Unattainable Desire
By Chiharu Tanaka
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A/n: Thanks for the reviews…sorry it took me so long to reply! I was brain-dead and studying my arse off for my college semester 1 finals!
Disclaimer: Talk to my lawyer.
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Chapter 8: Saviour or Victim?
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The brown-haired lad seemed to blend in with the crowd. Wearing a stylish black T-shirt and matching black pants, he actually looked rich. Sora smiled, silently thanking Yuffie for making him the spare clothes for the journey. At least now he didn't look so poor. Armed with the things his parents equipped him, he made his way towards a nearby bank, with hope that he could withdraw some money that his parents have left him.
"Your name, sir?" asked the receptionist at the counter.
"Sora…Sora Strife. Here's the uh…bank book and the uh…ATM card," replied Sora, handing the lady some of the items that his parents left him.
"May I see your ID?" she asked again as she swiped the bank book over a scanning machine. Sora dug into his wallet and handed her his ID. She took it and ran it through the scanning machine as well.
Oh for the love of God, my ID is genuine…
"How much would you like to withdraw, Mr. Strife?" she asked, handing Sora back the ID. He scratched his head slightly.
"Can I um…see the account and withdraw…for myself?" he asked tentatively. The receptionist smiled at him and swiped the ATM card over another machine.
"Of course you may. I've reactivated your account through the ATM card, so feel free to use the any of our ATMs outside," she said, handing him back the bank book and card.
"Oh…okay. Thank you," said Sora, taking the items.
"You're welcome. Please come again."
Sora went to an ATM machine outside the bank and lady luck was on his side because there were no queues. He pushed the card in and accessed the account, before pressing the "Account Statement" button. He gasped loudly and stared wide-eyed at the machine's flickering green screen. It was so shocking he had to clamp his mouth to avoid yelling out of shock.
Current Balance: $10,000,000
TEN MILLION DOLLARS?! What the hell…HOW the hell did Mom and Dad get THAT much money?!
Sora, obviously wanting to scream in shock, took a deep breath and exhaled gently before looking over at the screen again. He started counting the zeros to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. He was lucky there was no one near the ATM at that time, or he would've been robbed blind. He quickly withdrew 3000 dollars, since that was the maximum that can be taken out from an ATM. He stuffed the cash in his pocket, looking left and right suspiciously, before leaving the bank.
He quickly hauled a nearby cab to a stop. "Where to?" asked the cab driver.
"Centre Point Shopping Complex," replied Sora, remembering the large mall when scouting out uptown Mirage weeks before Kairi's kidnapping.
The cab drove smoothly through the hassle-free traffic and came to a stop at the front of a large, elegant looking mall. "That'll be 25 dollars, sir," said the cab driver. Sora handed him a 100 dollar note, and after getting his change, walked up the marble front steps of the mall.
Centre Point was Mirage's biggest shopping complex, but was packed by middle-class people. Sora smiled. With the clothes Yuffie gave him, he was able to blend in with the crowd, no sweat. As he looked at the various people shopping, he noticed that they looked rich, despite being from the middle class.
Oh, that's right, I forgot. The richest of these people owned hundreds of estates, private jets and cruise liners. Of course the middle class would be wearing branded clothes and driving Toyotas.
He walked into a clothing shop that grabbed his attention. As Sora looked through the jackets and shoes they had to offer, he smiled in content. He was always a big fan of this brand – Nike – but never had enough money to buy any of their products.
"May I help you, sir?" asked a salesgirl. Wow, that's some customer service…
"Uhm, yeah. Do these pants come in black?" he asked, pulling out a pair of three-quarter cargo pants in khaki.
"Of course, sir. Would you like to see the other designs from the same season?"
Sora nodded and ended up looking through a catalogue. He noticed that all the clothing were similar to Yuffie's design. He bought a few pair of pants and some shirts, as well as a pair of black and yellow trainers, which totalled up to 700 dollars. Sora paid in cash, which surprised the salesgirl, but she was glad anyway and showed him to the door.
Dressed in Nike, Sora browsed through some mobile phone shops and peered with much interest at a particular Sony Ericsson shop. There was a promotion as people were huddled in a group, holding orange and black themed pamphlets. A guy dressed in the company shirt approached Sora.
"Hey there, brother!" greeted the guy friendlily. "Looking for a new cell phone?"
"Yeah, I am. In need of a number, too."
"You do? I can help you with that. Come right in, I'll show you all the latest Sony Ericsson phone models. I can guarantee that you will like what you see."
Sora followed the man into the shop and peered over the glass display case. "Have a seat," said the man, and Sora set his shopping bags on the floor and took a seat on one of the green lounge stools. "Now, may I ask what kind of main function would you like in your phone? Say, a camera or an mp3 player?"
"Well, I do like music…" mumbled Sora, feeling awkward.
"Excellent! I do too, actually. That's why the Sony Ericsson Walkman phone would be perfect for music lovers like us! What type of phone do you prefer then; a standard, clamshell or sliding one?"
"I think I'll go with standard. Clamshells and sliding phones break too easily."
"Excellent choice. May I recommend you the new Sony Ericsson W880i phone? It's slimmer than a plastic CD cover and is really light too! Your car keys might be heavier than this phone," he said, taking out a really slim silver phone from under the glass case. The guy showed the features of the phone to Sora, which convinced the downtown boy immensely.
He paid for the phone in cash as well, and the man helped him get a cell phone number for prepaid. He told Sora about the benefits of using prepaid as Sora filled the form in. The memory card that came with the phone was pre-loaded with the latest songs bought from the iTunes store. The guy even waved him a hearty goodbye as Sora left the shop.
Sora placed the in-ear headphones into his ear and played some music as he continued roaming around the shopping centre. He also bought himself the day's newspaper, where the gossip headline had the title of 'Roxas Parker's new girlfriend'. He recognised Roxas Parker as the famous singer that Ruby was obsessed about, and his 'new girlfriend' as one of Kairi's friends during the gala dinner.
Kairi…I wonder how she's doing…
After a brief lunch at McDonald's, he rented a blue Toyota Corolla from an ad he saw on the common notice board. After a trip home and keeping his groceries and things inside the house, he later drove towards Upper East Avenue, where a BMW showroom was located.
He parked the car and noticed a silver Mercedes in the car park area. He went inside the showroom and a salesman immediately greeted him, before bombarding him with questions and telling him about promotions and discounts. Sora politely told him that he was here to see the cars, because he knew he should avoid spending too much as the bank, as well as the government would get too suspicious.
The salesman gave him a glossy handbook about all the new cars on display and their specifications before leaving Sora to roam around the showroom. He was peering over a sleek silver BMW M6 Sedan automobile when he noticed a man looking at the car as well.
"That's one nice car, isn't it?" he asked. Sora turned to look at him, blue eyes meeting blue eyes. The man was well-dressed in a black suit, white shirt and silver tie, with stylish sandy blond hair and a clean shaven look.
"Uhm, yeah. It is," replied Sora somewhat awkwardly. He continued looking at the polished vehicle as a tall bald dark-skinned man came up to the man standing beside him. Sora could even see his reflection on the car. His brilliant blue eyes widened at the sight of a man atop the roof of the one-storey building beside the showroom holding what looked like a machine gun.
A loud shot was heard, and Sora quickly figured that the sniper was aiming for the man standing beside him. With one swift move, Sora pushed the man aside just as the bullets crashed through the glass windows of the showroom and into the BMW.
They rolled sideways because of Sora's push. The man quickly hid behind another car, and so did Sora. The bald man approached the man. "Boss, are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Rude, thanks to this young man."
Sora crouched a little higher to take a good look at the assailant. As soon as he saw Sora's head, he quickly fired again. The young man ducked and turned to Rude, whom he assumed was the man's bodyguard.
"Pass me your gun," he said. The man looked at him, rather bewildered. Rude, however, showed no expression and reached into his left breast pocket to pull out a 9 mm revolver. "Thanks. Cover me while I move forward," he said quickly, before crawling towards the back of the car. The man watched as the boy got up from the ground and sprinted like an athlete towards a wall near the glass window that had broken earlier.
"All available units respond, we have a Code 47 in Upper East Avenue; I repeat, a code 47," said Rude to a walkie-talkie attached to his blazer.
The assailant continued firing at Sora, but the boy leapt and ducked several times, dodging the bullets. The man was amazed at his display of agility as he leaped onto a car to confuse the assailant before disappearing behind the pillar. Rude pulled out another pistol and fired at the assailant, but missed as the assailant was a little too far away.
Sora clutched the revolver and pulled the safety lock. He positioned his index finger into the trigger, and was ready to pull it. The gun near his chest, held with both hands, he waited for the assailant to stop firing. In a precise moment, he turned around and fired a bullet, which miraculously hit the assailant right in the shoulder, even if he was 30 metres away.
The sound of several black cars zooming towards the avenue scared Sora, but the cars stopped at the neighbouring building to apprehend the assailant. 'That was fast,' he thought as he watched several people coming out of the cars and most of them were dressed in black suits, like Rude.
Sora went back to the original spot to check whether the man was hurt. "Hey, you okay?" he asked the man whilst handing the revolver back to Rude. The man flashed him a smile of relief.
"I should be asking you that question! If it wasn't for you, I would've died!" he said, getting up from the floor. He dusted his suit and looked at Sora with admiration. "You're pretty good with a gun and agile, too. What's your name?"
"Sora Strife," replied Sora, outstretching his right hand.
The man took it and said, "I'm Tidus Crucis," before shaking Sora's hand. "I'm not familiar seeing you around these areas…" he said, scratching his head.
"Oh…I just got back from the uh…United States."
"I see. You came here to buy a car, but it seems that your visit to the showroom was ruined."
"Actually, I'm only looking around. I was thinking of looking for a permanent job first, but I have no idea where to start."
"Well, you're in luck then, Sora! I have a highly-paid job that's perfect for a man of your skill!"
"Huh?"
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"Naminé…you have to watch out for the paparazzi now."
The blond haired girl frowned in disdain as she shut the door of her bedroom. "I am, Kairi, I am! But Riku's even more careful than I am – he won't even let me exit the penthouse, no less the whole condominium area! I can't even sit on the roof for fear they might attack me via helicopter!"
The redhead was silent at first, but then gave an amused chuckle. "Nami…I think he likes you."
"You mean Roxas? That's pretty obvious…" mumbled Naminé.
"No, not Roxas, silly! Riku!" exclaimed Kairi amidst a fit of giggles.
Naminé felt blood rushing to her cheeks. "What?!" she squeaked in a high pitch, instead of her usual dreamy voice. "Kairi, why would you say that?!" she demanded, now hugging her pillow closely to her chest like a teenager.
"Oh, please," said Kairi with sarcasm. "You can call it woman's intuition or whatever you want, but I think he does really like you if he's super overprotective like this. Is Tidus losing this battle or what?" said Kairi half-jokingly.
"You…you shouldn't say things like that! You don't even know if it's true!" she wailed again, this time her face beet red. She had to admit, Kairi had some truth to her words.
Kairi took a sip from her strawberry smoothie. "Chill, Naminé, it's just a guess. Why are you so uptight? Don't tell me…"
Uh-oh…busted.
"…You like Riku too?" asked Kairi with a raised eyebrow.
Silence.
"I KNEW IT!!!" screamed Kairi into the phone, almost knocking over her glass of smoothie as she moved her left arm rapidly, while still holding the phone against her ear with her right hand. Naminé hid her face into the pillow in embarrassment, as if Kairi was sitting right opposite of her.
"I didn't say anything! You're jumping to conclusions!"
"Well, silence always means 'yes' – don't you watch movies?" retorted Kairi. Naminé kept silent again, which made Kairi confirm her earlier claim. "See what I mean?"
"Oh, okay! I give in – you win, Kairi!" she wailed. Adjusting her throat to lower her voice, she whispered into the phone. "Yeah, so I do like him…a little…but what's so wrong about that? May I remind you of the guy that you fell for?"
Kairi's indigo eyes became a little cheerless as Naminé finished her sentence in a fit of annoyance. "Yeah, you're right. There's nothing wrong about that, but that means that you don't like Roxas, right?" she said, quickly changing the subject.
"I suppose…wait, there's an incoming call," she said, before withdrawing the phone away from her ear. She looked at the screen of her cell phone and it read 'Roxas'.
"It's Roxas. I'll call you later, Kairi."
"Okay, but personally speaking, you'd better reject him a.s.a.p. before you further become victim to the paparazzi. At least if you really do like him, that's okay but don't make yourself suffer like this. Bye."
Kairi pressed the 'end call' button before tossing the Nokia N93 phone on her bed. Now she was frustrated – of all the things Naminé had to remind her of…why him?
She rested her head on the Japanese table before her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shoo away the images of that carefree smile from her mind.
Most especially those blue eyes…
"Kairi, are you there?" she heard Elena's voice from the closed bedroom door.
"Come in, the door's not locked."
Elena entered, still dressed in her bodyguard uniform, holding a medium-sized pink box. "I got that dress you ordered from Spring Boutique," she said as she set the pink box on Kairi's bed. "I had to rush to the office again after picking this up. Turns out that Tidus wants extra security during your birthday party. You don't mind, right?"
Kairi groaned. Ever since her kidnapping incident, Tidus was overprotective of her every move, afraid she would get kidnapped again. 'If it means I'll see him again, why not?' she mused before sauntering over to her bed.
Elena removed her blazer and took a seat beside Kairi. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Hmm, let's see, I'm missing a wanted criminal dearly and I'm going to have 20 babysitters on my own 18th birthday. Nothing's wrong.
"It's nothing, Elena. You go ahead and relax; it must've been tiring for you. Thanks for taking the dress for me," replied Kairi. Elena gave her a smile before exiting the room. Kairi set the clothes box on her lap and opened it, before pulling out the dress she was going to wear at her birthday. It was elegant and black in colour, not to mention the price tag of the dress, but there was still a frown on her face.
"I still prefer Yuffie's designs."
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"Are you angry at him?"
Riku turned to the voice talking to him with a sour face. He was enjoying a cup of coffee with PB and J sandwiches at the lounge area when the young heiress approached him, all dressed in a pastel blouse and khaki skirt. "Obviously," he replied. "He made my job a lot harder. Just escorting you shopping will need a team of 6 bodyguards now."
Naminé sighed as she took a seat across him. She counted – she had not left the penthouse in 2 days! "Oh, relax, Riku…rumours will be rumours…they'll fade away…eventually," she said, somewhat disheartened. She really wanted to go out and find herself a nice dress to wear at Kairi's upcoming birthday party at the penthouse of the Herrington Hotel.
"I still don't understand why you accepted that date," mumbled Riku in discontent. Naminé raised an eyebrow at him, feeling somewhat stupid.
"It was you who told me to accept the date," she replied blatantly.
Riku's cheeks turned red for a moment, but he quickly scoffed. "Well, you should've known I was just fooling around. You're my boss, you're not supposed to do what I say, it's the other way around," he retorted, covering up his mistake with a lame excuse.
Naminé smiled somewhat mischievously. "Well, since you say that I'm the boss, does that mean I can order you to escort me to the mall? Or would you like an early resignation?"
Riku almost choked on the cup of coffee he was drinking. Setting the mug on the coffee table, his aquamarine eyes were fixed on Naminé for a moment. "That's blackmail, Naminé," he said with an annoyed tone.
She smiled again, this time laughing slightly. "No, it's your job as an employee. Now go get dressed, I want you ready by 8 a.m. sharp," she said sweetly, her elbows on the lounge table, her hands supporting her chin as she stared at him. The petite watch on her left wrist showed 7:30.
Riku felt his heart beating a little more erratically when she looked at him like that, since she obviously was referring to the fact that he was only dressed in sweatpants. He had spent the past half-an-hour at the gym at the 10th floor and was feeling sweaty, and Naminé knew this well.
Perverted chick.
He gulped down the remaining coffee in his mug, grabbed the last sandwich off the plate and stuffed it in his mouth before walking back to his room. As soon as he slammed the door, Naminé burst into a fit of giggles. She covered her mouth in effort to suppress her laughter, but found herself blushing bright red. It was lonely to eat breakfast by herself, but now that she had a housemate, life just seemed a lot more fun.
Especially one with a hot body like him…
Naminé mentally slapped herself when she thought of that. She had to admit, he really looked macho without a shirt on. Thinking to herself as she poured herself a glass of milk, she mused that he must have taken a long time to build them up. The added fact that he likes to walk around the penthouse half-naked like it was his own didn't make things any better. If only she'd admit her feelings, maybe she would get a chance to touch his skin…
Whoa, slow down, Naminé…you read WAY too many romance novels. This is all thanks to Kairi's influence!
One building away, Kairi sneezed in the middle of Twilight's new music video. After she rubbed her nose, her Nokia N93 phone rang with a short message tone. She picked it up from the coffee table, hoping for it to be a message from Naminé. She frowned slightly upon seeing the name 'Elena' on the screen. Briskly, she pressed the left button to read the message.
Can't accompany you to De Fresco for breakfast today, urgent meeting came up. Newbie coming over in 20 minutes.
"Newbie?" said Kairi out loud. As far as she knew, the latest addition to Tidus's elite team of bodyguards was Riku. Does that mean that the silver-haired teenager had been promoted again after the whole 'saving Naminé' incident? She continued to think about it as she set the phone back on the coffee table.
If that's true, I hope it isn't permanent. I want to see some exploding chemistry between him and Naminé before anything stupid happens that can ruin it…
Poor Elena, she thought. The lady was like an elder sister to her and seemed to always be working, be it accompanying her to the shoe store or filtering through countless ATM surveillance videos until the wee hours of the night.
Perhaps I should convince Tidus to give her a break and give her a holiday in the Bahamas. Bora Bora is good too…
Her mind wandered off to think about possible vacation spots for her dear bodyguard when the doorbell rang. She got up from her seat in the living room and sauntered over to the door. Kairi grabbed the handle of the door and gave it a 90° swing, opening it quickly as she already knew who was at the door. But once the door was open, her indigo eyes widened in shock as adrenaline pumped through her bloodstream in a split second.
The blue eyes, it was unmistakeable!
"…Sora?!"
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To be continued…
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A/n: First and foremost, DO NOT THROW TOMATOES AT ME. gets rotten tomato splattered on her face Okay… I'm really sorry I had to end it when it was just getting good, but I have a million projects to complete and the internet connection in the college isn't cooperating, and neither is the one at home… so uh…please read and review. With sugar lumps on top of strawberry smoothies.