note: I'm glad people are enjoying this and are asking questions! Here's this week's episode.

Episode 2: Let's get started


Now, when Selphie gets an idea, she usually makes it happen come hell or high water. So it didn't surprise me when she didn't wait for the lunch bell to ring to physically haul me out of math class by my tie.

"I need your help."

And that was all it took for me to look at her at that moment before complaining about her almost choking me to death with my own tie. It was hard to believe that the little person in front of me was the center of the universe. I mean, Selphie Tilmitt couldn't be that powerful. I should know, I've fought countless of heartless, monsters, and Xemnas in his oh so many fashionable forms. But when I really looked at her, when I really examined her beyond the flipped up hair, the mischievous smirk, and those fiery emerald eyes, I saw something.

I saw something hidden beneath the underneath, crying to be let out. It was difficult to tell if it was raw determination or pure loneliness, but it was there. It was bubbling inside of her, frothing at the edges and waiting to spill out.

I took a deep breath, exhaling through my nose as I felt my stubborn wall of emotion crumble with guilt.

"What do you need for the club?" I asked with sunken shoulders and frowning lips.

Selphie placed her hands on her hips and smiled.

"Well, I need you to take care of the technicalities, the paper work, who we have to bribe, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera."

My left eyebrow twitched. That's basically all the work.

"And what does that leave you to do?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave her a heated glare. Not that she would spontaneously combust on the spot, giving me the chance of running for my life screaming in the opposite direction through the hallways.

"I'm going to find our club room of course! What's a club without its room?"

Okay, question: How was she going to do that if we haven't made the club yet?

"We'll meet after school and see what we have, got it?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but had no choice to stop my words in their tracks as she zipped past me. I looked down the hallway and saw the trail of dust and papers mingling in the air as students picked themselves up from the floor in a daze and confused state.

"What the hell was that?!"

"I don't know, it just looked like a blur to me," a female student said, shrugging.

I rubbed my temples as further inquiry about the blur buzzed around the hallway.

Today was not a good day.

"So, what do you want to know?"

I decided that the best person to ask about making a club was Sora. He was a member of the student government which worked closely with the student board of activities from time to time.

"I need to know how to start a club."

Sora chewed on his straw for a minute as he thought.

Ever since coming home from our epic journey, our dangerous and unpredictable lives have been swapped out for the mundane routine of everyday life. It took me a while to learn to adjust. Just the other day I found that not everyone is out to get me, so summoning my keyblade on that fragile old woman holding a bag of oranges in the supermarket was not exactly necessary.

I thought Sora would have a tougher time than me, since he was the keyblade wilder (only by default, I was perfectly willing and able to do the job. I was just side tracked by the darkness). I thought he'd be the type that would get detention for sleeping or drooling over his notes during class over daydreaming. But he proved me wrong. Sora jumped right into school life, all thanks to Kairi, who was equally if not more involved in school with her being on the honor roll. He became a member of the student government, worked hard to earn good grades, and was popular enough to have his own fan club of both girls and boys.

I wonder if Sora would drop it all at the mention of going on another adventure. I know I would. But he just seems so engrossed by the current world around him, am I the only one looking for a little change to my routine?

You must be thinking, 'well there's that club that Selphie is going to start'. You're right. That is a step towards change. But it's not the change that I'm looking for. I want something bigger than that, I want something epic, I want something out of this world, no, out of this universe that leaves my old journey in the dust in its greatness.

I didn't realize how hard I was squeezing my own juice box when I was thinking of Riku's Epic Journey part deux. But Sora was kind enough to point out the red juice stain on my shirt. I tried dabbing the stain with a napkin, but it was to no avail. Looks like I'm going to go around the rest of the day with a red juice hickey on my shirt.

"Well, if Selphie is serious about this club of hers," Sora started, "She's going to have to fill out the necessary paper work."

"Which entails?"

"The name of the club, a teacher who's willing to sign off on it as an adviser, and a room."

Well that explains Selphie's burning urge to get the club a home. But why didn't she just do the rest herself? Getting a teacher would be easy; all she had to do was blackmail them into doing it.

"What else is involved?"

Sora took a bite out of his tuna sandwich, chewing a bit before answering my question.

"A club has to have a minimum of five members in order to be active," he said, "Also; a new club is on probation for the first two weeks to see if membership declines."

I snorted. That won't be hard. Selphie will probably drag some poor soul out of the hallway to join her cult. If given the power, Selphie might even be able to raise an army.

Cue shudder and mental image of me being in therapy for the next year.

"But a club has to be more than just a place where people hang out," Sora said, balling up the peeled off scraps of crust of his sandwich. "It has to have a purpose beyond bringing people with the same interests together. A club has to affect the lives of the students or the community as a whole in a positive manner."

"So in other words, each club has to do community service?"

Sora nodded. "In a way, I guess." He stood up and gathered all his garbage. I followed him towards the trash bin. "The student body and community do benefit from club activities. Look at the computer club, they help set up most of the computers in the school and offer free tech support on Fridays for anyone having issues with their laptops."

I chewed on my bottom lip for a bit. What can a club purely centered on Selphie have to offer to the student body and community? The only actions that come to my mind were death and destruction, and that's the optimistic side of me thinking. I would hate to go over to the dark-side.

Ha. Dark-side.

Anyway, before I was so distracted by the gifted power of irony, I turned to Sora.

"Thanks for telling what I needed to know."

Sora shrugged.

"Sure. I mean, it's all in your student manual if you bothered to look, but asking me is fine."

"You memorized the entire book?"

I saw Sora's lips immediately draw into a pout. "It helps me sleep at night," he said, defensively. I didn't know whether to wince or look horrified that my best friend had no life.

Note to self: kidnap Sora, plan another trip to visit the worlds (even if it kills me), and get Sora back to indiscriminately killing things that are dark that twitch.

"Listen, once I help Selphie get started and she pulls another poor soul to take over my henchmen duties, let's go to the island to spar."

"Can't," Sora gathered whatever folders he had before sitting to eat lunch with me and straightened up his tie. "The student government is planning a mock United Nations trial. You should come. I'm representing Russia and I'm going to try to invade Greenland."

I felt my shoulders tense at the cringing idea of foreign leaders falling one by one to Sora's incredibly innocent smile.

"I think I'll pass."

"You don't know what you're missing."

This is where I smile and nod because Sora is acting a bit too creepy for my tastes.

Note to self: scratch the first note, and just chloroform the boy and take him world hopping with me. I don't think it's healthy that Sora should sound so excited about forcibly taking over another country and depriving its people of their pride and land.

Getting a teacher to sign off as our advisor for the club was difficult. Apparently, Selphie had a reputation among the staff of our school. Every teacher I visited either screamed in horror and locked themselves in their office or bombarded me with questions pertaining to their personal lives. The only person who didn't seem to fear Selphie was our Japanese history teacher, Mr. Hijikata. He simply signed the notice and slammed the door in my face.

The only thing left to fill out was the name of the club, its purpose, and the names of the people starting it.

By the end of the day, Selphie hauled me yet again to a disclosed area on campus. When I regained some type of bodily control of myself, I showed her what I had so far on the form.

"We're short one club name, a purpose, and a member."

Selphie grabbed onto my arm.

"Oh, that's easy stuff! Come on, I have to show you our new club room!"

And I was yet again deprived of the use of my body when she pulled me by the collar. I swear anyone looking in on us might think Selphie was some wild cave woman from the way she was dragging me.

"Since the tech, science, and culinary clubs are in the science building, and the sports clubs and teams are held in the gym building, our club gets lumped in with the left over clubs in the old school building that's also the art building."

I frowned. Great, not only are we in the art building, which has its own share of crazies who probably sleep there trying to make art out of an egg carton and paint, it's also the farthest building from the main building on campus. That means I'll have to use the rear exit of campus when I go home, thus making the fifteen minute walk home twice as long. Looks like I'm going to invest some munny for a bike.

We arrived at a door decorated with signs and pictures of needle work and yarn.

"Isn't this the knitting club's room?" I asked, dusting myself off.

Selphie promptly ripped all the signs and pictures off the door.

"Not anymore!" She threw the ripped up paper to the side. "The seniors involved in the club graduated so there's no one left to revive the club. Isn't that wonderful?"

She slammed open the door, the loud bang making me wince. Inside looked like any other club room, with a window at the end of it, a coat rack, a locker on the side, and a small table and some chairs in the center. What I didn't expect seeing already in there was a girl sitting by the window knitting. Wait? Are those bunny ears on her head?

"How exactly did you get this room?" I asked following Selphie in. "I haven't even submitted the paper work in yet."

She placed her school bag on the table.

"Well, Kairi pulled some strings to find out which clubs were on the list of being canceled. This was first on the list, so I found the room immediately."

"Selphie this isn't fair, you haven't even submitted the paper work to say you even have a club."

She walked past me to close the door.

"And you can't possibly think it's fair to take the knitting club's room."

"Why the hell not?" She swerved around and looked at me, eyes dark with annoyance.

Wait, was she blind? How can she not see the bunny girl knitting quietly at the corner near the window?

"She's why," I said pointing to the girl. I tried not to stare at the girl's bunny ears perched at the top of her head, but it was hard not to. "She's a member of the knitting club. What if she's waiting for more members to join? Doesn't her club have two weeks to get enough members before it's canceled?"

Selphie rolled her eyes and walked past me towards the girl. She stood in front of her, snapping her fingers at her, but the girl didn't respond. She just kept on knitting.

"I asked her if she minded," Selphie said, placing a hand on her hip and studying the girl in front of her. "And as long as she has a place to keep knitting she's fine. She didn't really put up much of a fight for the room either."

Great, now we have a pet along with a stolen club room.

"We still have a problem," I said, reaching into my school bag and taking out the club form. "You need to name this club, make up its objective, and find the minimum amount of members in order to get started."

I stopped myself from saying anything else. Why was I pressing this issue so much? Why did I care? I know Sora, Kairi, and I agreed to get her started, but beyond that Selphie was in control. She was in charge of replacing us with new members as soon as her club was official. So why was I so concerned with her anyway? Could it be that deep own in the frozen depths of this thing called a heart I actually wanted to be there? No. That isn't possible. The reason why I'm pressing the issue is because I want Selphie out of my hair for once this week.

So why wasn't I trying to escape now, leaving the bunny girl at the corner knitting to be Selphie's next slave?

"Wait here. I'll solve the member issue right now," Selphie said, bolting to the door and leaving me alone with the quiet girl by the window.

Maybe she'll find the people who'll replace Sora, Kairi, and me.

I set my school bag down on the table and approached the unusual looking girl by the window slowly. From her distinct snow white hair, stiff white bunny ears, cinnamon red eyes and chocolate brown skin she looked to be…Oh god no.

A Mary Sue?

I stopped short from almost knocking into her and stepped back some paces until my butt touched the end of the long table.

"So, um…what's your name?"

The girl stopped knitting and looked up at me, her blood red eyes looked dull of any life, and her small mouth seemed content with its non-smiling form.

"Fran." She answered.

I sat on the edge of the table. Fran? And here I thought she was going to have some random elaborate name that ended with -chan.

I cleared my throat, uncomfortable with the intensity of her lifeless stare.

"I'm Riku, by the way."

She nodded slowly, as if processing my name and its two syllables into the memory bank of her mind, and went back to knitting.

I swallowed. Her very non-Mary Sue behavior was beginning to worry me. Why wasn't she sparkling me to death with magical glitter? Why wasn't she talking a mile a minute about the tragic life she led and the treacherous people that ruled it?

She must have some type of magical powers or a secret that she's not willing to tell unless a handsome hero (me) capable of saving her from herself questions her and falls deeply in love with her in the process. I swallowed thickly.

"Do you have magical powers?"

It was an absurd question to ask up front, but what Mary Sue could resist the opportunity to brag about her extraordinary powers?

She stopped knitting once again and looked at me as though I was bothering her. Her crimson eyes looked cold and hard, and her small mouth formed a frown. I admit I was taken a back by this.

She shook her head from side to side slowly and stared at me again.

"Do you know what a keyblade is?" I asked, hoping that this would trigger the 'OMFG! OF COURSE! Mine's called Morning-sunshine-moon- sparkle-revival-blade and it can turn heartless into unicorns!'

But her answer never came. In fact, I was a little offended that after I asked that question, she blinked and went back to knitting. Was she ignoring me?

I stood up and took a couple of steps forward. There had to be something wrong with her. I examined her closely while she knitted. Her hair was still the same color and her eye color hadn't changed within the last five minutes. Her bunny ears appeared to be real, since they flickered every time I leaned in too close. I resisted the creepy urge to smell her, not because she could easily punch me in the groin if I did (I'll be getting away easy if it was just a punch, imagine if she used her knitting needles?). I resisted because I didn't want the risk of falling for her if she indeed was a Mary sue. She might intoxicate me with a scent of poisonous pheromones that might render me a lovesick fool.

I bent down on one knee, grabbed her shoulders, and forced her to look at me.

Her crimson eyes widened for a brief moment, surprised that I would be so direct with her. She dropped her knitting needles on her lap and looked at me with a blank stare.

"Who are you and why aren't you attracted to me?" I asked, my voice sharp and demanding.

Her long ears flickered in what looked to be amusement since her facial features held no emotion.

"Not my type," came her calm reply.

It was a reasonable answer. Maybe Sora would be the one to ignite the fire in her loins.

"Why are you here?"

"School."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you human?"

"Viera."

My grip on her shoulders loosened. Viera? What the hell was a Viera? I stood up, looking at her warily as she stared at me with her vacant face. So she wasn't human, doesn't have magical powers, and isn't attracted to me? Hm. This indeed was the rarest form of a Mary sue I'd ever seen.

Before I could further question the subject in front of me, the door swung open loudly once again. I turned quickly around, putting a good distance between Fran and me. I didn't want anyone thinking that I was taking advantage of her.

Selphie rushed forth, dragging a confused looking Kairi and an amused looking Sora after her.

"Five members, right?" She asked, letting them go. Kairi studied the room around her as she clutched her school bag while Sora scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"Don't you mean four?" I asked, pointing at everyone who was standing to emphasize my point.

"Five," Selphie said, pointing at Fran.

"Don't be ridiculous, how can you possibly count her?"

Selphie walked up to the silent bunny girl and bent down to her face level.

"Fran, would you like to join my club? You still get to stay here and knit all you want."

Fran stopped knitting to look at Selphie, who smiled. She blinked, nodded her head slowly, and went back to knitting. I could feel my jaw slowly unhinging as it was about to drop.

"Then it's settled." Selphie straightened up and placed her hands on her hips. "Let the first meeting of begin!"

I wanted to protest, but it was like a train wreck. I couldn't take my eyes off this situation no matter how painful it looked.

"Now let's start with introductions; I'm the ring leader and one true god, Miss Selphie Tilmitt!"

"Kairi." Kairi looked more comfortable now, a small smile crossing her lips as she introduced herself.

"Sora." Sora's mood was harder to read with that smile on his face. It was hard to tell if he was faking it to be polite or if he really enjoyed being here. I'm praying for the former rather than the latter.

Everyone turned their gazes on me. They couldn't seriously be thinking that I was going to introduce myself to people who already know me.

The impatient tapping of Selphie's foot as she looked at me with an angry frown prompted me to speak.

I sighed.

"I'm Riku."

No one seemed to notice (or care) that I didn't sound one bit as enthusiastic as they did.

"And everyone now knows Fran," Selphie said, pointing at the bunny girl, who stopped to look up at the rest of her club mates before resuming her task.

Hn. I thought she was going to sink her Mary Sue fangs into Sora, but it seems like he's not her type. I frowned. I'll prove she's a Mary Sue even if it kills me.

"Wait a minute," I spoke after thinking about the club requirements. "You still haven't told us what this club is about Selphie."

Selphie pouted. "I thought I already did," she said, scratching her chin. "It's a club that worships me and does everything I do on command."

I glared at her. Of course she wouldn't get any other objective that sounded logical. "No Selphie, it can't be that way," I said, crossing my arms over my chest in a disapproving manner.

"But I've decided I'm the center of the universe!" She spat glaring at me.

We both stood there, trying to melt each other with our heated glares, when Kairi cleared her throat and stood between us, raising her hands up in peace.

"He's right. Your club won't get recognized if it doesn't have a legitimate reason for existing." I nodded, smirking. Finally someone on my side! Selphie's eyes widened at the sudden betrayal of her best friend. The brunette frowned and stuck her tongue out at me for having Kairi and logic on my side. I would've stuck out my tongue right back at her too, but I didn't. Not because it was the more mature thing to do, but because she might rip it out. Instead, I resorted to glaring back at her, hoping to make her head explode.

"How about you work around the wording of your club's theme?" Sora piped up, smiling, as if hoping to defuse the situation

I shot Sora a dirty look that said: whose side are you on?!

The boy just shrugged and smiled at me. I frowned, so much for having people on my side.

Selphie sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Fine." She chewed her lip as she thought for a moment. Her eyes quickly widened after a few minutes and I held my breath, bracing myself for what was to come.

"We'll spread Selphie awareness throughout the student body!" She shouted, a fist in the air. "We'll call it the Spreading of Selphie cheer brigade, or the SOS brigade for short!"

I blinked, tilting my head to the side, forcing myself to come to terms with what she just announced.

"How is that even better?" I questioned, my eyes coming to half slits as I looked at her suspiciously.

"Think about it," she started, placing her hands back onto her hips. "The world, no this universe, is a dreary miserable place and all because it doesn't know the true happiness of worshiping me and bending toward my every demand!"

I glared at her. "Selphie!"

But she ignored me. "We'll spread cheer and happiness to the students and the community by doing things that would put smiles on their faces!" She said, eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Don't we already have a club for that?" I asked.

"It's called the community service club," Kairi replied, smiling, seeing nothing wrong with Selphie's idea.

Sora nodded, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "I see what you're getting at. We're a jack of all trades council club," he said, grinning. I shot him another dirty look because apparently, I'm the only sane one in the room, beside bunny girl over there, but she doesn't count since she refuses to acknowledge that she's attracted to me and therefore a Mary sue (I'm not bitter because I know I'm attractive and I'm sure she's a Mary sue).

But Sora's reasoning was just what Selphie was waiting for as she stood, posing like some DC Marvel superhero, pointing at him. "Exactly! We'll make people's wishes, desires, and needs come true. Then they'll have to become my loyal followers because I'm the only cosmic driving force that can handle such a job of creating everyone's happiness."

Come to think about it. I think Selphie Tilmitt is becoming a Mary sue. All she needs to do is sparkle more and Sora seems pretty much on board with everything she says no matter how idiotic it sounds.

"Then the world will worship me," she started, grinning madly. "Because the powers at be, which is me of course, said so and I'll rule the universe!" She then laughed, a hearty villain laugh, while I looked at her in horror.

Scratch that. Selphie Tilmitt is becoming a monster.

After laughing like a complete lunatic, Selphie cleared her throat.

"Now to decide on roles!"

I quickly snapped back from thoughts to look at her.

"Wait a minute, you asked us to help you get this club started."

Selphie studied me for a brief second. "Well yeah."

"But we have, so get new people and let us go," I said, frowning. As far as I knew, Selphie had everything she needed.

"I don't mind staying."

I looked at Sora with my mouth opened. I quickly snapped it shut and walked over to the brunet, pulling him off to the side. Selphie didn't seem to care as she started to talk animatedly to Kairi about her club plans.

"Sora."

"What? It can't be that bad," he said shrugging. I looked from him to Selphie, who seemed to be laughing at something only she found funny as she was laughing like an idiot while Kairi laughed awkwardly as she inched away from her best friend. I looked back to Sora and pointed to Selphie.

Sora winced. "It can't get worse?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sora, we promised to help her get started. We did and she's fine. Selphie is perfectly capable of getting people to replace us."

"Riku," he started. He looked from me to Selphie who was trying to convince a now giggling Kairi that she was serious about one issue or other. He looked back to me, his eyes dark with a deep ocean hue. They softened, his blue pools almost quivering. I'll admit, that even I'm vulnerable to his puppy dog look from time to time, so it was hard looking into his eyes while trying to be annoyed with him.

"Aren't you the least bit curious as to what Selphie is really up to?"

"To be honest with you…no." I deadpanned.

Sora sucked his teeth. "Oh come on! You're telling me that ever since we've come back, there's nothing inside of you that's telling you to go forth and explore something new? Don't you have something calling you to an adventure?" he asked, crossing his arms.

I rolled my eyes.

"Sora, this is not the call to adventure I've been waiting to hear." I licked my lips as I thought about going for what I was thinking about earlier today at lunch. "What about us going on another adventure again? Don't you want to visit all the friends you've made in different worlds?"

Sora looked down towards the floor as he mulled my questions over. I hoped my questions would've gotten a more enthusiastic reaction like a tackle or something, rather than him avoiding eye contact. But when Sora looked up with a smile on his lips, my heart jumped. Maybe there was some hope after all and I won't have to chloroform him and hide him in my closet until our trip.

"That would be something fun to do for the summer," he said. "But I like it here too. Riku, there's a reason why we're home. We have friends. We have family here. What's so wrong with wanting to be home and acting normal for a change?"

"There's everything wrong with it," I growled.

"Why?"

"Because it'll always be the same!"

Sora shrank back from my small outburst. Now it was my turn to look down at the floor as my cheeks heated up with embarrassment. I don't know where that came from, but I was growing so angry with Sora. Why couldn't he see that our life on the island is as miserable as it was before our adventure? We don't do anything fun anymore. We don't spar, we rarely take the gummi ship anywhere, and we barely see each other because of school work or Sora's stupid student government. It wasn't fair. Sora went up and changed on me while I was the only one keeping our dream of going out and living life to its fullest alive.

"Riku." I looked up to see Sora's worried look, which consisted of a frowning forehead, a pout, and deep navy blue eyes. I always feel like a tool when he gives me that look and I have to bite the inside of my cheeks before I break down and start hysterically begging for his forgiveness.

"Are you girls done gossiping?" Selphie piped up, "I still have to give everyone their roles."

I turned from Sora and forced myself to smile.

"Yes, we're done," I said, through clenched teeth.

"Great!" The perky girl walked up to us. She pushed us out of the way to stand in the middle of the room.

"To reiterate, I am the leader, God, Buddha, and Jesus." She then pointed to her best friend. "Kairi, you're our mascot fashionista because every group needs to have eye candy to bring in more members."

"But—"

"Sora," She continued, ignoring Kairi's protests. "You're Vice President."

My jaw dropped.

"How is that even fair?" I asked angrily. "I was the one who gave you the idea and did most of the work!"

"Silence minion number two!"

"What?!"

My eyebrow twitched. I'm not even minion number one!

"Today is the first unofficial meeting of the SOS brigade," Selphie said, ignoring my obvious rage over being minion number two. "But I promise that our first official meeting will be better. Until we can properly announce our entrance into the club world, we meet three times a week. That's today Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Got it?"

Kairi winced. "My Honors club meets on Wednesdays can we switch a day?" she asked.

Selphie shook her head. "Have them meet Tuesdays."

I glared at her. "Hey, you can't just—"

"Oh, would you mind finishing the form and bringing it to the office. Good boy number two" Selphie said, giving me the form and patting my head before I got another word in.

"Meeting adjourned!" And with that the lunatic skipped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

There was an eerie silence in the room as we all stared at the door. Fran didn't seem phased by anything that has happened and continued to knit, the soft clicking sounds of her needles echoing in the room. I glared at Sora, my face heating up in rage.

"It can't get worse?!" I roared.

The brunet only laughed nervously, raising his hands up, alleging innocence.

note: Well, I hope you guys liked it so far. And yes, Fran is from Final Fantasy 12.