockheads!" They both tried to look contrite, Sora going overboard with the expression and Riku failing miserably in general. Kairi smiled affectionately at the two before continuing, "Anyway, as I was saying… I guess I have no choice but to tell you. But since I'm coming clean, you gotta both do me a favor and not go beserk when I tell you."
"Deal," they answered, their timing slightly off, but their sentiments exactly the same.
"In answer to your question, Riku…" She shifted uncomfortably and grimaced. "Yes, this isn't the first time I was bullied. It all started about two weeks ago."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Sora asked gently, pulling Kairi closer with his arm over her shoulders.
"I was going to, at first – out of sheer confusion, if nothing else. I mean, the hazing came out of nowhere and I was more bewildered at the beginning than angry," Kairi replied. She brushed some hair out of her face and actually began to look annoyed. "But I realized after the second day who was bothering me and honestly didn't think it worthy of any mention."
Riku's jaw clicked. "Who is it?"
Here Kairi started to look a little apprehensive; apparently, she had been hoping rather futilely that they would drop the subject at that. "Okay, the real reason why I didn't say a word is because I knew Riku would get mad. Really, really, realllllyyy mad."
Sora frowned. Uh-oh, this could get ugly then…
"Kairi. Who. Is. It."
"That stupid fanclub of yours," Kairi muttered quickly, looking off to the side.
It took a second to process. Sora felt his lips twitching in surprise and saw Riku go blank. Then, Riku's face transformed into an expression of open disgust. He had barely tolerated the DaiRiZu beforehand, thinking the whole club to be pointless and shallow, but overall harmless with their intent; now, they were going back on their word and showing their true selfish tendencies – tendencies that included bashing his best friend. What was next? Would they target Sora, too?
Riku's eyes darkened drastically.
Hell.
No.
Sora noticed that Riku had his actual feelings painted on his face, instead of holding them behind a mask of stoicism, and knew things had gone straight past Ugly and into DANGER! He hurriedly tried to think up a distraction. "Kairi, how did you know for sure?" he questioned.
"They left me a note after they soaked my shoes with sea water," she stated simply, picking up her bag and rummaging through a side pocket. "And a few feet away from my locker, one of them was dumb enough to drop this." She held up one of the infamous DaiRiZu keychains along with a wrinkled note. Riku snatched the note from her fingers while Sora took the keychain. The name DaiRiZu was printed in bright blue ink over a weirdly angled picture of Riku playing basketball in the school yard, ball in hand and a look of concentration dominating his face as he prepared to take a shot.
… the picture was obviously a candid taken in a hurry, but it wasn't that bad of a photo altogether. Riku's look of concentration was something Sora had always admired, as it always forced people to take Riku seriously, age and pretty hair aside.
Riku's venomous voice broke into his thoughts; the older teen read the note carefully and slowly and quite murderously. "Dear SLUT, we really don't appreciate you being so close to Riku. You're always hanging around guys and we can see right through your act. You should consider staying away from Riku in the future –stop taking him away from other people and monopolizing his attention. Remember, we'll be watching you, bitch! … And the rest of this lovely letter proceeds in the same manner."
"I honestly don't care about that at all," Kairi said calmly, "though it did help me figure out why I was being picked on all of a sudden. This letter is crap and I'm definitely not hurt by any of it. Actually, quite the contrary…" She let out a laugh. "They think I'm trying to be with Riku – that I'm flirting with him – that we have something together. Between us!" The ridiculousness of that scenario made it hard for Kairi to breathe through her giggling. Sora grinned, relieved that this whole matter was simply aggravating to Kairi and nothing more serious.
Riku cracked a small, tight-lipped smile at her amusement, but could honestly not find any part of him inclined to think this situation was funny at all. His face slipped back into a glower immediately.
Kairi sighed and looked straight at the silver haired boy. "Don't be too angry at the DaiRiZu, Riku, I'm pretty sure it's only a few of them acting out. You've got like fifty members in that club of yours these days and if all of them had declared war on me, I would've been pranked every minute of every day."
"So… some of the members have gone rogue?" Sora asked with a thoughtful tone. That would make much more sense than fifty plus kids suddenly uniting in their hatred for Kairi.
"Yeah," the girl answered confidently. "I mean, think about it. The whole point of the DaiRiZu, supposedly, is to join together admirers of Riku and support him with all their might. It's really actually a pretty selfless fanclub – they're finding comrades with a similar interest – namely, our stud Riku, here – and are helping him from afar without suffocating him. But when it comes to feelings of the heart, it's easy to want more; I figure, some kids just got tired of being of equal importance with everybody else and wanted more attention from their crush."
"Logical or not, I will not tolerate this," Riku breathed fiercely, taking the keychain from Sora's hand and chucking it on the floor. "Rest assured, if I can't force the whole damn club to shut down, I'll be sure to write a very scorching letter for that mailbox of theirs." He placed a heavy hand on Kairi's head, ruffling her hair slightly. He smiled at apologetically and said, "I'm really sorry this happened because of my dumbass admirers, Kairi. You definitely didn't deserve any of this."
Kairi smiled back and pushed his hand off her head playfully. "I know that, Riku. Don't go taking blame for this, either, because it's not your fault. Sure, it's annoying, but I personally also think this whole thing is downright hilarious."
The older boy rolled his eyes, his sea-green irises finally returning to their normal, clear color. "You're kind of a dummy, Kairi." He avoided her flying hand smugly. "Okay, guys, I guess I've got a letter to write – I'll see you later at lunch." He shared one final grin with Kairi, then waved to Sora, before booking it out of their hallway nook.
Sora waited approximately a beat or two before whirling around to give Kairi a rather critical eye. "I know you didn't want to upset Riku because you knew he would feel guilty and stuff, so I want the truth now. How are you feeling about this, really?"
The girl huffed. "I mean, I don't want Riku to feel bad or anything and I definitely don't want him ticked off, but I wouldn't lie to you guys! I'm fine! So far, they've been really simple pranks – wet shoes, stolen pencil cases, graffitied books, stupid letters, and – oh! Someone stole my beanie hat the other day, but I'm pretty sure that was just Selphie." Kairi chuckled. When she saw that Sora still looked at her with some worry, she laughed even louder and shook him by the shoulders. "Se-ri-ous-ly! I AM FINE. It's nothing I can't handle and, considering the mood Riku's in, I'm sure that letter of his will help."
The brunet ran a hand through his spikes and sighed. "Alright, alright, I believe you! I'm still mad that they would do something like this to you, though, whoever they are!" He pouted in frustration and Kairi took the opportunity to poke his cheek.
"Let's just talk about something else," she suggested cheerfully, hooking her arm through his with ease. "Like how you're going to come shopping with me today to find my gift for Riku's birthday next week. Unlike some people, Riku Karada is not the love of my life and I can't just think of amazing presents off the top of my head."
Sora flushed. "H-hey, it wasn't off the top of my head! Riku's still really hard to shop for, I just… I just had some good ideas this year, that's all."
"Well, that's fine and dandy for yo—"
"And he's NOT the LOVE of my life!" Sora protested loudly with his face as hot as the Destiny Islands sun, having just realizing what Kairi had said. Kairi laughed hysterically, about to continue teasing him when the bell for homeroom rang. Her expression of amusement dropped faster than a flying Peter Pan without fairy dust.
"SHOOT!" she shrieked, disentangling their arms nimbly. "I have that Biology test next period and I was gonna study with those extra questions and I forgot, forgot, forgot, I am SO DEAD!" She raced off towards her classroom and left Sora, bewildered, all alone in their nook.
He slowly grabbed his own stuff, knowing his teacher, Mr. Menz, rarely cared about tardiness, as he took attendance at the end of homeroom instead of at the beginning. As he retrieved his bag from the floor, he noticed the forgotten keychain that Riku had thrown in anger just minutes before. It was just a tiny little trinket from a stupid club (that spawned delusional rebels out to get Kairi, of all people). What did he care?
… But it was a nice picture of Riku, there was no denying that…
Sora swiped it from the ground before he could convince himself otherwise, thrust it into his deep shorts pocket, and walked away to class feeling as if he couldn't get anymore pathetic.
GUYS, GUYS, I UPDATED! FINALLY, I UPDATED!
... Yeah, I'm really really really sorry this time, as I am every time. I'm really trying not to be so lazy with my fanfiction, but it's hard to balance it between real life and all that jazz. Like, right now, I'm supposed to be doing an English project (due Friday, which I haven't even started), but got hit with the muse to finally finish this chapter. As you can see, real life did not win.
I'm curious to see how you guys will receive this addition, especially as it was kind of Kairi-centered in a way. This was pretty important for the little bit of plot I have for this story, so I hope you enjoyed it! Whether you did or didn't, please leave me some feedback either way- it would be very much appreciated. Sorry about the cursing in this chapter, by the way, but I thought it appropriate.
Hope you guys all had a great holiday and New Year! Thank you for sticking with this story and its pain in the ass authoress, haha!
a quirky little tune