Shoot me now for I've revised chapter 2. I'm really sorry if I'm making any confusion. But well, I have to do it after I've thought things over. Thanks to carefreecat and thewriterwannabe, your points really got me thinking. I swear that once, the idea of two KH characters having sex, albeit willingly seems kinda off, let alone minors like Riku and Sora, geez. But this story is the product of my need for something angsty, so I put it that way. Anyhow, Riku raping Sora is wrong, eh?
So here's the change: There's a reason behind Riku's violation upon Sora. I put a hint in this chapter (if you don't mind, check over ch. 2 again, the before and after raping part) the whole truth will be revealed later. But all in all, he didn't do it out of rage, but of jealousy and unstableness.
Also another change is about Shin-Ra, having watched FF AC, I wanted to make them good guys instead of bad. I revised the part where Riku reflected his thoughts before Sora woke up in chapter 2. So meanwhile, I 'm still a little lost as to whom I should bring up as main antagonist. If I use Maleficent, would it become a humor? Give me some opinion; I'm such a scattered-brain!
Chapter edited 25/09/11
Chapter 3 Dawn till Dusk
In the morning that followed, Riku watched Sora wake up from his sleep. Riku carefully constructed the neutral expression on his face, despite how his guts twisted inside. The stab of guilt jabbed when the brunet noticed him and attempted to scamper away in fear. It compelled Riku to take one step back, leaving some distance between them, and then he asked, "How are you feeling?"
In response, the brunet glared and snapped, "How am I feeling? I feel like I've been ra-!" Sora's hands immediately flew up to clamp at his mouth, stopping whatever he was about to finish. His cheeks scorched red, and he seemed to be doing his best to duck his face behind his hands.
It was obvious to Riku that Sora wanted to demean him, but he found that doing that was too embarrassing to say. If they had been in a different situation, a better one, Riku would have found Sora's reaction amusing, and a lot else besides. Unfortunately, and in actuality, there situation was most horrible.
Glancing sideways, Riku cleared his throat and tried a different approach. "Does it still hurt anywhere?" To his great guiltiness, Sora's face burst into flames. 'Shit…' He mind cursed, realizing that he had been continuing to embarrass the other boy. If Sora was still in pain, it would most likely be the subject Sora wouldn't want to touch.
Well, that had come out wrong.
To Riku, even if Sora was on the point of boiling with rage, it was never enough to actually scare him. Now, Sora's glare was different. His eyes were darker.
To avoid the piercing look from Sora, he turned to his wardrobe and pulled out some articles of clothes and a towel. "Anyway, let's get you cleaned up." He said as he shifted closer to the bed and extended a hand to Sora, who, in turn, flattened himself against the head of the bed. "Look, you don't want to stay in that condition, do you?" Riku pointed out.
"Anything is better than being around you," Sora snapped heatedly.
The words stung Riku's heart. At that moment, one of his memories regarding Sora clashed with reality.
'Stay with me, Riku!'
In his line of vision, he saw Sora's expression shift from a glare to a frown. Riku realized that his internal emotion must have slipped. He pushed the memory aside. "But you can't move much, can you?" he wasn't sure if that would provoke Sora again, but he only meant to help.
"Stop reminding me of that! I'd rather crawl than have you helping me!" Sora hollered.
Staring down into the boy's angry face, Riku withdrew his hand and placed the articles he'd been holding on the end of the bed. "Fine, I'll leave you to yourself. Call me if you need anything, I'll be right outside. Come out when you're ready, you need to eat." With that, Riku forced himself to leave the room.
Sora watched as his perpetrator left. Slowly, he drew his knees up, allowing himself to tremble when no one was around. The only thing that he could think of was how much he wanted to leave the place and find his brother.
'Right, Roxas…'
Thinking about his twin, he feared that his brother could have fell into the similar circumstance, or maybe, worst. Either way, it drove him to move, even on the account of pain. He grabbed that offered articles. As much as he hated anything that belonged to that guy, he had to accept the fact that he might have to act accordingly in order to find a way out of this…
After a bath, Sora couldn't deny that a partial of him felt better, although he was far from being all right. Then he stood hesitantly in front of the door, anticipating of what would be in store for him after the other night he didn't think anything would compare. He gasped when the doorknob was turned, and his very guilty party appeared and looked somewhat, to Sora puzzlement, taken aback.
The silver-haired boy looked…apologetic.
"Oh, sorry. It had been long, I thought you…" Riku trailed off and left it as that. Getting no reaction from Sora, he beckoned for the brunet. "Come for breakfast already."
Not really knowing what to do Sora stood still, but the scent that leaked from the door and filled him made his stomach issue a complaining growl. He quickly shoved his hands over his body part that betrayed him and ducked his head, only to cautiously peek at the other boy.
Riku failed to restrain his chuckle.
Turning red, Sora craned his head sideways. He didn't see a hand reached to his hair until he felt it ruffling his brown, soft spikes, causing him to jerk away in an instant.
The silver-haired boy retreated his hand. Sora, who was close enough, didn't miss what had passed in the other's eyes. It was a pained smile.
"Come," Riku murmured as he turned around. With another beckoning, Sora trailed a few feet behind him.
Sora eyed the place, scanning the area. Out of the room from where he had stayed was a large, white foyer. Necessities and amenities were situated neatly around the room, there seemed to be a lack of decoration, except lots of book piles. A quarter of the foyer was the small adjacent kitchen. If Sora remembered right, it should have been labeled Minimalism style.
A door lied on the far end of the room, littered with shoes, including Sora's own. He looked at the door with interest immediately. His only escape route. Crap, there was passcode security system. How he really wished Roxas was with him now.
Giving up for a moment of escape attempt, Sora circled back to the matters at hands. So there was only one bedroom in total. That raised a question as to where the other boy had slept last night. Sora had woken occasionally from his restless sleep, six or seven times that night and the other boy wasn't there. Then his eyes swept over to the sofa and spotted a pillow and a thick folded blanket on it.
Another question rose as to 'what?' After a thought, he answered himself. 'Maybe to prevent me from escaping through the only door?' It was completely foolish to even think that the other boy gave up his comfortable bedroom for him. Sora always had a knack of an overly optimistic mind. His twin had hoped he would change a little and be aware for once. Now, Sora believed it was the right time he followed his brother's warning.
They sat and ate their breakfast in silence. Riku stole glances over Sora from time to time while the other looked anywhere but at him. Although with how many topics Riku could practically come up to start a conversation, he restrained himself from doing so. He had yet to feel stable. Whatever was running inside of him the day before, today it had wore off. But he couldn't be too sure that he would hurt Sora again, even with words. So he remained mum.
RRRRRRR…
Both boys stirred at the sound that broke the silence. Sora watched Riku settled his spoon down and sauntered over to the counter where the cell phone was buzzing. He picked up the device, and the line after giving a glance to the illuminated screen.
"Hey, Kai," he said and paused, waiting for the person on the other end to finish a line. "No, I'm not going today…eh…yeah…I don't feel very well." He glanced sideways to Sora and caught the boy staring. "I'll call you back later, okay?"
Sora quickly returned his attention to his bowl when Riku walked back to the table. Riku didn't say anything. As for Sora, he would have done anything, as long as he could just leave. With that in mind, he ventured, "You got somewhere else to be?"
Riku couldn't bring himself to be any uplifted, even when Sora started the conversation. He knew where this was going. Sora didn't even sound a bit curious, the questions was just aired, nothing else. And Sora's stony face was battering him. Nevertheless, he answered, "Yes, school."
"You go to school?" Sora asked, toneless.
"Do I look old enough not to?" Riku asked back, trying to make the most of the conversation.
"Er, no," Sora's answer came truthfully, and so was the next statement. "Just that…I never thought a school boy around my age could do something so evil."
There was a loud clank as the spoon collided with the bowl. Sora was sure the other must have been angry, but when he glanced at him, he saw the complete opposite from his assumption.
Riku's expression looked very disturbed, but far from angry. It took Sora a while to admit it, but Riku's expression could have been…sadness.
The silver-haired boy got up, his hands on the table, shifting his weight on it. His eyes trained on Sora who continued sitting. "I…never was there before. My first and last time there was only to get you out of it."
"Right, to get me out there and hurt me yourself," Sora said bitterly as he, set his spoon down as well. He'd only had a few bites and was now losing his appetite. "How could you do that and still justify yourself? You…" Here Sora paused, asking him in silence.
"Riku," the silver-haired boy supplied.
"Riku," Sora echoed with a tone that sent needles down Riku's spine. "You-"
"The name's Riku. Doesn't it ring any bells?" He tried again.
Frowning, Sora questioned, "Since yesterday, you were talking like we know each other. Do I know you?"
"Ask yourself that," Riku returned as he held his breath.
Sora believed in his memory, and there was no Riku in it. "Then, I don't know any Riku." That said, he caught the hurt look in Riku's eyes before the silver head was cast downward, hair obscuring his eyes. Riku's reaction caused an itch against him, but minding about it was the last thing he needed. He circled back to his plan. "Don't you have to go to school today?"
Riku, to Sora, looked as if he knew that was coming. "No…I'll…I have to look after you." To his horror, Sora laughed. It was the kind of laugh that Riku never heard from Sora, and never imagined one coming from Sora. The laugh was forced, taunting. Sora never taunted, let alone attaching it with a laugh. It scared him that Sora looked as if he was about to lose it.
"It'll be better off if you're not around. I'm sure I'll be fine again once you're gone." Sora declared in stern voice.
'Stay with me, Riku…'
The memory seemed so far away now.
Rising from his seat, Riku asked, "You'll really be fine if I leave?"
Sora nodded, more than enthusiastic although he was surprised. Was the older boy really falling for it?
"Fine, I'll leave," Riku announced. "But you have to stay here; it's the only safe place for you in this world."
"I think you're confusing yourself with the world, since being near you is the most unsafe-"
"Sora!" In an instant, Riku was right in front of Sora, his hands on the boy's shoulder. With a reflex reaction, left over by what Riku had done to him, Sora cowered. The boy's trembling shoulders shot cluster of terrible sensations through Riku. He withdrew his hands in a fleeting moment. That had been the third time he had done that. Every times, it was getting harder to deal with. He turned sideways and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I mean it, Sora. Outside is worse than here." If he had to play it hard way, he would. Out the corner of his eyes, Sora cringed.
Sora, who barely afraid of anything, was afraid of him.
If he stayed, he would only hurt Sora, maybe some space would do them good. With that in mind, he made his way towards the bedroom. Before he opened it, he said to Sora knowingly. "You don't have to try the door or anything. It's locked, the keys are with me." He didn't miss Sora's searching eyes. "Don't pull any stunts, Sora. You're still hurt, you won't be able to get the keys from me and I don't think you know the pass code?"
Sora turned red, from either anger or embarrassment, or both.
It was true. The night earlier proved it. Sora did try to fight Riku off, but to no avail. All he managed to do was clawing and scratching the older boy's face, leaving small red marks on the pale skin. But Sora supposed it was because only his head was spinning. If only he was better…
Riku disappeared into the room. Minutes after, he came back out in his school uniform.
He wasn't surprised that Sora was no longer at the eating table and was at the door instead, struggling with the doorknob. Knowing he was caught, Sora flattened himself against the wall next to the door. He looked half-frightened, but mostly those eyes held aggravation and resentment.
Riku forced a wry smile as he pulled on his tie and grabbed his school bag. "I'll pretend I didn't see that." He received a puzzled look from Sora. The brunet must have been very confused and probably doubted that he suffered a polar personality or whatnot. Whichever, he didn't really care. "If you're hungry, find something in the fridge." Then Riku went to scribble something down on the notepad next to the phone on the counter "If something's up, or if you…need anything," his voice turned uncertain at this line, but he continued, "Call me anytime." Lastly, he made his way to the door. His approaching presence made Sora step away cautiously.
"Go finish your breakfast, and take the painkillers," Riku pointed to the table. He looked ready to leave, but not without a longing look to Sora. While the smaller boy was still in guarding stance, Riku warned again, "Sora, don't try to leave. This world is nothing like where you came from. This mansion comes with tight surveillance; it will keep you in safely. I'll be back at four, okay?" he waited until he received a hesitant nod, then he left.
The sound of the lock clicking several times filled the silence in the room. Sora sank to the ground, and he wasn't sure as of why he hadn't been bouncing around for escape route right at that moment.
It must have been something to do with this Riku guy. Sure, Sora's anger was still as clear as daylight, but there was something about Riku today.
Riku had looked so anxious…so full of remorse. Not that Sora wanted to forgive him, but he wasn't blind. If Riku hadn't really been full of guilt, then he must have been one hell of an actor.
Nevertheless, the damage had been done. Grieving over it wouldn't be Sora's option. He wasn't a girl. And not that his close ones would taunt him with it, his people back home were not that kind. But still, he couldn't detach the feeling of being aggravated and humiliated.
He did hate Riku for it. With that thought, he dragged himself to his feet to grab the painkillers. Once he had it, he got down into the matter of escaping.
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Sitting quietly, Riku lost himself in the space out the window from his classroom. One of his best friends came, the girl with violet eyes and red hair, claimed the seat in front of Riku's desk as she said, "I thought you wouldn't come today, you rarely come late."
"Hey, Kai," Riku greeted, trying to look casual, but he felt that the other was waiting for his answer, so he gave one, "I had to."
"What happened to your face?" The girl, Kairi, asked.
Riku absentmindedly brought his hand up to his face. When his finger brushed the side of his cheek, it stung. The marks that Sora had deposited. "It's just…a scratch…"
"I know it's a scratch, but from what?" Kairi voice laced with slight concern. She had been friend with Riku for years; she knew when Riku was hiding something dark. For the most part, she didn't pry into it. But if she believed her concern was needed, she would.
"A…cat," Riku mumbled.
"Okaaay…" Kairi looked a bit far from convinced. "So what's wrong with your face?"
"Huh? What again?" Riku's face turned confused.
"You're spaced out a lot today. You look…disturbed, and sad."
Riku closed his eyes and managed his best to smile. "It's really nothing, Kai. Like I said this morning, I'm just…tired."
"Hmm," Kairi narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but sensing her friend wished not to get into the subject, she let it go. "Let's go for lunch, Irvine and Selphie are waiting."
Riku had lost all of his appetite since the crime he had committed the night before, but he complied anyways.
Somehow, Riku ended up very worried. He had left his mansion just because he wanted to grant Sora's wish. He trusted his place would do the job in keeping the boy in, safely. But what if Sora tried to call the police or escape? Both were less likely, given that police in Hollow Bastion barely responded to phone calls since there were too much false alarms from pranksters, and Sora wouldn't know the number anyway. Also, his mansion was on the high floor, thick windows and tightened securities wouldn't allow Sora to leave. But then again, this was Sora he was talking about. Sora could turn impossible to possible.
What if…?
Riku couldn't take it. Soon his head would explode out of too many negative possibilities. In the middle of this lunch with his other three closed friends; he suddenly pushed himself up…and ran.
"What the-" exclaimed Irvine, a young man with green eyes and auburn hair in a ponytail, his black cowboy hat that could be seen occasionally when no instructors were around. "What's up with him?"
Selphie, a girl with green eyes and brown hair that curled up by the nape of her neck, shook her head and turned to Kairi, who, a moment ago, was trying to follow Riku, but couldn't keep up with him. "Is something wrong with Riku?" She asked.
Kairi walked back to her seat, "I don't know."
"He was acting weird this morning in my class," Irvine inserted. When his friends took on slightly concerned features, he consoled, "Maybe he'll come back? He could have forgotten something at home."
…
When lunch was almost over, and Riku hadn't come back, Irvine believed it was the time to make a call. Kairi and Selphie were at his side when he pulled out his phone and dialed.
The phone line signaled a few beeps. As soon as it was picked up, Irvine questioned into the receiver, "Why did you run off like that, Riku? Is something wrong? You have us worried." He waited for the person on the other end to talk, but he was greeted only with a long silence.
"He's gone," came a husky voice after a few more moments.
"What? Who?" Irvine asked, confused now.
Another long silence; then a heavy sigh.
"…Nothing," Riku answered, his voice was near zombie-like. "You guys don't have to worry, okay? I'm a bit tired; I'll call it a day. Until then, see ya, Irv." Then the line went dead.
"What happened?" Selphie asked, inching closer to her friend.
Irvine stared at the phone. The conversation had been cut off. "I have no idea. He was talking about something-someone gone and said he was tired, he was going to call it a day. He said he'll be fine. I could be wrong, but…" Irvine expression dropped into a frown. "I've never heard Riku sound so…crushed."
That was all the more reason for Kairi to believe something was wrong with Riku. Sure, Riku had a knack to do everything and solve every problem on his own. But if overwhelming worries had arisen, he would have vented or talked to them. So far, Riku had articulated his dark thoughts only when it came to his family. Aside from that, they had no idea.
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"We work grave yard hours, from ten to six in the morning. Each of us will patrol around the deserted area around Hollow Bastion to investigate criminal's activities. Daily. The area will be assigned by the superior, aka…Diz. I'll go with you on tonight's mission. You're a newbie; you'll be assigned to an un-tough area anyway so take it easy, but still, you've gotta BE AWARE." Axel explained as he walked ahead along the hallway. He felt the organization's newcomer drifting away, he pushed, "Got it memorized?"
"Yeah," Roxas drawled as his eyes slid half closed in tiredness. Whatever this group or organization was, they were obviously made of stones, or probably something worst. If there was some hidden union working towards such a goal… to eliminate bad people as they'd claimed, Roxas would have expected some training, some indoor lessons, before being thrown into a real battlefield out there. What the heck did they think he was? The undead?
"I know it's too sudden, but Hollow Bastion's time is running out." Axel spread his hands to the side. "At least, you're on the good side."
Roxas looked ready to punch something, mainly Axel. "You call a gang, who forced me to join them by putting a frigging microchip to blow up my brain should I go against them, and thrown me into an insane man's den, good guys?"
"Eek,"Axel looked uncertain, or more like mocked uncertainty. "Ansem's just having hard times. Criminals pop up endlessly and this world is dying, he's compelled to play it the hard way."
That raised a question in Roxas's mind. "Do you have that chip in your head too, Axel?"
"Ah! You remembered my name," Axel drawled with a grin, an act that irked a serious Roxas. "For your answer, no."
"What? How come!"
"Because I joined the organization on my own account," the redhead explained. "And the others too. You're the first member that the Superior implanted that chip in. Well, that's aside from our little intelligence channel and small associations." Upon seeing Roxas's jaw drop, Axel elaborated, "We've been searching for a while. So far, none matched our requirements. Until we found you, the superior saw great potentials in you-"
"Oh well," Roxas cut in with a mocking tone, "And when you found me, you people didn't offer me with the luxury of choice?" Then Roxas cracked a leering smile. "Maybe I would have joined you on my own account so you people didn't have to bother embed that damn chip in my head!"
"We did, Roxas," Axel revealed in cool tone. When Roxas cast unbelieving eyes on him, he continued, "We did talk to you when I took you back to the Headquarter. You were a little blurry, but conscious enough. You declined every offer and were only hell-bent in going back home with 'Sora' even when we tried to convince you in more ways than one."
"What…?" Roxas's eyes whisked away from the redhead, he thought hard. "How come I don't remember that?"
"Most likely because of the drugs side effect, always happens." Axel replied and went back to the explanation, "Anyways, you'll get paid, a decent place to live in," Axel said in his most persuasive voice as he came to a halt in front one of the room among the other twelve in line. He pushed the door that was carved "XIII" in front of it and motioned for Roxas to get in. Roxas stepped in the room, studied the room which was big enough for two. The room was in plain white, with streaks of gray, and no window to the outside world. It was now labeled Roxas's. "Once you get to know all the members, it won't be as bad as you thought. Now you have time to rest up until night fall."
"You gotta be so frigging kidding me," Roxas growled in low tone, looking back at Axel. "I got a little brother out there, probably scared and dying. You guys expect me to stay here?"
Sighing, Axel knew he was getting nowhere, he was just running around in circles. He slipped on a serious expression and jabbed the side of his head with one finger. "Remember what you got in here? No luxury of choice, Roxas. Commit it to memory."
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Riku found himself at the Hollow Bastion Police Department, looking for only one person. With how rundown Hollow Bastion had become after a certain incident, police barely did their jobs. Most had given up while a few remained with the possession of self-righteousness. However, there were only a handful of individuals who could live up to being decent police officers.
Here, Riku was well known as some certain individuals' friend. With helping hands by pointing fingers, Riku followed the direction and spotted a mid-twenties man in black. He had short, brown hair, and blue eyes. The thing that stood out of him the most was the scar that ran from his forehead to the bridge of his nose. The man was busying himself with the piles of documents.
"Leon!"
Said Leon turned upon the call. "Riku?" he greeted casually as the silver-haired boy rushed up to him. Leon was used to Riku's enthusiasm when he discovered something new regarding the issue that Leon had been working on. But Riku always kept his cool exterior, very much like he himself did. This time, Leon felt emotions leaking out of the boy. He asked, "Is something wrong?" instead of the usual 'Found anything new?'
"Yes, I need your help!" Riku breathed out.
A good amount of people around them turned their attentions on the two, regarding them with surprise. Leon as well, had his eyebrows quirked. Since he knew Riku, he couldn't remember the last time the boy had asked him for help. While Leon himself never requested Riku's favor, the boy usually involved himself in when it came to Leon's work.
After dismissing the others' attention off with his intimidating eyes, Leon studied how wild and disoriented Riku seemed. He presumed that Riku must have rushed here. He put the documents aside, papers could always wait. Then he gestured with his hand to calm Riku down and take a seat on the bench nearby.
As soon as Riku claimed the seat, he started immediately. "You gotta help me find this boy. He has spiky brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin, and a small frame. He should be in his blue Scot pattern uniform, if he hasn't change into anything." Riku then thought back, 'He even changed back into his own clothes before he left…'
"Is he a friend of yours?" Leon interrogated and waited when Riku's eyes turned wistful.
Slowly, Riku nodded. "Yeah, he's a friend of mine." 'But maybe he won't count me as one…not anymore.'
"Okay, where did you last see him?" Leon questioned.
"My mansion," Riku said, barely above a whisper. He figured that if he wanted Leon's help, he'd have to relay all the information to the man. And that meant including his story with Sora. Somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to reveal all of it. "He's my childhood friend. He was kidnapped from his home island and sold to the Black Market."
"The Black Market?" Leon didn't mean to interrupt. But such issue had always taken up the space in Leon's mind; all of his works were dedicated in digging into the source of this to destroy it completely. It interested him.
Sensing that Leon was swaying from the main subject, Riku hit his fist into his thigh, hard, to grab back the other's attention. "Leon! I'll get into that damn issue later, but I really need your help here!"
Leon was taken aback with how Riku was reacting. That kind of action didn't seem right coming out of Riku. He observed the boy deliberately, and found something off. With his hands, he angled Riku's face for a closer examination, his eyebrows furrowed. His actions made Riku mute momentarily.
"Riku, were you exposed to any kinds of drugs?"
"What?" Riku didn't understand.
"Your eyes are bloodshot, in an uncommon way," Leon pointet, "…and you are acting unlike yourself."
Having the other swayed out of the issue completely, Riku felt intolerable. "I'm acting unlike myself because-!" Then he'd just realized. '-acting unlike myself? Well, I believe so, after what I had done to Sora. I was out of control…' "What's wrong with me?" he found himself asking. 'Weren't that because… it's about Sora?'
"If you don't know what's going on, we have to take your blood test," Leon emphasized, his tone pressing.
Feeling the need to get it over with, Riku had to meet the terms. "Okay, fine! Take the blood now, but let someone else test it. I'm not gonna stick around for the result because I need your help, now."
"Okay, you can tell me about it while we take your blood." Leon led Riku to the testing room while Riku continued to talk through out the process.
"My friend, I got him out of there and this morning while I was at school, he escaped." Here, Riku looked as if he was about to tear his hair out of frustration. "You know how my mansion is; I thought it would keep him in. The window is thick, but he managed to break it. The protruding blocks by the window that would let to the rooftop are near indecent to climb, but he made it without falling off. And I couldn't find him anywhere." Riku finished, burying his head between his hands now that the blood taking was finished.
Never had he seen Riku in such a state, it took Leon more than a second to kick into his role. From his belt, he pulled on the walkie-talkie and started reporting to his colleagues on patrol. On the wall, the clock read the time for him and Leon realized that, one, Riku mustn't have finished school yet, and two, his shift in the station had yet to be over.
"You're not going back to school, aren't you?"
Riku shook his head. Leon would have not approved with Riku breaking out of school grounds, let alone allowing him to go around with a suspicion that dangerous substance was running in his body. But Leon knew the look Riku was giving him. Whoever this person Riku was looking for, Riku wouldn't trade him for anything in the worlds.
Leon spoke into the device once more, this time, on a different line, "Yuffie, I need you to cover my shift."
A static noise sounded before the end of his line responded, 'Yuffie coming right up!'
A few minutes later, Yuffie, an animated figure bounced into their vision. She was a girl with short black hair and eyes, dressed up in all ninja-like gear. She wasn't an official police officer, but was Leon's friend, and her abilities were a great help to them.
Then again, Leon wasn't really a police officer as well. Some certain circumstance had dropped him into this position, but Leon didn't view it differently from his prior job of being a mercenary.
The ninja girl spotted Riku and greeted him cheerfully. "Oh, hey Riku! Long time no see!" When Riku barely responded, she cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong?"
Having too many 'what's wrong' in a day, Riku didn't know how much longer he could contain his indignation. Of course nothing was right. He understood perfectly that his friends were just concerned, but still…he couldn't take the fact that he had been the one who caused Sora to run away.
If he hadn't forced Sora into-, and did what he was supposed to do, Sora would have trusted him. Now, he'd escaped and was out there, exposed in the dangerous, uncaring, cruel world, not to mention it was twisted as well.
"His friend is lost," Leon explained to get Yuffie's attention from Riku who looked ready to burst. He gave her the description to work on, along with the vial of Riku's blood. While at these, he turned to Riku and asked, "Name?"
"Sora," Riku said. "He had always lived on Destiny Island; he wouldn't know how to survive in this world."
That explained enough for Leon and Yuffie as to why Riku had looked so worried. Hollow Bastion and Destiny Island were complete opposites in every aspect, mostly people. 'Nice people from D.I. coming to H.B. were as good as dead.' But they could still take the comfort in the fact that H.B. granted the death wish only when the sun went down. In daylight, it was still somewhat a world to live in if you were an old citizen, having its good memories and history in mind, that is.
"And he's…" Riku regarded both of his friends as he stood up. "He's attractive."
The two so-called police blinked at Riku. Yuffie would have taken it lightly or even use it against him had Riku pulled on some starry eyes. But no, Riku looked gravely serious; he was implying something very important.
Well, 'Attractive…namely cute people…double dead.'
"Let's get going, Leon," Riku urged.
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The patrol had been tense. As Leon drove along the road, he saw murky clouds over Riku's head as the boy swept his eyes over the surrounding every now and then. Still, Leon couldn't shrink away from what he considered duty; he wanted to make the most of it, "So…you want to tell me about the Black Market now?"
Riku never tore his gaze out of the cityscape that he painstakingly searched for the lost boy as he replied, "Sorry, Leon. To tell you the truth, I have no insights about them whatsoever. "All I can tell is my process to get to Sora." He didn't wait for any response; Riku knew any information was helpful. "Yesterday, I went to Shin-Ra Corporation and sneaked into their confidential room out. I found this letter that contained some fact sheets about a kidnapped boy from D.I., Sora. He was about to be auctioned. I went directly to my father and..." Here, Riku paused. Leon knew it wasn't a thing Riku wanted to talk about or even think of. Things were always sensitive when regarding Riku and his father or his family. "I asked him to request them to put me in charge. My father then had a turk whose identity was hidden to be my agent, bringing me in to attend Black Market, I was blindfolded all the way from Shin-Ra Company to the place where they held auction, same went with the return trip-" '-with Sora in my arms…'
Something was missing. Things never were easy when it came to Riku's father. Leon believed Riku must have gone through a lot more than he had let on. But the look on the boy's face spelled no more rooms for that issue.
"So you were there. It wouldn't be a surprise if the blood test shows some harmful substances in your body," Leon observed. "Did you have depersonalization or hallucinations? Do you feel any different in any way?"
"My body had functioned properly up until now, and no I don't have depersonalization or hallucinations whatsoever." Then Riku was struck by a notion. He slowly slipped in the question, having the bad feeling about the answer. "Does…the lack of self control have something to do with this?"
"It does, in most case. Drugs alter mood states in an unpredictable manner. It is very common that a person becomes extremely moody and temperamental. They'll do something without conscience."
'Damn…' Riku cursed mentally. 'Does this mean that what I did to Sora, was the effect of drugs? The thought of taking Sora by force never crossed my mind…' Riku didn't know what he was supposed to feel about all of this. If that was the case, he could justify himself and blame it on the drugs. Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that he had already violated Sora, and the damage was irreversible.
Sora already hated him.
"Riku?" Leon's call pulled him back from his disturbed thoughts.
"I'll…I'll be fine. We'll see the result later, all right? I have to find Sora," Riku said with a finalizing tone, knowing Leon was more concerned about what the heck was wrong with him and his body.
In the meantime, Leon had another doubt. "Riku. You said Sora's your childhood friend. So why was he running away from you after a night?"
Riku went frigid, and it didn't go unnoticed by Leon's eyes. "I did something terrible to him." Riku admitted only half the fact, excluding the details. 'I saved him from them, but I couldn't save him from myself.' A painful thought hit in as he resumed,"Moreover, he didn't remember me. It has only been four years. How come he forgot?" '-And I thought I was important to him.'
"In Black Market, there could be lots of things that affect his memories," Leon explained.
Riku felt that it was one hell of a big bad joke. He scoffed, "Of all the things, it had to be me? I am…his best friend."
"Losing memories about what happens randomly, Riku. It doesn't matter of how important that memory is. It doesn't count." Leon clarified.
In response, Riku only nodded. Little did he know about Leon's history, but Leon used to be much colder than this, or so he heard from the others. The young man did have some sort of a soft side for Riku.
Leon began again, "So the Black Market and Shin-Ra are connected. Additionally, there is also this hidden organization that no one had really known about except their agenda in eliminating villains on the night streets."
"Shin-Ra, I don't know. But the Organization is on good side…I guess," Riku said and received an odd glance from Leon. Riku pointed, "They eliminate bad people." Leon's eyes turned odder, so Riku ventured on, "What do you think?"
"I think…right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. There's no good or bad side; just two sides holding different views." Leon speculated, "No one knows why they do that. There could be many reasons. Even if you think eliminating bad people without law is fine, there could be negative motivations behind their acts."
Riku always wondered why Leon, although didn't choose to, but living in the role of a police, wouldn't judge right and wrong classify as his job. Leon once worked in a position that questions about the enemies were not supposed to be asked, that must have been the reason, Riku believed.
His mind returned to Sora again.
Where could Sora have gone to? Several places came into his mind, but that considered Destiny Island. He had no idea where Sora would go in Hollow Bastion.
At this rate, Riku's state wasn't improving, Leon decided to pull the car over to the nearest convenient store. Before, Riku say anything, Leon urged, "You're dehydrating. You have been since we left the police department, go get something to drink." Riku was about to argue, but Leon cut him off. "Go, you're not making it anywhere in that condition. Sora could be anywhere around here too. I'll look around." His tone was finalized, obliging Riku to obey.
Riku took off while Leon as well, got out of his car and reflected on the information and his presumptions. While his mind reeled on, his eyes caught sight of an old woman who skipped on her feet and fell. Leon was about to go out of his way to help her, but a boy, who appeared out of nowhere, beat him to it.
Leon wasn't the type of person who allowed emotions to guide him, but the fact that not many people nowadays would lend a hand to anyone in need, something simple as helping an old woman, resorted a smile on his face. And that boy was…
'Spiky brown hair, blue eyes, blue uniform…'
Perfect match.
The kid looked ready to leave after seeing that the woman would be fine on her own. Leon, had no time, he walked right in without a glance to where Riku was. When he reached behind the boy, he tried, "Sora, right?"
The boy turned, upon seeing the towering form of Leon, he drew back slightly in cautiousness and asked, "Who are you? How did you know my name?"
"I'm a police officer, Leon," the young man introduced himself as he drew out his badge and flipped it to confirm his identity.
"A police?" Sora's feature turned a little brighter. "I was looking for a police station. People said it was somewhere around here but I got lost!"
Leon quirked an eyebrow at how animated and sincere the boy looked, rare to this world indeed. He signaled for Sora to follow and explained, "Come with me. Someone is really worried about you."
When Leon turned, Sora fell into steps behind him. He looked up at Leon and asked, his voice all the more excited and expectant. "Who-Roxas?"
"No. It's Riku. He's been searching madly for you." There, Leon thought hiding wouldn't do anything. Riku said he had done something terrible. But how bad could that be, coming from a person like Riku? Riku truthfully worried about Sora. Even if Sora had forgotten him, they were friends, they would understand somehow. But Leon suddenly felt the absence of the following boy. When he looked back, the boy was well distance away.
"You're with…that Riku?" the boy asked, earlier excitement gone, replaced with discreet and apprehension.
'Or was it that bad?' Leon had to think again. "Look, I don't know what happened to you two. But Riku's going to lose a screw if you don't return safely to him. You're not a person of this world, are you? It's dangerous out there on your own." To him, Sora barely listened anymore; the boy looked ready to run.
And run, Sora did.
It was at that point in time that Riku, who had been out of the store a while ago, spotted Leon on the far end, and his eyes caught sight of Sora as well. He let the drinks fell to the ground as he dashed after Leon who was in hot pursuit of Sora.
Leon heard Riku calling after him, and after Sora.
The boy was fast, to Leon's extreme astonishment. The boy jumped above the trailer stationed nearby and hauled himself over the fence. Leon followed suit. He caught sight of Sora's face once he glanced back, Sora mirrored his expression as well. The boy must have thought that Leon couldn't come this far too.
The chasing ran down to the street, and into the nondescript alley. There, Sora made his final turn by slipping himself inside the small vent hole which led into some kind of abandoned warehouse. Leon couldn't fit in, and nor could Riku, who reached him shortly after. Without words, they looked for a door and found one. Tearing down a worn down lock, they went in.
Sora was nowhere to be found. Inside, there were numerous windows, doors, and holes on every direction that Sora could use to escape to the other side. They went through them and scanned the area ahead. No sign of Sora. When Riku was about to pick some random path and follow it, Leon warned, "You're not going randomly."
"We looked randomly, and we found him," Riku said, out of breath.
"Riku," Leon pressed with the tone of finalization.
Riku couldn't help the frustration that continuously built up inside of him. He banged his fist against the steel door nearby, causing a loud sound echoing the empty space.
"I lost sight of him again," Riku hissed.
Leon looked away. "Sorry, Riku. I mentioned your name, and he ran."
"Oh…" A crooked smile appeared over his anger. "I wouldn't doubt that. You're not to blame, I hadn't warned you in the first place."
"Well, he was talking something about Roxas too," Leon noted.
"Roxas," Riku echoed and shook his head, "Could be his friend, could be his…whatever, I don't care." Riku couldn't be too sure if he meant that. Whoever this Roxas was, seemed important to Sora, Riku didn't know how to deal with that. "Let's just…focus on Sora…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kairi had been meaning to go home before night fell. After school, she had gone to Riku's mansion just to check if he was okay, but he wasn't there. Riku did pick up her call but he only mumbled a few words. Kairi couldn't be too sure of that. She waited for him until six, since he didn't show up; she decided to get home before it was dark.
There was a short cut from Riku's mansion to her house, under the dimly lit bridge. So far, she had been using it in daylight, it looked safe enough, considering that there was no one. It was safer than walking where the gangsters hung out. It was only half past six, the sky was somewhere between the dark and light. Kairi convinced herself that she'd been through this path several times before. Just because it was a little dark didn't mean she would fall prey to some ill-fated circumstance.
Unfortunately, her luck just happened to run out this time.
On the lower level of the street, she went past under the bridge. She didn't see a group of four drunken men at the corner until she was already half way in and it was already too late. She tried to act casual and focused her attention to the path ahead.
Unluckily, they followed her.
"Sis…you think you could lend us some munny?" one of them called out.
Kairi suppressed the urge to scream and run while she ignored them. A hand suddenly snatched hers, and she was instantly alarmed. Out of fear, she ran.
"Get her!" They rushed to her and Kairi knew it was a wrong decision to ever choose this path. She scampered up the bridge and made it almost to the level of the upper street where a few passer-byers strolled about. She screamed, but a hand already got to her. From her eyes, she spotted someone noticing her misfortune. The sight of them turning away shattered her. She was dragged back down to the lower level while she didn't stop screaming.
One of them shoved her against the cold wall, she knew they weren't after her wallet. It would have been more than a relief if they were just after her munny. Tears started to sting the corner of her eyes.
Breathy words confirmed her utmost fear. "Let's have some fun, Sis-"
"Hold it right there!"
The voice was firm and clear, coming from the stairs direction, making all of them turned to the side. They spotted a small figure there. As it rushed closer, it appeared to them that it was just a boy.
"Let her go!" the boy yelled irately.
One of them issued a laugh, and the others followed. Kairi watched anxiously as one of the men advanced towards that boy. "And who do you think you are, little one? A knight coming to save a princess? You sure…aren't!" with that last word, the man drew back a fist and delivered a blow.
The boy evaded it, easily as he did so. Then with his feet, he sent the man crumbling to the ground. The boy, now on their closer inspection, had a very livid blue eyes, and gravity defying brown hair. He repeated, "I said let her go!"
The one who'd been gripping Kairi rolled his eyes. "Argg, let's get this little brat!" He said as he lunged the boy. This time, the boy took a few steps ahead and connected his fist to the man, square in the jaw before the man's fist made contact with him.
Another man down, but that was when the boy and Kairi noticed the one who had went down earlier was getting up. The boy's blow wasn't lethal enough to send them unconscious. Or more like, crap, these people were hard to get down, like cockroaches; else, they wouldn't have been called thugs.
The man who got up grabbed his alcohol bottle that littered about to crush the bottom of it off, and then he aimed the sharp edge at the boy.
Two men beside Kairi left, and launched themselves at the boy. Seeing that all the thugs' attention were on him now, the boy yelled to her, "Run!"
Frightened, Kairi did run. She almost made it to the safety of the top of the stairs, but the sound of the glass smash stopped her. She glanced back, catching the sight of the boy swayed, he must have been hit. Kairi yelled for someone to help him. No one did.
Meanwhile, the boy lost his balance. The thug took an opportunity to shove him down against the ground. While it seemed like the thugs that gathered around him would make contact with him by their feet, one of them knelt down and pinned him instead.
"You let her get away, you'll take her place," the thug breathed into his ear. "For a boy, you're really pretty-"
The boy was outright petrified.
The thug, however, was cut off when a blow was sent to his head. Then he fell directly on top of the boy who yelled and scrambled up and away. He saw the girl he was trying to save there, with a wooden plank in her hand. She looked alarmed.
On the other hand, Kairi still saw the utmost fear in the boy's blue eyes.
The left over three thugs gaped for a while, surprised at the girl's return. Within a moment the boy had grabbed the plank from Kairi while pushing her behind his back.
And Kairi thought that she should have given it to him a long time ago. The boy looked different with the makeshift weapon in hand. He was making real good use of it to. Before long, he had sent two men down, completely, they were barely moving. One left to go, but where was he?
The boy whirled around and found the last thug circled behind the girl. Before the thug could do as he'd planned, the boy gave her an alarmed look and yelled.
"Duck!"
Kairi did so, then she heard a loud thud above her, and a man crumbled to the ground behind her. Now the thugs were all done for. Kairi stared down at each of their faces, fearing they would get up again. She was shaking badly.
"Hey," a soft voice said to her, along with the hand extended to her crouching form. "You okay? Are you hurt?"
Kairi's eyes settled to the boy who was looking at her in concern. Kairi nodded and leapt to her feet with the boy's helping hand, noticing the other's hand quavered as well. When stood side by side, they were relatively of the same size. Kairi estimated the boy must have been around her age. But at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to get out of this place. The same place that she swore wouldn't be her choice of path again.
"Let's…let's get out of here," Kairi whispered.
They made it up the bridge. On the street level, bystanders were looking about at them. Their act angered Sora. "Why the hell did you just stand there! At least you could have saved the girl! You people-"
"Hey," Kairi's soft voice cut him off. Now, she assumed that her scream must have reached the street above. All of them heard it, but this boy was the only one who jumped in to help her. "You don't have to, they were afraid too."
"But-"
"Please."
The boy regarded her with unease, but he complied, "Okay, where's your house? I'll take you home." When he received skeptical eyes from her, he quickly added, "Wah! If that's fine with you!"
Kairi laughed, at his reaction and his sincerity. She knew how much tricky people in this world could be, but Kairi also was born with the gift to see right through people. She knew who could be trusted, and who couldn't. When the boy rubbed the back of his neck, she laughed more, and slowly, her tears finally gave away and slipped from her eyes.
"Hey, it's okay. It's over," the boy soothed. Then, he summed up the brightest smile he could. "I'm Sora. What's your name?"
Kairi blinked, she hadn't really been expecting the boy to pick such time to introduce himself. Then again, maybe it was the right time. "Kairi…"
"You were brave back there, Kairi." Sora encouraged. "I wouldn't have...made it out without your help."
Here, Kairi caught again, that greatest anxiety she'd ever seen was rooted in the boy's eyes. He was fearless when he approached to help her out of the situation, but he obviously was terrified when he almost fell victim himself.
Kairi bit back her tears. This boy was as scared as much as she was, yet he kept his strong façade on. She tried to smile, "I wouldn't have made it if you weren't there in the first place, Sora. You're not from around here, are you?" she asked conversationally, trying to stuff back her leaking emotions. When he shook his head, she smiled sadly. "Figures. Not many people around here help others that much anymore."
"Why…people here," Sora trailed off. He couldn't understand. Back on Destiny Island, no one tolerated this kind of misconduct. If you messed with one person, you messed with the whole islanders. "Should we call the police? We have to file a report on those scums!"
"No, they probably won't do anything. It's just the way it is," Kairi gave a sad smile.
Sora escorted Kairi through the path until they reached an area that seemed more cultivated. A few more blocks situated the surroundings where the street lights shone enough to provide some sense of security. They reached Kairi's place, a three-stories flat. A curly-haired girl was in front, seemingly closing of what seemed to be a café.
"Kairi!" Selphie called and noticed how her friend looked shaken. "What happened, Kairi?"
Shaking her head, Kairi smiled lightly. "I ran into some thugs, but I'm okay. Sora saved me." Then she motioned to the boy beside her, who was standing with uncertainty by her side.
After examining him for a moment Selphie greeted him, "Hi." She turned to Kairi again. "Are you sure you're okay?" Only when Selphie received a firm nod from her friend, did she smile to Sora. "Thanks for saving her."
"Do you want to come for a drink or something?" Kairi asked, and Selphie looked completely free of objection.
Sora hesitated. At this point, he did want something in his stomach to keep himself animated. The energy from the breakfast he'd had in the morning was gone from the running around and fighting already. But at the same time, he really wanted to find his brother.
"We have home-made cakes, sandwiches and pasta?" Kairi said in her most persuasive voice. "You look tired, Sora, and you looked hungry."
Sora waved off in embarrassment, "Do…do I?"
Kairi giggled. "I'm just kidding. But really, we make decent home made food, right, Selphie?" her friend nodded and announced, "I'm making dinner for all of us." Then she disappeared into the building without waiting for a response.
"Come on," Kairi pulled him by the hand a little, but Sora didn't move.
"Umm, are you sure I can go in? Do you live alone with that girl?" Sora looked more uncertain. "I'm a boy. After what had happened, I'd understand if you can't let me in." When Kairi regarded him with amused expression, Sora blushed a bit. "Wah! Not that I'm going to do anything bad! I'm not that kind of guy, at least I believe so. People in my island home do trust each other on first meeting…but here, I don't know. Well-"
This time, Kairi's laughter was straight from her stomach, making Sora blush even harder. "You really are something, Sora. I wish males around here could adopt some of your traits." She regarded him for a long while and said, "I know who I can trust and Selphie does know how to fight. So don't worry, Sora. If you have time, come in so we can fill your empty stomach."
"Heh, well," Sora smiled sheepishly and followed the girl.
The inside of the building situated several small tables and food container. It was a café.
While they ate together, Kairi started to talk, "Where are you living, Sora? I could call someone trustworthy to walk you home." Sora cocked his head to the side, looking unsure. "Hey, it's not weird to have someone escort you home even if you're a boy. Cute boys around here get abducted and molested, or worse all the time."
Nodding, Sora's eyes were wistful as he nipped on the pasta, "People around here are so strange…"
"Yeah, they are. They have been since this world started getting run down." Kairi agreed but she pointedly didn't go into the world's history. "So…where's your house?"
Upon that question, Sora bit his lips, he looked lost.
"You don't know where your house is?" Selphie had only meant to joke.
But now Sora looked crestfallen.
Kairi frowned. And after a long silence, she ventured, "Were you…kidnapped from your world?"
The brunet snapped his head up at her in puzzlement. "How did you…know that?" There was no suspicion in his voice.
The two girls' eyes widened as they uttered, "So it's true…"
Then Kairi answered, "People from other worlds, coming here, are either tourist, researchers, or kidnapped. But lately, we barely get any tourists, and I don't think you're a researcher. Plus, you mentioned about your home island. There's none around here which left only one possible thing." When Sora got quiet, she added, "If you're lost, you can tell us, Sora. I'll help anyway I can. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me."
Sora regarded the two girls for a long while. Kairi and Selphie had trusted him enough to let him in their house. Anyhow, Sora already trusted the girl. "Well, I…"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Once the clock struck ten p.m., Roxas couldn't help but do as ordered. He had put on the organization's attire, and grabbed the twin swords; the very one he had been given to defend himself with and the same ones he ended up killing someone with. It was a pair of simple swords with a pristine, one with white color, the other was black, both had grey swirls indicating the patterns.
His plan of escape was foiled as he found no chance in escaping the redhead's company. It had been hours since Axel had glued his eyes on him. Having fought with Axel, Roxas discovered the redhead was a real warrior, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance in fighting the guy off directly.
Axel led him to the lower ground of the base, to the double doors of their stronghold. He pressed the passcode while covering it from Roxas's view with his back. Hearing a growl, he flashed a grin at the blond, saying, "Just precaution step for a few days."
Once they slipped out of the building, Roxas found himself in the middle of nowhere. But Axel's taking off urged him to follow before thinking. Looking back, he saw the exterior of the Organization's stronghold, which was a rundown warehouse, a complete contrasti to the interior which still seemed new.
'I guess that's how they keep it a secret Organization. From here, nobody would ever pay attention to the abandoned warehouse.' Roxas mused.
"Keep in mind Roxas, stay close to me but don't drag me down. If we see bad guys, we eliminate them. That easy, eh?" Axel drawled as he walked among the boulders, from stones to stones, seemingly knowing the way in spite of the repetitive pattern of the passage.
Roxas felt irritated. "I still don't understand how you can judge people enough to kill them,"
"It's just common sense. Haven't you ever thought someone deserved death?" Axel questioned. Roxas didn't answer, but his eyes did convey something. Axel tapped his finger. "See? You do have someone in mind."
"It's not like I'm really going to kill him. You can't always use yourself as basis," Roxas snapped back.
"But you did kill a man," Axel brought up.
"Don't remind me." Roxas's impatience burned through him.
"Yet you recovered pretty quickly and now you're ready for the next-"
"Stop it," Roxas demanded.
"You-"
"Stop!" Roxas yelled as he fisted over Axel's collar and yanked the other to the ground. Roxas brandished his sword above Axel's face by an inch.
The redhead's expression was neutral as he looked at fuming Roxas. When it seemed like seconds or so that Roxas wasn't going further the sharp edge, Axel broke into a grin.
"You have it in you to kill," Axel stated blandly. "Additionally, you're really good at it too. Are you sure this is the first time you held a real sword?"
Roxas's eyes widened as he looked about and realized the position they were in, and what he almost did…again. Axel hadn't been wrong. Roxas felt the nausea rising in his stomach, but tried to stand his ground as he drew his weapon back.
"Yet, you can restrain yourself from killing me, that's a good sign. Aren't we a team?" Axel suggested.
"I…" Roxas breathed, cold sweat dripped from his face. He removed himself from the spot. "You weren't going to kill me. That insane man was…" he justified. "I can't die. Sora needs me."
"This world needs us, Roxas," Axel quoted and received a studying gaze from the younger boy. He shrugged, "Surprised? Well, that's not my line. It's the Superior's."
And to tell you the truth, kid. We actually don't kill people immediately if they're not on our death list, we take them to the Headquarter and dig deep into their backgrounds. Then we decide from there; wouldn't want to work our asses off for the wrong assumption."
Roxas narrowed his eyes, "So what you had told me isn't the end of the instructions for this whole ordeal?"
"Whole ordeal?" Axel gave off a surprised look and waved his hand. "Nah, we're far from the whole picture thing. There are a lot more than this world let on. Same goes for our Organization, you gotta learn it one step at a time."
"Whatever," Roxas rolled his eyes.
They continued to stroll for a while, until reaching a large boulder that sat in open space where it could overlook the lower part of the lower ground level. To Roxas, the place didn't look like a city. As far as his eyes could reach, there were only boulders to boulders along the winding mountains.
"Is this what this world look like? A Wasteland?" Roxas asked. "There's nobody here."
"We're on the outer part of the main Borough, the citizens lives there; it's the police's job to look over that area. Well, kid, this is some picture: our job…is to inspect this vicinity where it's most likely is the rendezvous point for criminals. Here I don't mean goons, hoodlums, thugs; those are in the police's hands. We only take care of them should we come across them, but our main job is to look over the big fishes. That means drug dealers, prostitution merchants, human traders, and abomination acts agents. Mainly, they all fall into the category of Black Market brokers," Axel classified. "There are several areas around here that hold those people. As of now, we're in the Ravine Trail. Criminals just don't pop up everyday, but they'll do, eventually."
"I see," Roxas responded.
"So our job now, is to wait. We can inspect from here," Axel said as he strode to one of the protruding boulders and settled over it. He signaled the other boy to sit, and Roxas did so.
Before long, Axel started to hum, a simple act as that got on Roxas's nerves.
Roxas's brows twitched. "Would you stop that? How can you treat the subject like a joke, Axel? You're dealing with human lives here, whether it's a villain or not. How can you maintain that cheerfulness?"
The redhead mouthed an 'oh' and his expression slipped into a wicked one as he leveled his hand about his chest. "That's because I have no heart." When Roxas looked as if he'd grown two heads, Axel added, "Seriously!" His face rebounded back to a frisky one. "We have no hearts, that's how we work. To the outsiders, we are 'Nobodies.'"
"Is that the Organization's tagline?" Roxas said sarcastically. "What does it mean, really."
"One step at a time, Roxaaas," the redhead drawled.
Roxas sighed. If he couldn't escape for now, he might as well draw as much information as he could. "Now we have time, don't we? Just waiting and watching. If you can't tell me about the Organization, then what about this world? Diz mentioned about a certain incident that occurred which sent this world downhill, right? Tell me."
"That, can do."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sora told Kairi briefly of what had happened to him by leaving out the names of certain people, as well as what had been done to him. With Kairi listening to him attentively with genuine concern, Sora felt lighter.
When his two-days-tale ended, Sora circled back to his brother issue. He had expressed that he wanted to look for Roxas, but Kairi convinced him to wait for the break of day. Going out at night in Hollow Bastion wasn't something a person in their right mind would do, given that the world was ranked for the top ten of criminal rate, especially at night.
After a thought, and lots of afterthoughts, Sora complied.
"But…about your brother, Roxas. I have to say that searching for him blindly isn't a good idea. "Did you go to the police?"
"Er…yeah," Sora realized he hadn't brought up what had happened with a certain police officer. He smiled crookedly, "But they'll-" '-only lead me back to him.' "Kairi, the police here, do they sometime stay on the…er…bad guy's side?"
"Sure they do, lots of corruption in this place, some think that munny is everything," Kairi explained. "Even the good police, they sometimes barely react to citizen's report. There are just too much false alarms."
Sora felt that he was saved by what she had explained by this point. But who would help him then? He waited as Kairi fell into a pensive state for a while before the girl brightened up.
"No need to worry! I've got a friend who's investigating about this kind of stuff! He also knows a decent police officer who'd surely be able to help you out!" Kairi said, bringing up a cheerful air.
With her tone, Sora's face mirrored her expression. "Re…really?"
"Really!" Kairi beamed, "Hopefully, I can get him to talk to you by tomorrow after school. Well, if he didn't show up, since he he's a little ill today, there's always the next day. But don't worry; I know he'll be eager to help someone out of this kind of situation."
Sora's heart lifted at the news. "Great!"
"Hey, if you don't mind…" Selphie appeared behind the door way of the stairs. "I'm really sleepy now."
"Sorry! I kept Kairi up-" Sora quickly apologized. Selphie had excused herself to give them some privacy a while ago. But apparently, she wasn't going to sleep until Kairi got up the stairs with her. Just to stay on the safe side.
In Destiny Island, people trusted each other on their first encounter. So far, Kairi and Selphie made him almost feel like people at his home by their warm welcome.
"Nah, it's okay. Kairi told me you'll stay the night," Selphie said through a yawn.
"You…you'll let me stay?" Sora whipped his head back to Kairi, staring at her with unbelieving eyes.
Kairi nodded. "Seems like you don't have anywhere else to go. You should stay here until we figure things out."
She led Sora to one of the room in the back of her flat. It was a store room where utensils for cooking were kept neatly. The girls made a makeshift bed by the thick mattress while Kairi gave Sora her biggest shirt and pants to change into, luckily it fit him. When he returned, Selphie rubbed her eyes sleepily in front of the room and urged him in. Sora made an awe expression.
Kairi spotted him on the doorway, spoke, "It's not much, but-"
"No, this is promising," Sora interjected as he walked into the room and looked around. The room wasn't big but it was more than enough.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Kairi. I really owe you."
"That's my line," Kairi returned with a chuckle. "Well, go ahead and sleep."
When Kairi left, Sora immediately crawled onto the mattress. It was only then that he felt how tired he was. He snuggled into the welcoming mattress and blanket. He smelled the faint scent of flour, vanilla, and chocolate. When his conscience lingered, the olfactory reminded him of home, the baking of cookies and cakes, when his mother was still alive.
For the first time since he was thrown into this world, he was relieved. At the end of the day, he found someone to confide in, in this crazy world.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Riku dragged himself into his mansion. At his feet, he found a note from Kairi. The girl had paid him a visit, probably worried about his weird behavior. He pulled out the phone and dialed while he locked the door and sauntered in.
"Riku! You didn't come back to school."
"Hey, Kai…" Riku said back as he plopped down on the sofa.
"What happen to you today? Irvine said you mentioned about someone's gone? Is something wrong?" came Kairi's concerned questions.
"Oh…" Riku paused and thought fast. "The cat, he's gone. I looked for him, found him and gave chase, but he ran away," he said so as his eyes absentmindedly traveled to the huge gap of the broken window, said cat's handiwork. "But…I'll be fine. You worry too much, Kai."
"That's because you don't normally behave like that even if the cat you picked along the way is gone," Kairi clarified.
"Well, this one's special," Riku responded. "Look, I'm really tired, Kai. I'll go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Oh, okay. I just want to check if you're all right."
"I assure you that I" '-am dying inside' "am fine," Riku said in his best neutral tone, the best he could muster.
"Okay, see you tomorrow then! Good night, Riku."
When the line went dead, Riku kept his eyes on the broken window.
No trace of Sora. Riku wanted to keep searching but Leon insisted that he didn't, reasoning it was the police's job and Riku wouldn't be able to do much if he kept wearing himself out.
He knew Leon was right. He could leave it to Leon to run into Sora again? But chances like that didn't come as easy. Still, Riku knew if he acted accordingly to his emotions, things wouldn't turn out the good way. He'd only end up making his friends worry…or worse, another mistake.
Thinking a little, Riku realized there was something in Kairi's voice aside from her concern. She had been meaning to say something, but the fact that she didn't made Riku decide that it could wait.
That night, Riku couldn't bring himself to go to the bedroom and slept on the sofa where he barely did anything to the huge hole that brought in the chilly breeze.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shapes fall into place
For once in your life you make
A clean breakaway.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
That was long, eh? I didn't intend to break into two chapters, since I break it according to events. It wouldn't be much if I didn't put Sora meeting Kairi here. Er anyone is Kairi-bashing? I hope not?
Detect any OOC and something that seems off? Let me know!
Okay, while I don't intend make it a songfic, I couldn't resist the urge to put some lines here. Try the song! It's some inspiration for me on this fic.