Here it is, Chapter 9! And another gracious thanks to my reviewers! It really helps me pull through and keep writing chapters! I'm also really sorry for the wait – I mean, a month?! D= and the only thing I have to say is that I've been seriously distracted and slacking. I'm really sorry guys
Warnings – There really isn't BoyXBoy in this chapter, just 'moments'. But in this chapter, there will be a bit of mentioned abuse, but nothing to bad yet. – Let me warn you, I have a hard time with this topic!
Disclaimer – I am nothing more than an obsessive fan to the wonderful series. Kingdom Hearts isn't mine, got it?
This chapter will take place on the Wednesday evening and night, and it will be about Riku and his past life. Not everything will be explained – it's way too early! But I think this chapter is very important to future events! =D
Hope you guys like this chapter!
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o9: Picking up the pieces.
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I'll admit it, I AM scared . . . Sora slowly laid down on his bed, arms behind head. A part of him wanted to leave, and another part wanted to stay and help. It was sort of like the devil and Angel on your shoulders kind of thing. Two sides clashing inside of him, and nothing were settled.
It seems like I've been in Twilight Town for eons . . . but it hasn't even been a week! Everything's going by so slow . . . Wait . . . is it . . . because of the party? Sora sighed and turned to his side, as if too fall asleep. He curled in a ball, shut his eyes tight – he was trying to shut the world out for a bit, and go to a place that he wanted to be. But he knew that it wasn't that easy.
I can't fall apart now . . . pull it together! Riku needs me! Sora grit his teeth as one side told him something, and then the other, C'mon, you're just a kid! Who cares about a bunch of ghosts when you're in danger too! Let's go!
Sora tried to urge the thoughts out of his head for a second at least, but he just couldn't. Then, as he was curled in a ball under the blankets, he heard an ear piercing crash. He jolted and sat up in bed, asking, "Leon?!"
His eyes scanned the room, and when there was no sight of Leon, he then hesitantly whispered out, "Riku . . .?"
Once again, no answer. Sora started to panic, thinking that it might've been a 'bad' ghost. He pulled over the covers, and curled into a ball. He dug himself under the pillows, trying to hide himself; this is pathetic, only a complete moron wouldn't see me. And I don't think that powerful ghosts who have killed people can be taken as morons.
The only thing to do was to make himself into a ball, and to shut his eyes tight, trying not to move. After a couple minutes, nothing happened, but it didn't give Sora anymore comfort – just anticipation of something that will happen.
The moment he let his guard down, something did happen.
"Please don't hide Sora. I'm on Riku's side and I need to tell you something."
His breath hitched, not knowing what to think. He was actually shaking, so he tried to curl tighter into a ball. Then he took a dare and asked, ". . . who are you."
There was a pause, "My name is Namine."
Namine . . . Riku told me about her, Sora mentally and physically relaxed, and then he slowly pulled the covers off of him and sat up in his bed. His eyes widened as he stared at a lovely white ghosts with blond hair and blue eyes. She reminded him of someone.
Before he could say anything, she smiled at him sweetly, "I'm sorry about the picture, it interested me, and I lost concentration."
"Huh?" Sora then remembered the crash and spotted a broken frame on the floor. What is it with ghosts and breaking my things?
"I'm very sorry," Namine said again. "I really shouldn't have touched it. Here"
She then waved her transparent hand in a circle towards the frame. Sora was appalled to see all the broken glass pieces float up. Then she closed her hand, and the pieces went soaring back together in unison, then the picture slipped in . . . and it set itself down on his desk – good as new.
Sora stood up and walked over to the picture, and hesitantly picked it up. He examined it and couldn't find even the tiniest scratch on it. He put it down and looked over to Namine, "Um . . . thank you."
"Your welcome," She replied cheerfully. She then asked, "I can fix the frame that Riku broke on Monday if you want."
"R-Riku was the one who broke it?"
She nodded lightly, "Yes, I'm afraid that was him. But he was just in a mood at that time. He's okay."
A mood? Was it because of me . . . because I wouldn't listen to him? Sora remembered the chaos of Monday night. How he was constantly running away from Riku, and how he had come upon the newspapers and Lions odd 'collection.'
"Sora?"
The brunet snapped out of his flash back, and finally answered the ghosts question, "Um, no. I already threw it away . . ." He heaved a breath and asked. "Namine, why are you here?"
"There are two reasons," She told him, not bothered at all by the sudden subject change. "One, We needed to meet each other . . . and two . . . I need to tell you something . . ."
She drifted off, sighing. Sora watched her for moments until he gained the sense to say something, "Namine, what do you need to tell me? Is it about the house? Or ghosts –"
"No Sora . . ." Namine closed her eyes. "I'm here to tell you about Riku."
"Riku . . .? Tell me what about him?" Sora frowned from confusion, and from the fact on how uncomfortable the ghost seemed as she spoke. Namine floated aimlessly, without saying a word. She finally turned around to meet Sora's eyes, and then she said in such a serious tone, "I'm here to tell you about his past. It's a very . . . hard life he had and I didn't think he should tell it again. So I'll tell you, because you . . . really need to know. Please don't interrupt, I really just want to get through with it – It may be Riku's story, but it intertwines with my own as well. Are you ready to listen?"
She's so serious and emotionless . . . Sora could only nod numbly, and slowly walk backward and stumble onto his bed. Namine positioned herself directly in front of him – her head was down and her ghostly body looked stiff. Sora almost wanted to convince her not to tell the story, but curiosity got the best of him.
The ghost heaved a long breath, and finally started her tale, "Riku was 16 when he died in 1920 at this mansion. His full name was Riku Miori, and he lived with only his father, Xemnas Miori," She cringed as she said the name, but continued on, "As Riku told you, he lived on Destiny Islands once, until he was nine. He lived there with both his mom and dad . . . then his mother died and they immediately moved to this mansion in 1913." She paused, and looked up at Sora finally. "Riku lived in this exact room very long ago."
Her words stunned Sora; he could already make some connections to the things she said. But amazingly enough, what interested him the most was that this very room was also Riku's room way back then. It was so unreal, the connections. But then again, He was talking to a ghost, about a ghost. What would seem unreal now?
"Anyhow," She continued,"Riku's father was a huge and rather powerful businessman, they were very rich. Back then, Riku was popular among his peers. So, all in all, he was rich and popular. It sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?"
It sounds like a perfect life, But Sora knew that somewhere along the story, there'd be the downfall. I do understand about losing his mother – I lost both my parents . . .
"But . . . Riku was far from happy," Namine let out a sigh. "He missed his mother, he felt alone, and his father wasn't exactly the best father figure. Xemnas was very successful . . . but maybe that's because he was so powerful . . . up to the point of being violent . . . and abusive."
". . . abusive?" Sora frowned, feeling uncomfortable all of the sudden, he shifted positions. "Riku . . . was abused by his father?"
Namine closed her eyes and nodded, "I'm afraid so. Xemnas was –is cruel, I think there was something wrong in his head . . . I believe he's severely messed up."
"'Is'? Is Xemnas a ghost?" Sora asked. "And is he one of the . . . err, 'bad ones'?"
Namine once again nodded slightly, down casting her eyes towards the ground. There was a moment of absolute silence. "The end."
"Eh?" Sora stood up and she drifted backwards, "What so mean 'the end'? That's all your gonna tell me?!"
"I-I'm Sora," She whispered, voice breaking. "T-that's all I can tell you."
Is she . . . crying? Wait, can ghosts even cry? "Namine . . . please tell me. Please."
Namine looked up at him, her clear blue eyes emotionless – she sort of had that creepy little ghost girl aura around her, like in the movies. Sora blinked and adverted his eyes for a couple moments, but finally took a deep breath and forced his eyes to meet hers, "How did Riku die?"
She shook her head slowly, "I think that's something Riku needs to tell you himself."
Sora could've sworn she was fading, "Why can't you tell me?!"
She smiled at him, and then was gone.
Sora was pretty sure that he could find her if he really wanted too. But even as angry and confused as he was, he decided to just let it go and figured he'd just have to wait. Though, someone could only be so patient. He backed up, and flopped down on his bed, sighing heavily. He really hated how he had so many questions and absolute no answers. If they'd never moved here, he wouldn't even have these problems. But, turning on his side, he realized that he could easily leave, that he could leave all these troubles and questions behind easily.
So what's stopping me? Then the brunette smiled and closed his eyes. Not that that he'd ever admit it, but he knew exactly what that reason was.
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"Why didn't you tell him the rest?"
Namine sighed; after retreating to the white room, she'd been instantly greeted by Riku, who'd been listening all along, "Honestly Riku, what's the point of ME telling the story when you're going to eavesdrop? Anyway, I just couldn't tell him . . . I just . . . couldn't. I'm sorry if it upsets you."
"That's not it," Riku frowned and started to approach her. "What the heck is wrong with you? Your kind of off . . ."
"Sorry," Her voice held an unusual sharpness to it that startled Riku. Something was wrong. But Riku wasn't going to let her go like that, he needed some answers, and he wanted them now, "You are hiding something, and I want to know. I have the RIGHT to know!"
"You have no such right," Namine was actually glaring at him, and her words were sharp and harsh. "My 'after –life', MY problems. If you can't deal with it, then maybe you should just leave me alone! Hmph."
Riku was wide eyed as the ghost turned her back to him, facing the wall. Riku frowned, not liking this new side of Namine at all. It was a bit . . . sad for him to be fighting with her, sad and odd. He sighed and made motion towards her, and reached out his hand towards her shoulder, but remembering how it would just go right through, he stopped and lowered his hand to his side. She knew he was right behind her, but Namine didn't move.
"I know you are hiding something, and I swear . . . I will find out." Namine didn't move or make a sound, and Riku wasn't going to try to force her. After telling her that, he didn't vanish, but he simply walked out of the white room, a sorrow feeling looming over him.
Something isn't right.
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Should I really do this?
As Sora was pacing outside his brothers door, anxious to get inside and find some answers. With all those papers stacked up and dusty, there was probably and century worth of info . . . and most likely about the mansion and the Miori's. But no matter how long he had paced, and thought things over, he could never come to sensible and reasonable conclusions. But yet, he just kept pacing, at least until a sudden cold gust of wind hit him inside and out. His first thought: Ghosts.
He turned in the direction the wind was going, and even though he was right, it surprised him that he saw Riku slowly walking away. Did he – Did he just walk through me ? Sora stared wide eyed at Riku, who was still walking away, apparently not even noticing the brunette's presence. It was also odd how Riku was going, with absolutely no hesitation, towards the farther end of the mansion – the exact place he had told Sora not to go. After waiting a couple seconds, Sora realized that Riku seriously wasn't going to turn around. So then he called out nervously, "Uh . . . Riku?"
The ghost twitched and stopped, but it took a moment for him to turn around to look at Sora, "Oh . . . hey Sora . . ."
It took a couple of moments of silence and staring for Riku to realize what he had just done, "Oh god, sorry! I seriously didn't mean too – I – I'm really out of it today!"
Riku broke off into a nervous laughter, and Sora cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, which made Riku stutter even more. Then the brunette asked, "Where were you going?"
"Hmmm?" Riku then turned his head to stare down the hallway he was going through. He sighed in relief and gratitude that Sora had stopped him before he got too far. Then he turned back to smile as sincerely as he could, "Oh, well, I guess I was just THAT out of it that I didn't even know where I was going!"
Sora wasn't convinced – and that was even sort of the truth! As much as Riku wanted to talk with Sora, he just couldn't at the moment, "Sorry . . . but . . ." He pretended to glance at the clock and act surprised. "I have to go! See you!"
Sora glanced at the clock and narrowed his eyes at the ghost, "Where does a ghost have to go?!"
Oh great, I think he's getting angry . . . Riku sighed, and could only say, "Trust me, you do not want to know." Then he vanished, only hearing a bit of Sora's yelling.
He figured that for now, he'd better go somewhere that Sora didn't know about, just to be safe. He appeared in a room a little farther down into the house, but it was still safe from any other ghosts, and Sora wouldn't dare to go any farther than his bedroom. Riku looked around the empty room, not even remembering what it was for. There was a large window, a bed, two dressers, a bookshelf, and a closet. It seemed to be one of the many spare bedrooms. Riku walked further into the room, to find that on the bed, there were papers scattered everywhere. Letters. Notes. Pictures.
He gently picked up a picture, and upon seeing what was on it, nearly dropped it. Three people with silver hair, two with blue – green eyes. He didn't understand. He looked upon all the other pictures and papers and realized they all held the same main concept. What was this stuff doing scattered out of its box, in a unused guest bedroom? It scared Riku a little, and a feeling of insecurity over whelmed him completely as he stepped away from the bed and quickly vanished from the room into the white room.
Namine was still in there, but now she was in her regular seat at the table, sketching. She looked up briefly at him, " Something wrong?"
Riku regained his composure and shook his head and lied, "Nope, nothing at all."
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"Stupid Riku, not telling me anything! Yeah right, like a ghost has 'somewhere they have to go'! I swear, he just wants to avoid me or something!" Sora couldn't help but be kind of angry and upset with the situation he was in. It was like, he was trying to help . . . but how could he if they wouldn't tell him anything?! After the rather short, uncomfortable, and downright weird conversation between Riku and himself, Sora had retreated back to his bedroom, not wanting to spend another second contemplating on whether he should or shouldn't go into Leon's room.
"Ugh, what am I gonna do?!" For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Sora flopped down on his bed, sighing. He wanted answers, but no one would give him any. He wanted to be safe, but he felt vulnerable anywhere he went. He wanted to be normal, but that was definitely out of the question. Sora really hated the whole ordeal, and all he wanted was a little bit of normality. But then again, he did have the choice to leave, and forget everything. But He just couldn't do that.
He had a reason to stay. A perfectly good reason.
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Once again, I'm so sorry for the incredibly long wait, but I hope you like this chapter. As you can see, the Soriku is slowly progressing! XD.
I sort of hate how I had to only tell part of Riku's story, and leave off the most important part . . . but then again, it's only chapter nine, and I have a lot of plans for this story!
I'm really happy that I have so many fans of this story, it's really nice to have people to take the time to read and review and even favorite a newbie's story! Thank you!
I can try to update before Christmas, but I really have to be honest and say that I doubt that I will. But anyway, have a great Christmas! I'll try to get at least one more chapter in before my vacation ends!
See you guys!