You know, I feel very sorry for Xion and Roxas. But not as much as I do for Sora. I mean, geez! He had to watch this!
Disclaimers: Kingdom Hearts is not mine, Final Fantasy is not mine and as far as I know, Destiny Islands does not exist.
… If I ever get my hands on an island, I'm totally naming it Destiny Islands though. It'd be fun! I could have the whole red pants and yellow clown shoes, too!
I just enjoy how silly I am in the authoress notes but how damn depressing this story is. I blame listening to "Alice Human Sacrifice" and the Nightcored version of "Zombies".
Only I have a question.
What do they call that crusty stuff on your eyes when you wake up?
Eye boogers?
Can someone tell me?
Takamura Household: Seven Fifty Two AM
The next morning, Riku slowly opens his eyes, wincing in pain at the soft morning sunlight drifting in through his bedroom window. Even after sleeping so long in the dark, it still hurt like hell to wake up to the first rays of the morning. He moans softly, rubbing his crusted-over eyelids sleepily.
Morning lark he was not.
Riku forces himself to get up, throwing the dark blue comforter away from him, tossing it on the floor. He sits on the edge of his bed, his left hand tightening slightly on his chest. There was a strange warmth in it, as if someone had lain their hand on it only a few minutes ago, as if someone had been there for him while he cried in the night. Dante had held him until he fell asleep but had left soon after, he knew. He runs his fingers through his bangs idly, frowning. He knew this feeling, didn't he?
He sighs softly, closing his green-eyes in order to think. Riku murmurs them softly to himself, trying to get the fact straight in his head without his emotions clouding them. First, Xion and Roxas were dead. Murdered. Burned alive. His heart suddenly aches sharply and he forces the tears away, gritting his teeth tightly.
He had seen those images throughout the night, ever since he had watched the video of their murder. He couldn't remember exactly what he had dreamed of but he could recall distinctive details. Chasing Xion through the summer carnival. Sora tied to a post, his eyes blank and dull. Looking for Xion and Roxas in a hall of mirrors. Finding Kairi's body on the ground, her eyes closed and her wrists tied tightly with what looked like duct-tape. The fleeting image of an angelic girl chasing him through the maze of glass mirrors, her soft cries going unheeded as he searched for his friends. Harsh mechanical laughter following his every step and only growing louder as he ran on. Finding Xion's and Roxas's reflections trapped in a set of mirrors only to watch as they began to scream and their skin literally melt off of their flesh as they burned alive...
Riku slaps himself with all of his strength, the force of the impact smacking him back to reality. He blinks rapidly and notices a sticky sensation dripping down his arms, like thick liquid being slowly dripped down his forearms. He glances down and flinches at the crimson stains on his upper arms, startled. He had been clenching himself so tightly that his nails had stabbed into his flesh with enough force to make him start bleeding.
He shakes his head and focuses back on the case. Yes, the last part had happened. Xion and Roxas had in fact been burned alive. He grunts in mild disgust as the tears begin trickling down his cheeks, wiping them away roughly. They had been murdered and now Sora... Sora.
Riku looks over at the dark red sleeping bag on the floor, only not to see one sleeping teenager in it. His eyes widen and he throws himself out of bed, rushing for the door. "Shit!" He hisses to himself as he accidentally slams into the door-frame, banging his hip against the wood. He slips on the rug just outside his room, smacking his head slightly and skidding several feet forward on the purple and gold monstrosity. He growls and jumps to his feet, his hand automatically catching the handle of the kitchen door.
"Dante, where's-!" He starts to shout but then freezes. He stares at his older brother for a moment and then slams his head on the door-frame.
Dante blinks at him in confusion before turning his attention back onto the charring flapjacks in the pan on his hand and he prods with it with a soot-covered spatula. "I can fucking shoot a target at freakin' at a hundred meters but I can't make freakin' pancakes. What the hell!" He snarls moodily, dousing the blackened mess into the sink full of dirty dishes. It hisses angrily as the hot oil meets the water and Dante wipes his grease-covered hands on his bright pink floral apron, his eyes trailing down to look at the still bleeding marks on Riku's arms. He says nothing but just adjusts his apron.
Sora meets Riku's eyes and shakes his head, shrugging as if to say that he had absolutely no part in Dante's attempt to cook breakfast. He smiles at Riku and then returns to choking down soggy cereal slowly, as if he couldn't really stomach the meager amount of food.
Riku turns to his brother and snatches the spatula from his hand, shoving him towards a chair at the kitchen table. He starts focusing on remaking the batter, after seeing that Dante's was a very strange oily black. As he mixes the milk and the pancake mix, his thoughts remain focused on the strange smile that Sora had given him. That blank smile had made him want to run over, bundle his friend up in a blanket, and hide him somewhere where the monsters wouldn't touch him, where he'd be safe. He recognized the look immediately, having seen it hundreds of time in his own reflection. Sora was beginning to break down, though he was hiding it.
He remembered that smile so well, just because he had made it himself so many damn times before. Sora was suffering, still crying inside over the deaths of his beloved siblings, still trapped within his own darkness. Sora was breaking, though the only thing that betrayed his facade of happiness was his blank soulless eyes.
"Eh, what a waste. How you managed to learn how to cook is beyond me. Right, Sora?" Dante comments jokingly as he looks at the charred pan in the sink, resting his head on the back of his chair lazily. Sora smiles and chuckles softly, scooping up another spoonful of beige soggy cereal. He shovels it into his mouth quietly and begins to chew the soft mass of sugary wheat slowly.
"Good mor... What the hell is Dante wearing?" Haru asks sleepily as he walks in, already dressed in his school uniform. He takes a seat beside Sora, yawning loudly and he continued to stare at Dante's apron. Dante chuckles and gives him a scowl. "Don't curse, Haru. It's not polite. You want pancakes or do you want cereal?" He asks, nodding towards Riku, who beginning to pile up golden-brown oblong shapes onto a china plate. Haru thinks about it for a moment before walking over to the counter and snatching several pancakes up and then yelping as they burn his fingers.
"You dumb shit," Riku says irritably, slapping the spatula lightly into his brother's hip in annoyance. "They're called hotcakes for a reason. Get a plate." he snaps when Haru gives him a glare, rubbing his injured thigh. He growls a curse but grabs a plate, shoving a pile of five or so pancakes onto it and bringing it to the table.
"Ah, Mama Riku makes his appearance. Better eat up, kiddo, or else he's gonna go after you, too." Dante comments in amusement, ruffling Sora's hair idly. Sora chuckles softly and spoons another mouthful of mush into his mouth, smiling blankly as he stares into the depths of his purple cereal bowl, as if hoping that it held all the answers to his problems.
Riku shakes his silver fringe out of his eyes, muttering irritably: "One of us has to act mature." He knew what Dante was doing by treating Sora like he was okay and he was grateful for it. It would help bring the silent teenager back to reality. … But did he have to be so annoying?
"Man, I'd like some toast. Wouldn't you like some toast, Sora? I bet you would like some toast. Riku, how about you make us some toast?" Haru says through a mouthful of pancakes, nudging the brunet thoughtfully. Sora blinks in confusion, his brow furrowing as he continued to look down at his cereal. Dante scowls. "Haru Walter Takamura! You shut your mouth!" He snarls in a soft whisper and then Haru yelps, nearly throwing the table over when his legs slam into the underside of it. Dante had mashed his boot into Haru's foot.
Loafer VS metal-toed combat boot: boot wins.
"If you want toast, get up, Haru. I'm not Mom." Riku says softly, making both of his brothers flinch. Haru immediately flushes and gets up, popping the breadbox open and yanking out several pieces of wheat bread. He quickly shoves the slices into the toaster and busies himself to watching the four slits carefully, hiding his emotions from his brothers. Sora blinks slowly before getting up, moving the chair backwards as he stood. He silently tosses his still full bowl into it before sitting back down, resting his head on the kitchen table, his eyes closed.
The three brothers wince as they begin eating, each one taking his time in gulping down their respective plates of pancakes, toast and drinking their milk or coffee. Sora remained silent, sitting between Riku and Haru. Riku cuts into his first pancake, delicately stuffing the piece in his mouth. He remained focused on watching Sora, if only to jump up and grab him if the abnormally silent teenager did something.
"So, Sora, you gonna go to school today? Or you wanna stay here with me? I can write you a note or something." Dante says, tearing a slice of toast apart with his teeth, ripping it in half. Sora remains where he is but his shoulders move up and down in a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know, Dante." He says softly, his voice muffled slightly since his face was mushed up against the table. Sora wraps his arms around his stomach and begins to slowly rock himself, though it was almost imperceptible.
Haru and Riku continue to eat their way through the giant pile of pancakes on the platter in the middle of the table.
"You sure, Sora? I mean, I bet you guys have a lot of work to do." Dante comments, nodding solemnly to himself, obviously remembering his own high school days. Sora shakes his head and shrugs again, continuing to rock himself. "I don't know." He repeats in a low voice, almost sounding as if he was growling at the older cop.
Riku and Dante exchange glances, each one startled. They had never heard Sora speak like that. Haru immediately scoots his chair away from the kid, obviously surprised himself. The Takamura brothers watch him warily like he was some sort of animal that may or may not attack in the next few seconds. A harsh guttural noise comes from Sora and he sits up. The boys watch as the tears stream down his cheeks and he trembles violently for a moment before slamming his head down on the table.
The three guys stare in shock when Sora lifts his head again and slams it even harder into the table, making the glasses and jug of orange juice rattle. One glass tumbles over, crashing to the floor and shattering. As if the noise suddenly snapped him back to attention, Dante jumps up and grabs Sora by the shoulders, yanking him backwards, preventing him from hurting himself further. Sora's face was bright red and he continued to cry helplessly, whimpering his sister's and brother's names over and over, sounding as if he was choking on them.
Riku can only watch and listen as Sora whispers hoarsely: "It's my fault, it's all my fault, Roxas... Xion... I killed you... I'm sorry... It's all my fault... I should be the one who's dead, not you... I'm so sorry..." The boy coughs violently, his entire body trembling sporadically as blood suddenly coats his lips. The crimson mixes with his tears, turning the liquid a pale rose.
"Okay, Haru, Riku, you guys get the fuck to school now! Me and Sora are gonna have a little talk. … Riku, bring Kairi here when school's over." Dante orders rapidly as he wraps his arms around Sora's middle and picks him up, throwing him over his shoulder as if the sixteen year old was a sack of potatoes. Sora begins to struggle violently as Riku shoves Haru towards the front door. The two boys immediately do as their big brother says, instinctively knowing that Dante somehow knew what he was doing.
Sora's desperate wails follow them down the street as they run towards the street-corner. They both stop at their bus-stop, each boy trembling violently at what they had just seen. Riku could barely breathe from both the run and from Sora's bizarre grief... He shivers uncontrollably, gasping for breath. He was scared. He was so damn scared. Sora was going insane wasn't he? No, that couldn't be it. Sora was going to be okay. He had to. Sora couldn't go insane. He couldn't. He hugs himself tightly, trying to get a rein on his emotions. He was scared...
"Riku... you're still in your pajamas." Haru says softly, nudging his older brother in emphasis. Riku glances down and notices the bright blue flannel pajama bottoms that he had thrown on last night before Dante had left to go get Sora. He shivers in his sleeveless muscle shirt. He had been so freaked out that he had left the house without even changing into his school uniform. In fact, he was barefoot.
He sighs and turns back to the house. He immediately shivers. He didn't want to go back in there. Riku forces himself to start walking towards the small white cottage. He could face a hardened criminal with a gun or a knife, he could face rotting corpses, but he was scared of a sixteen year old. A mourning sixteen year old. Riku shakes his head. It was just Sora. Sora wasn't going to hurt him. In fact, Sora was most likely going to hurt himself. That was why Dante wanted him at home. His shaking immediately stops and he nods to himself. Yeah, Sora was just grieving, that's all. He had just lost two members of his family. That was no reason to be scared of him.
Riku slips in through the open front door, pausing at the kitchen door for a moment. He could hear Sora crying. Sora was crying inconsolably and he could hear his brother talking to him in a soft voice. Riku risks a peek and watches as Dante slowly pets Sora on the head, murmuring to him: "It's not your fault, Sora... you didn't know what would happen." "It's my fault. I told them it was okay to go," Sora answers in a low voice, crying even harder. "I told them that I would cover for them in Mister Highwind's class. ... It's my fault they're dead." "No, no... You didn't know... It's okay, Sora... it'll be okay." Dante repeats softly, pulling the younger boy into his arms like he had to Riku last night. Sora continues to cry.
Feeling as if he had suddenly barged in on something very private, Riku sneaks past the door and quickly enters his own room, his mind spinning. Well, that explained Sora's behavior. He thought that he was responsible for the deaths of his siblings. As Riku yanks his uniform on, he pauses before looking into the back of his closet. He quickly zips up his blue plaid pants and reaches automatically for the long black cloak dangling haphazardly from a hanger.
Without thinking about it, he pulls on the black cloak that was distinctive of the Organization XIII members and leaves the house.
As she drops to the ground, clenching her trembling arm, Larxene knew she was in trouble. The black-cloaked figure before her chuckles softly as he walks forward, his black boots scuffing the ground lazily. As if he really didn't care how long it took him to reach her. She hisses like an angered cat and spits at the approaching masked teenager, furious. How the hell had he managed to do that? What were those knives?
She could only watch as he removes another one of the strange glass daggers from a pouch on his hip and steps even closer.
Dum dum dum, Cliff HANGER, hanging from a cliff!
And that's why they...
Okay, maybe I'm the only one who ever watched "Between the Lions".
But anyway, consider that last bit a preview of what will happen next chapter!
Please read and review folks!