Hey Cloud's birthday is coming up!
Leon: WHAT?
Yeah! On the nineteenth! And I own nothing~!
Riku was walking down the street from the school; he and his friends had just finished up another rehearsal session and he was hungry, so he was going for some lunch. Sora was with Kairi at the moment, something about planning their upcoming day together that weekend. A few days had passed since Kairi's birthday and the ambush against Sora. Apparently one of the guests went home talking about the moment between him and Sora. Riku had yet to run into Jenn and give him a taste of his own medicine, again.
Thankfully though, Sora's bruises didn't last long. They were gone in a day and a half time span and the brunette was back to being his bubbly carefree self. Of course Lee Mei freaked out when Riku had called her and told her what happened that night, but she also made a comment that made Riku almost drop the phone and go into cardiac arrest. She said, "I may as well let you and Sora get married, as much as you look out for him."
Riku was coming up to the café Tidus' dad owned and he saw Jenn come out, oh here we go. "Hey Jenn! I wanna talk to you!" he called.
When the older boy saw him he took off running in the opposite direction Riku was in only to be chased. They were dodging pedestrians in their game of Cat & Mouse running nonstop until they found themselves at the school continuing to run, all the way to the back past the pool, the football field and baseball diamonds, and onto the soccer field where Jenn tried to jump the fence in order to get away.
But Riku got a hold of the back of his shirt and pulled him to the ground. He gave the older boy a good kick to the ribs making him wince, a small whimper barely audible. Riku got on one knee at Jenn's side and punched him in the stomach keeping his fist there as Jenn lost his wind.
"Let's make something clear shall we?" Riku panted while Jenn just stared up at him "I find out you or any of your sorry excuse for thug friends messed with Sora, Kairi, or any of my friends, I'll hand your ass to you on a silver platter. Del complains to you again about any of us or anything she heard from someone about anything that's none of her, or your business, ignore it. You don't want a repeat of our first encounter in high school right?" Jenn shook his head.
You see dear reader three years ago when Riku started high school he heard Jenn talking a lot of shit about Sora and Tidus, and their inability to reach puberty. Riku got angry and gave the older boy a good one to the face and broke his nose, but that wasn't all he did. Let's just say all of what he did to him, got Riku into detention for a week, and he never regretted it.
"Good. See ya around." Riku said patting his shoulder and standing up to leave.
He went back to the café and saw Sora there as if he were waiting for him "Hey Riku where were you? I thought you'd be here by now?" he asked.
Riku shrugged, "I had to deal with someone."
Sora put his hands on his hips and looked at Riku like a scolding mother, "You mean you were getting back at Jenn? Jecht saw you chasing after him Riku. I told you not to worry about it!"
"If I didn't he would have just kept coming. Really Sora what if next time I don't show up?" Riku responded.
"I can take care of myself!"
"Did you even try to defend yourself against him? From what I saw it didn't look like it!"
"What choice did I have? I didn't want to use my Keyblade! That's the only way I know how to defend myself best! With a weapon! I can't fight like you!"
Riku took a deep breath to keep himself from yelling back, "What do you want me to do Sora?"
"Stop treating me like a helpless child. Let me fight my own battles. I don't need you defending me all the time. You don't have to always be there." Sora answered.
"Fine! Sorry for looking out for my friend! I'll just disappear again!" with that Riku went inside. Hey he still wanted something to eat!
Sora stood there staring at where Riku was standing, silent, afraid. He didn't expect Riku to react like that to such a simple request, and he definitely didn't expect to him to say anything like he would just go.
[Hey Sora, don't blame him. He just cares about you; he'd be the same around any of his friends.]
'I know… But it's kinda smothering you know. But he didn't have to go and say something like that!'
[Sora think about something. Look at all this from Riku's perspective. He left you alone for over a year, you suffered because of him on certain occasions. Maybe he just wants to make up for that because he feels guilty still.]
The brunette felt his heart jump; Roxas was right. Riku was just on a guilt trip and he had to snap, some friend he was.
Riku came out of the café with a bag and drink in hand walking right past Sora, more like storming right past him.
"Riku wait a minute! I didn't mean it!" Sora called following after him
"Don't bother Sora, I sure won't anymore!" Riku responded.
"I don't want you to leave!" Sora cried grabbing the silverette's free hand making him stop "I don't want you to disappear. If you were gone again I would just feel alone, and it would hurt. Please don't hurt me again." Sora said as tears were beginning to threaten falling from his eyes, "Please Riku."
Riku's heart jolted at the pain he heard in the younger's voice. Don't hurt me again. Those words were like a thousand needles per character going through his heart (A/N: 1600 needles, that's gotta hurt). He definitely didn't want to hurt Sora again; he just had to snap at a simple request, some friend he was.
Turning to face the other boy Riku lifted Sora's face, wiped away the tears, and tousled his spiky hair, "I'm sorry Sora, being protective of you like that is a hard habit to break."
"I'm sorry too." Sora sniffled "Let's just forget it happened okay?" he said wiping more tears away.
Riku smiled and brought his friend into a one armed hug, "Okay. C'mon let's sit down, I wanna eat."
They found a bench and sat. Sora noticed that Riku had gotten that tuna melt wrap he loved so much and was about to pull the puppy eyes until one was held before his face.
"I had a feeling." Riku smirked.
Sora smiled and took the wrap "So I wanted to ask you if you'd help me pick out an outfit for this weekend." He said, unwrapping the meal and taking a bite.
Riku swallowed his bite, "You mean which color you should wear since all your outfits are the same and the only different ones you have are your school uniforms."
"No I mean I need to get a new outfit in general."
'Don't tell me he's gonna ask me to-!'
"Will you go shopping with me Riku?"
'Damn.' "Seriously Sora? You're asking me?" Riku deadpanned.
Sora pouted as he took another bite, "Well, I wouldn't know what to get. And you always have good clothes so I thought it'd be a good idea."
Riku shook his head smiling; Sora could be so cute without trying! "Alright, I'll go with you."
"Thank you!" Sora cheered throwing his arms around his friend's neck.
X_X_X_X_X
Why the hell did he say yes? Here he was sitting on a bench in a dressing room while Sora tried on different clothes in front of him. He was using all of his will power not to pounce his friend!
Sora, once he had a bunch of clothes options in his arms, begged Riku to go into the dressing room with him saying it'd be weird and send people the wrong idea if he kept going in and out asking for the silverette's opinion.
Of course Riku fired back with his own comment saying people wouldn't think any different if they heard they were in a dressing room together.
"Riku what about this one?" Sora asked pointing out the bright red button down he was trying on.
"Color's too gaudy." Riku said right away.
Sora took of the shirt showing his toned torso to his friend again. He picked up an ultramarine V-neck shirt and pulled it on; it hugged him in all the right ways and Riku felt himself blushing lightly "I like this one actually. Should I go with this one?" Sora asked.
"Sora, that top is a girl's top." Riku commented.
"Is it?" Sora asked.
"Yes."
Sora pulled it off and put on his own shirt, "Time for pants I guess."
"I won't be here for those." Riku said quickly and left the dressing room.
Sora pouted but said nothing to protest as he pulled a pair of white skinny jeans from the pile. He took off his shorts and tried on the pants immediately liking the way they way they fit and looked on him. Smiling he popped out of the dressing room "Riku I want these!" he said.
Riku looked at the pants Sora was wearing thinking they looked really good, "You'll still need a shirt."
"Aw I'll find one." Sora responded going back in to change into his own pants again. He put the jeans back on a hanger and grabbed the shirt to put it on its hanger too.
"Sora I'll be outside the store." Riku called.
Sora got his choice outfit, paid for it, and met Riku outside, "So did you talk to Kairi?"
"About what?" Riku asked as they started for home.
"What we're supposed to be doing. Me and her couldn't think of anything so she said she'd think on her own."
"Oh, she said something about a 'Karaoke House'."
"You mean that karaoke pallor on the other side of town?" Sora asked.
"Yeah that's the one." Riku answered.
Sora pouted, "Is she trying to give us laryngitis before the festival?"
Riku shook his head, "I don't think so, I think she's just making sure our vocal cords will be at their strongest come the day of. The festival is a week and a half from now. We'll spend the rest of this week practicing, this weekend is our time together, and next week until the fest we won't need to sing. Just look over the lyrics and practice the melodies."
"Fair game." Sora said "So when are we meeting tomorrow?"
"Eleven o'clock. Don't make me have to come and wake you up again." Riku smirked.
Sora winced, "No more ice, it's uncomfortable."
The silverette tousled spiky chocolate hair with a chuckle, "Well then, you know to get up. If not me, then I'm sure Roxas will get you up."
"Yeah, good ol' Roxas." Sora grumbled.
They got to Riku's house and parted ways promising to meet at the school the next day as they had been doing. As Sora walked home though with his bag in hand he couldn't help but feel something was going to happen soon, something that would change things drastically, and he was afraid.
X_X_X_X_X
The weekend came and Riku was getting ready to meet with Sora and Kairi. He was wearing a pair of navy cargo pants, a white thermal with a black graphic tee over it, and his tennis shoes. He was sitting with his grandmother when he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Riku! It's that Sora kid!" he heard his father call from down stairs.
"I gotta go Granma." He said standing up.
"Go have fun dear, tell your friends I said hello." The woman said squeezing his hand.
"I will." He kissed her cheek and started down stairs "I'll see you later."
When he got to the door he saw Sora there with his usual bright smile, "Hey Riku, ready to go?"
"Sora what the hell are you wearing?" Riku asked. Sora was wearing the pants he had bought with a pair of Vans he had no idea his friend had… And that top, "You actually bought that top? I told you about it already Sora."
The brunette crossed his arms, "Well I like it. Lemme borrow your belt, the one with the studs on it. I barely thought about it while I was walking here."
Sighing Riku gestured for Sora to follow him to his room. Taking his belt off the door handle he handed it to his friend, "I still can't believe you bought that shirt."
Sora scowled while putting on the belt, tightening it as far as it would go on him. It hung off his hips a little, but that was because his waist was smaller than Riku's; Kairi and Selphie joked that he had a girl's waist. "I told you, I like the way it looks. Is that so wrong?" Sora said.
"Let's just go, Kairi's waiting." Riku said going for the front door again.
Sora quickly followed him out and they headed for Kairi's house, finding her waiting just out front.
"Hey Sora, Riku. You both look cute." She said stepping up to hug them.
"Ya kidding me? Sora looks like a girl in that frickin' shirt." Riku mumbled.
"You look cute too Kai." Sora said with a smile.
Kairi was wearing a pink denim mini skirt with a white tank top, a white purse she got for her birthday on her shoulder "You know what you two need? Eyeliner." She said and begun digging in the now deemed accursed bag.
"Are you kidding me?" Sora whined.
"No. Hold still." She held a thumb under one of Sora's eyes to put on the black pencil make-up then did the top of the lid before moving to the next. She studied her work and nodded "Just as I thought, it really brings out your eyes. You're turn Ri." She said stepping up to her older friend to do his eyes.
When she was done Sora couldn't help his breath hitching in his throat. Riku's eyes looked gorgeous the way they were brought out by the eyeliner; Sora swore he was about to faint.
"You definitely should wear eyeliner more often!" Kairi commented.
"I'm not emo." Riku responded.
"You don't have to be. Besides it looks totally natural, who would be able to tell?" Kairi said putting the pencil away "Now let's go so we can get a room!"
They walked all the way to the other side of town to Karaoke House, a place where you ate, drank, and of course sang karaoke all in one room. The teens got one and immediately started looking through the book on what to sing, Kairi finding one right away.
"I'm singing Why!" she announced and went to find the song on the screen.
"That one's depressing!" Sora whined.
"It only sounds depressing. Now hush and let me sing!" Kairi pushed the "play" button and the song started, sounding like a building guitar then Kairi started singing.
"Hitomi no oku ga boyakete mienai
Kokoro no soko no kimochi ha aru no?
Hitomi no oku ga boyakete mienai
Kokoro no soko no kimochi ha aru no?
Why kodoku na sora wo miageru no?
Why waratte misete yo
Kotoba ni suru no ga heta na
Anata no seikaku wakaru kara
Tooi mukashi ni nani ga atta no?
Shisen wo sorasu anata no hitomi ni
Hitori de samishii yoru ni dakishimerareru
Sonna atatakasa shitteru?
Why doushite katachi ni kodawaru no?
Why kokoro wo hiraite
Ooki na nimotsu wo seotta
Anata wo ukeirerareru chikara
Aru wa shinjite mite...
Oh yeah! Oh, yeah."
The music broke off into a guitar solo before Kairi started singing again.
"Jiyuu na hito ha bukiyou de...
Jiyuu na hito ha fuan de...
Why kodoku na sora wo miageru no?
Why waratte misete yo
Kotoba ni suru no ga heta na
Anata no seikaku wakaru kara
Shinjite mite
Why
O-oh yeah, yeah
Why
La da da-a yeah
Why
Ooh"
Whit that it ended and Sora and Riku applauded her. "Nice Kairi." Sora commented.
"Think so? Well then, your turn." She said hold the mike out to him.
He scowled, "Evil." But he looked through the book of songs and chose one, well Roxas told him to choose it really.
The song started with a quick, loud opening then a guitar and drums started playing, Sora began singing.
"Under the silver stars
Right where he broke your heart
Girl you know I'd give you everything
I wanna hold your hand
And say the words he never said
I'll make you promises you can believe
Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need
You can come to me"
Riku noticed something, Sora was singing yes, but it wasn't just his voice. He heard another, he heard Roxas too.
[Roxy's singing. You can tell can't you?] Axel said.
"When you're down and you feel so lonely
Turn around you can come to me
When you're down baby I will be the one
Come to me
You can just be yourself
'cause I don't want nobody else
All of your secrets are safe with me
For the kind of love you can trust
For more than just a crush
Baby, won't you just come to me?
Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need
You can come to me"
The song went into its bridge.
"When I got you in my arms
Say it's where you wanna be
'Cause girl I'm down on my knees
Promising my hear, oh my heart
Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need
You can come to me
Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one (Let me be the one)
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need
You can come to me
Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles (sharin' the smiles, sharin' the smiles baby) and tears you cry
(Sharin' the smile babe)
Let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need
You can come to me
Whenever you need me oh
(I'm always here)
Whenever you need me girl
Whenever you need me oh
(I'm right here)
Oh I'll be there
Whenever you need me oh
(Just reach out)
Whenever you need me girl
Whenever you need me oh
(Over your shoulder)
Oh I'll be there"
The song ended and Kairi started squealing, "Sora that was amazing!"
Sora laughed a little rubbing the back of his head, "Thanks."
Any compliment Riku could have given would have been an understatement, the understatement of the century. And he made a good point in saying so which got him a strangling hug from his friend. All near deaths aside Riku went to choose his song finding one that just jumped out at him, something called Inolvidable.
He picked the song and it started with a guitar and drum beat before going into the lyrics.
"Era tan bella, era tan bella
Que su mirada todavia me quema
Como quisiera poderla olvidar
Pero se estanca y no lo puedo evitar
Porque cuando habla con sus ojos
Grita todo es que no puedo entender
Quisiera todo poco a poco
Y me convierta en su piel
Y yo no se como vivir si ya no puedo sacarla de aqui
Que no daria por besarla
Por abrazarla una vez mas
Y ya no quiro dejarla escapar
Si es que la puedo volver a encontrar
No quiero perderla
Porque solo es ella
Inolvidable para mi corazon
Inolvidable inolvidable oh oh
Fue como un cuento
Fue como el viento
A veces me digo que tal vez me lo invento
Si al menos pudiera tener una prueba
Algun recuerdo de que estuve con ella
Me estoy volviendo loco un poco
A veces me despierto y siempre pienso en ella
Me susurra en el oido
Y me dice "donde estas amor?"
Y yo no se como vivir si ya no puedo sacarla de aqui
Que no daria por besarla
Por abrazarla una vez mas
Y ya no quiro dejarla escapar
Si es que la puedo volver a encontrar
No quiero perderla
Porque solo es ella
Inolvidable para mi corazon
Inolvidable inolvidable oh oh
Inolvidable
Inolvidable
Inolvidable"
The song went into a musical bridge. Kairi was swaying in her seat to the uppity beat of the song and Sora was confused. For some reason he thought Riku was singing about Kairi.
"Y yo no se como vivir si ya no puedo sacarla de aqui
Que no daria por besarla
Por abrazarla una vez mas
Y ya no quiro dejarla escapar
Si es que la puedo volver a encontrar
No quiero perderla
Porque solo es ella
Inolvidable para mi corazon
Inolvidable inolvidable oh oh"
Kairi squealed again but Sora and Riku said nothing. Sora was silent because of his confusion, and Riku saw the look on the younger's face. Riku wondered; did he understand what he was saying through that song?
They sang more songs for a few more hours, got some food, all that good stuff. At some point the tension that seemed to spark between Sora and Riku passed, they even challenged each other to see who could sing the loudest by choosing songs like A Box Full of Sharp Objects and The Kill. Kairi thought it'd be fun to be a Pop Princess by singing songs like Baby Come Back to Me and Love & Joy.
Eventually they were sung out and decided it was time to head home. Kairi, high and drunk on life, was still singing her lungs out as they walked the night-washed streets making Sora, Riku, and any passer-by's laugh at her. Soon enough they got her to her house and passed her off to her parent so they could deal with her self induced intoxication.
Riku decided to walk Sora home, not trusting him on his own one bit. Just because he got Jenn doesn't mean his friends would listen and he didn't want to take any chances. Sora didn't say anything against it though; he wanted to talk to Riku about that song he sang.
"That was an interesting first choice you made tonight." The brunette said casually.
"Tell the truth Sora." Riku said.
Sora looked at him, "You lied when you said you don't feel that way about Kairi anymore didn't you?"
"I was singing about someone else. Someone who seems lost to me no matter how close I get." Riku explained.
They stopped walking and stared each other in the eye, Sora searching for any bit of a lie in the silverette. He found none and sighed "I'm sorry Riku I should trust you more… I don't know why, but I just felt hurt and… I'm so confused about everything right now. I've been having the strangest thoughts and I don't understand them one bit." Sora said, his voice cracking as if he were about to cry.
Riku reached out and tousled his hair, "Don't worry about it okay. Maybe you're just thinking too much about things. You need to relax; you've worked really hard this week."
"Hey you have too! I say you meet me at my house tomorrow and we'll go to our secret spot on the island and sleep the day away! No Kairi or anyone else. Sound good?" Sora suggested.
"It's a great idea." Riku smiled.
They started walking again and a loud clap of thunder broke through sky making the brunette squeak as he latched onto his friend's arm "They never said anything about rain!" he cried.
Riku sighed, "Sor it's probably just a thunderstorm." Then a downpour started "You jinxed it."
"I did not." Sora pouted.
They ran the rest of the way to Sora's house until they reached the covered porch, grateful for the shelter. Riku noticed as his friend fished out his key that the already form fitting blue shirt was soaked enough to hug tighter to Sora's body; he cursed his friend for buying that shirt and cursed whoever the hell decided to make it rain.
"You heading home now Riku?" Sora asked breaking the older teen's thought.
"Can I get my belt back?" he replied smoothly.
Sora made an "o" shape with his mouth and took off the borrowed accessory "Thanks for letting me use it. Told ya it'd look good with my outfit." He said.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." Riku said taking off again.
"Get dry before you go to bed or you'll get sick!" Sora called after him before heading inside.
Riku ran all the way home. Before he went inside he rung out as much water as he could from his hair and clothes, which was actually a lot as he was soaked to the bone and then some. He went inside and headed to his room to get a pair of sweats and a hoodie; he slept in hoodies if the nights were cold. He took a hot shower, put on his warm clothes, made himself a hot drink to help fight off any cold that would threaten him the next day, and was about to go to bed when he noticed the light was still on in his grandmother's room.
He went up to see if she was still awake and found her peacefully asleep in her chair. He walked up to her and shook her shoulder gently, "Granma you should be in bed." The woman didn't move. Riku shook her shoulder again, she still didn't move. "Granma? Granma!" afraid of what the result may be if he did, he felt for a pulse, his grandmother wasn't asleep.
I'm sorry guys, I had to. *being emo in a corner*
Longest chapter so far.
Songs are Why by Ayaka from FFVII: Crisis Core, Come to Me by Roxas- I mean Jesse McCartney, Inolvidable by Reik, Box Full of Sharp Objects by The Used, The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars, Baby Come Back to Me by Vanessa Hudgens, and Love & Joy by Yuki Kimura.
LovelessHyde and her evil ideas~