Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Also, I do not own the right to use flashbacks, but that won't stop me from abusing them here and there.
Warnings: This fiction contains and is not limited to boy/boy moments, the use and abuse of stereotypes, hints at original pairings, very despicable people, emo-Riku, lustful teenagers, underage drinking, a mix of the last two points, questionable situations, morally ambiguous choices and a few, occasional and really shy attempts at humor.
Chapter 6: Time and Again
May, one year ago
Riku was leaving the infirmary. For the third time in a week.
Luckily, nothing serious this time, just a little burn from a firecracker that someone had thought incredibly fun to throw at him. Classes were over for the day, but it was just three in the afternoon and the absence of rides made going immediately back home not an option, so he simply decided to kill some time while waiting for the next bus.
The image of red and blue hair quickly flashed in the corner of his eye: he turned his head to see Axel and Saïx walking, most probably towards the swimming pool. The swimming team had a game that day, but Riku had already provided the coach with a half-assed excuse for his absence. 'Water allergy' was the best he had bothered to come up with.
It had been a whole week since 'The Day' and still, despite being on good terms with both of them, he had not found the occasion to talk to the two boys. In truth, a part of Riku knew that he was purposefully delaying that moment in fear of their reaction, but he decided that that was the right moment to face them.
After all, if they really were his friends, they would have supported him, right?
He took a deep breath and then quickly walked towards them, unusually shily, reaching them from behind. "Hey guys, uhm... how are you?"
The two boys winced at Riku's sight and he didn't fail to notice it. "Uhm... hey Riku, fine thanks." Axel answered, clearly embarrassed. Saïx was keeping on looking around him, most probably to be sure that there was none around to see them talking with such a compromising company.
For a second, Riku thought about giving up and going back from where he came. But while his mind was telling him to turn back, his desperately hopeful legs were just keeping on following his friends. An uncomfortable silence ensued, broken only by Axel's uncertain tone of voice when they got to the entrance of the swimming pool.
"Are you... coming with us?" More than a question, it looked like the expression of his most dreaded fear.
...so what? What did he have to lose, after all? If they really did not want him there, they just had to say it! None had expelled him from the swimming team, nor they had a motive to do so, he had every reason to be there!
...and those were the thoughts that crossed Riku's minds when he took the unfortunate decision to follow the two boys into the locker room.
The moment the other teammates saw him, the atmosphere froze. Everyone stopped moving and talking for a couple of seconds, then they quickly looked away, like nothing had happened. Or, more precisely, like Riku didn't exist.
Axel and Saïx quickly put a few steps of safe distance between them and Riku, but considering that their lockers were on the opposite side of his, he couldn't really blame them. Or, maybe, they were just scared that his 'water allergy' was being contagious...
He opened his locker carefully, managing to avoid being overwhelmed by the pink confetti that came off it. Well, always better than the death threats he had found in his school locker just the day before. He took his swim trunks and started undressing, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling of being at the center of the attention.
But just when he was ready and had started to think that maybe in the end things could have worked out, he felt someone patting on his shoulder.
He turned to see a tall boy glaring at him. Not that Riku had ever been scared of something like that: he had pounded tougher guys into the pavement. No, he wasn't worried that the guy seemed eager for a fight, he was because of the possible reasons behind it.
"Hey Setzer."
"Hey yourself. What are you doing here?"
Riku sustained the gaze. "Maybe you didn't pay attention, but it's been a year since I've joined the swimming team." he answered mockingly.
Setzer didn't answer immediately and kept on glaring, clearly determined not to lose their staring contest. Finally, when he realized that Riku didn't plan on retreating on his own, he talked again. "Don't you think that some of us may find uncomfortable to have you keeping on playing for the team? You don't need to be a genius to understand that."
"Sure, your brain is more than enough." Despite the bold facade he was struggling to put up, Riku distinctly felt something breaking inside him. He forced himself to restrain the tears: he would have never given Setzer the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
Still, he couldn't help but notice that none of his teammates -who were all looking at them- stepped in to say 'No, I don't find Riku's presence uncomfortable'. Not even Saïx or Axel, who were pretending nothing was happening.
And then, out of the blue, he felt a hard pain on his nose. A split second later he was on the ground, drying a trickle of blood from his nose.
Setzer had punched him.
Setzer. Had. Punched. Him.
He felt a sudden burst of rage quickly rising inside him: it wasn't the first time that someone had picked a fight with him, but the fact that it was one of his teammates was something else entirely. And without even realizing it, his fist clashed against Setzer's jaw.
That was the last time that Riku talked to any of the members of the swimming team. Axel and Saïx included.
That was the day Riku decided that he was better on his own.
One year later, present day
That evening, someone could have thought that the Pac-Man coin-op had done something really bad to Riku, considering the violence with which the silver-haired boy was moving the joystick.
But that was just his way to blow off some steam, he was just unsure about the reason he felt the need to do so. He figured it had something to do with the Struggle match earlier that day, more precisely with the fact that Axel had had the guts to come and talk to him.
Or, maybe, but just hypothetically, Riku was feeling jealous because he was sure that Sora was celebrating the victory of the team with his 'friends'.
No! Riku was happy on his own! In the end, friends would always end up betraying or abandoning you: what was the meaning of forming bonds with them?
He slammed the joystick so hard that it creaked dangerously, while his little yellow avatar crashed straight into a ghost, closing his game at a whopping twelve-thousand points, one of the lowest scores he had ever realized.
"I thought you were supposed to be good at this game... Are you sure that that high-score is really yours?"
He recognized Sora's voice immediately. And he froze in place.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, when he recovered from the surprise. And despite all of his efforts, he couldn't hide a timid smile.
Sora looked at him, equally surprised. "What do you mean 'what are you doing here'? I'd told you that I'd come here if you'd come see my match."
He had said it? Yeah, Riku remembered to have heard something along those lines in the morning, but that was circumstantial talk, he didn't think that he would have kept his word. More than that...
"How do you know I came to see your game?"
A moment of silence. "...Roxas told me."
Riku's grip on the coin-op joystick tightened and Sora didn't fail to notice it. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
'It' meaning what had happened between him and Roxas, of course. Well, after all, why shouldn't he tell him? Just let him know what kind of scumbag the blond boy really was. Of course, that also meant admitting to Sora that he was... that he liked... "You really want to know?"
"Only if you feel like telling me, of course."
'Sure, why not? Let's tell him everything. This way we'll see how much time it will take for him to disappear from my life like everyone else.' Riku thought while looking at the clock. He gestured towards the bar. "...let's go take something to drink first."
They took place on a small table, far enough from the other customers to be sure not to be bothered. Except for a group of five people -two guys and three girls who seemed to be around their age- the rest of the room was mostly filled with little kids and bored parents.
"Who are those guys?" Sora asked, once his place taken, pointing at the small group a few tables from them.
Riku reached him, holding a glass of water who promptly gave to the other boy and a small shot glass that he kept for himself. "A bunch of weirdos who are always here. More than that I don't know and I don't care."
Sora emptied half of his glass in one single sip. "We should go talk to them, then."
"Forget it. And stop saying 'we'." Riku cut him short. He was feeling quite uneasy at the way Sora was looking at him, more precisely at his drink. "What?"
"That's my line." he answered. "What did you take?"
"Tequila." he answered, just slightly embarrassed. "If you really want me to go through all of what happened, you can't expect me to do it sober."
"But that's not the way to do it!" Sora exclaimed indignantly.
Riku rolled his eyes. He had expected something like that. Now he would've had to endure a tirade about being bad drinking during the week, what with school and everything. Or, worse, maybe Sora was one of those perfect guys who didn't drink at all and were affected by 'The Red Cross Nurse Syndrome', also known as the constant need to persuade everyone around them to act the way they did.
Sora stood up abruptly and started marching away. For a moment, Riku thought that he was getting home. And for some reasons, he didn't feel happy about it. Then, he realized that he had directed himself towards the counter and was ordering something.
He didn't really have the time to think about it that the boy was already back with five more shot glasses, identical to his own, and a small dish with a salt box and a few slices of lemon on it.
"Seriously, Riku!" Sora looked at him, clearly disappointed. "Drinking tequila without salt and lemon! That's blasphemy!"
Riku looked at him, mouth-agape and unable to hide his surprise. "Now, wait... why did you take five more glasses? What do you plan to..."
Sora snickered while starting to equally share the glasses between the two of them. Then, nonchalantly, he licked his left hand on the intersection between his thumb and his point finger and urged Riku to do the same. He promptly obeyed, sure that, if he had refused, Sora would have directly licked his hand. He then proceeded to grab Riku's hand and started pouring some salt on it, finally doing the same with his own. "We need to celebrate my victory after all."
"In an arcade?" was Riku's predictable answer. He had meant to drink a shot to find a little bit of courage to talk about personal stuffs, not to devastate himself. His left hand was already starting to tingle at the point Sora had touched it, damn boy and the strange chemicals he was most certainly covered of.
"Why not? There's not a rule that forbids you from drinking here, isn't it? As long as you're comfortable in here, I'm game."
Riku looked him up and down, wondering what could be crossing his mind: he was surely full of surprises. He looked at him raising his first shot and waiting. What now? What did he want?
"...cheers?" Riku proposed, unsure to what the other boy was waiting for.
Sora's face darkened. "How often did you drink tequila? You don't know the basics!" His voice wasn't one of mockery, he looked sincerely worried about Riku's apparent lacking in drinking knowledge.
Well, he had never been a heavy drinker, but he had had his fair share of parties. Before everyone else stopped inviting him, anyway.
After asking for his attention, Sora proceeded to show Riku how 'tequila had to be drunk'. One time up, one time down, one time at the center and then finally down your throat, Riku repeated carefully the movements with his glass shot until he had learned them.
"Perfect!" Sora observed satisfied. He looked like a teacher who had managed to explain something basilar to one of their stupidest students. "Next we'll go for it, just remember, while you're doing it, you have to say: 'Arriba, abajo, al centro y adentro!'"
Riku thought that that way of making a toast bordered on the ridiculous. Still, he discovered himself not really caring and, for the first time in a long time, smiling sincerely. Sora stopped himself when he saw it.
"There! You should smile more often, it's the first time I see you doing that. Honestly, you look better this way."
"Shut up and take your shot!" Riku retorted, the smile still lingering on his face. "To your victory!"
And that was the beginning of the evening.
End Notes: So, I hope you liked this chapter, is one of my personal favorites up to this point. And for those wondering and/or caring: yes, I like tequila ;).
Preview: The evening goes on. How and where will it end?
Next Chapter: Sky of the Beginning