Kingdom Hearts fic, Your Biggest Pretend: 1.5 (Finding Purchase)
title: Your Biggest Pretend
author: caledon (the_tower_room)
pairing: Riku/Sora, Terra/Aqua
disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.
rating: M
summary: Interconnecting vignettes, oneshot collection, ratings and pairings may vary - Sora was filled with nothing but happy thoughts, feeling as though he could fly through the air. But that was dashed when Riku told him something he had never expected.
words: 1392
A/N: edited July 15, 2013. This was originally the second chapter of the fic until I decided to simply tell this story as a series of interconnected oneshots.
Within, he was numb, pale face configured into a mask of impassiveness. But through the numbness, turmoil struggled to break free, and as much as Riku tried to keep his mind blank, it stubbornly persisted.
Shit. Fuck. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, attempting to gather himself into some semblance of control once again. He'd thought he was prepared. He'd thought he was ready to face the consequence of letting his suppressed feelings out to his friend. And as much as it was partly relieving to finally have it out in the open, he also regretted it.
What had happened just a scant few minutes before kept replaying in his mind, as though he was looking at it from outside of himself. Sora's expressions ranged from shock to disbelief to remorse to sadness, and Riku couldn't help drinking them all in, seeing in them how hopeless his feelings truly were. If he had kept silent, at least Sora wouldn't have looked the way he did. If he had kept silent, their friendship wouldn't have been strained.
Stupid, he berated himself. You're so stupid. And now you've ruined everything.
Finally reaching his house, he went through the cycle of opening the door, toeing off his shoes, greeting his stepmother in the kitchen, blocking the surprise punch from his brother Kadaj, evading the kick from his other brother Yazoo, and dodging the tackle from another brother Loz and then swiftly performing a roundhouse kick on the latter before finally managing to get up the stairs, enter his room and close the door.
After dropping his bag on the floor, he flopped down face-first on his bed and clutched at his hair as the scene with Sora at the gazebo kept replaying in his mind. He turned and rose, sidled through the adjoining jack and jill bathroom and through the door on the other side, knocking absently on the door frame before dropping himself on the occupant's bed.
"Hey," greeted his stepsister Aqua, looking at him questioningly as she set her pen down over her notebook, turning from her stomach to her side and resting a cheek on her palm. "Are you okay?"
"Just go back to your homework," responded Riku, staring vacantly at her ceiling. "Just let me hang out here for a moment."
"What's wrong?"
The silver-haired just shook his head. "Not now."
I just don't want to be alone, he answered inside his mind.
From his periphery, he saw her blow air up to her bangs before turning back to what she was doing, hearing the scratching of her pen over paper as she made notes, every once in a while hearing her hum as she read a problem in her book. There was a calmness to her that he found soothing, different from the chaos of tussling with his brothers. And usually just basking in her silence would have an immediate effect, but he found his thoughts on Sora circling around in his mind.
How am I going to face him tomorrow? Or maybe I shouldn't. I have blitzball now and it's going to be very busy with the team. Does he hate me now? Well, it's Sora...of course he wouldn't. He's not that kind of person. But still... Damn it. I fucked things up real good.
He swam inside his mind, looking for purchase, something to fill the silence, to dissipate the nagging worries.
"We still haven't figured out a name," began Riku in an effort to distract himself.
"Hmm?" Aqua paused, looking up from mathematics with a puzzled expression. "What?"
"The team," clarified the silver-haired, glancing sidelong at her before quickly looking away again, lest she see what was really bothering him.
"Oh." The blue-haired chuckled. "You came all the way here looking gloomy and depressed just because your team doesn't have a name yet?"
"I was tired," replied Riku evasively, shrugging. "Practice was tiring."
"Uh-huh. You know, I never really thought you were that invested in blitzball."
"Yeah, well..."
"So, do you guys even have the correct number of people that's required to sign up to the league?"
"Yeah, once Zack Fair joined up, he roped in a whole bunch of other guys into the team."
Aqua laughed, rolling her blue eyes. "Why doesn't that surprise me."
A smile curved on Riku's lips. "Yeah, I don't know how he did it, but we got our team assembled."
"That's great. So, who's on it?"
"Tidus and Wakka, of course. Me, Zack, Cloud, Squall, and the twins from the grade below us: Roxas and Ventus."
"Nice. Well, I wish you guys the best."
"Thanks."
The blue-haired sighed. "You know, for a minute there when you came in you had me worried."
A slight frown furrowed Riku's pale brows and he couldn't help tensing up a bit. "About what?"
"Well, you've been very quiet for a while, even before you decided to play blitzball. But it looks like you've worked through what ever issue was bugging you and you're opening up again. I'm really glad."
He couldn't help releasing a chuckle, the wry grin fading into a grimace as he turned away from her gaze. Yeah, sure I did.
As his eyes landed on the window, he sat up abruptly in surprise. "What the hell?!"
On the other side of the glass, waving one hand vigourously was an energetic self-proclaimed ninja girl. "Hey, let me in!" she yelled, a big grin stretching her lips as she held onto the trellis that spanned the wall outside their rooms.
Aqua released a tired exhale as she rose, unlocking the window and sliding it open to let her friend through. "You know you could've just gone through the door like normal people."
"No way," responded Yuffie as she threw her backpack to the floor, then jumped from the ledge and dropped down on the bed beside Riku, draping her arms over his shoulders as she did so. "That's boring. Plus, I don't really feel like going through the triplet obstacle course downstairs."
"But at least that way you'll get to practice your mad ninja skills on them," teased the boy, playfully pulling at her dark bangs.
"Nah. This way of sneaking around is better. Besides, this way I get to witness forbidden love by catching you two in bed together. What will your neighbours think?"
"Don't really care. When you have Sephiroth for a dad, everything else becomes moot."
"You're so lucky." Yuffie perked up. "Speaking of, today's one of the days he washes his hair, right?"
"Huh?"
"I never catch him at it, and I've been wanting to see if he really does use up twenty bottles of shampoo and thirty bottles of conditioner in one go."
"That's crazy. Is that really what brought you here?"
"Yeah." Yuffie gave him a look as though there was nothing else in the world that could cause her to come to his house. And then she shrugged. "Well, that and I'm just trying to get away from Godo, like usual."
Aqua closed her window and made her way back to the bed, gathering her books and placing them on her desk, sitting down and continuing where she had left of as though she had never been interrupted. "Had another fight with your dad?" she asked.
"He was going on about sending me back to Wutai. What else is new?" retorted Yuffie as she flopped down on the mattress, tightening her hold on Riku and taking him down with her, stroking his hair afterwards.
As her slim fingers continuously wove through the silver strands, Riku felt comforted, his limbs lolling with every stroke. He couldn't help but feel grateful for this strange friendship he had with these two girls, wryly remembering all those times when they would draft him to join their keyblade-wielder and ninja dress-ups and tea parties, very different from the roughhousing that was the usual play with his brothers or Sora. At the very least, even for a moment, he managed to distract himself and forget his current predicament.
"Just so you know, I'm not a pet," he reminded her as he turned his head, green eyes closing at Yuffie's ongoing ministrations.
The dark-haired girl sighed dreamily. "Well, I have to content myself with you for now. Your hair may not be as long as your dad's, but it's still smooth and shiny."
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previous chapter | next chapter
author: caledon (the_tower_room)
pairing: Riku/Sora, Terra/Aqua
disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.
rating: M
summary: Interconnecting vignettes, oneshot collection, ratings and pairings may vary - Sora was filled with nothing but happy thoughts, feeling as though he could fly through the air. But that was dashed when Riku told him something he had never expected.
words: 1392
A/N: edited July 15, 2013. This was originally the second chapter of the fic until I decided to simply tell this story as a series of interconnected oneshots.
Within, he was numb, pale face configured into a mask of impassiveness. But through the numbness, turmoil struggled to break free, and as much as Riku tried to keep his mind blank, it stubbornly persisted.
Shit. Fuck. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, attempting to gather himself into some semblance of control once again. He'd thought he was prepared. He'd thought he was ready to face the consequence of letting his suppressed feelings out to his friend. And as much as it was partly relieving to finally have it out in the open, he also regretted it.
What had happened just a scant few minutes before kept replaying in his mind, as though he was looking at it from outside of himself. Sora's expressions ranged from shock to disbelief to remorse to sadness, and Riku couldn't help drinking them all in, seeing in them how hopeless his feelings truly were. If he had kept silent, at least Sora wouldn't have looked the way he did. If he had kept silent, their friendship wouldn't have been strained.
Stupid, he berated himself. You're so stupid. And now you've ruined everything.
Finally reaching his house, he went through the cycle of opening the door, toeing off his shoes, greeting his stepmother in the kitchen, blocking the surprise punch from his brother Kadaj, evading the kick from his other brother Yazoo, and dodging the tackle from another brother Loz and then swiftly performing a roundhouse kick on the latter before finally managing to get up the stairs, enter his room and close the door.
After dropping his bag on the floor, he flopped down face-first on his bed and clutched at his hair as the scene with Sora at the gazebo kept replaying in his mind. He turned and rose, sidled through the adjoining jack and jill bathroom and through the door on the other side, knocking absently on the door frame before dropping himself on the occupant's bed.
"Hey," greeted his stepsister Aqua, looking at him questioningly as she set her pen down over her notebook, turning from her stomach to her side and resting a cheek on her palm. "Are you okay?"
"Just go back to your homework," responded Riku, staring vacantly at her ceiling. "Just let me hang out here for a moment."
"What's wrong?"
The silver-haired just shook his head. "Not now."
I just don't want to be alone, he answered inside his mind.
From his periphery, he saw her blow air up to her bangs before turning back to what she was doing, hearing the scratching of her pen over paper as she made notes, every once in a while hearing her hum as she read a problem in her book. There was a calmness to her that he found soothing, different from the chaos of tussling with his brothers. And usually just basking in her silence would have an immediate effect, but he found his thoughts on Sora circling around in his mind.
How am I going to face him tomorrow? Or maybe I shouldn't. I have blitzball now and it's going to be very busy with the team. Does he hate me now? Well, it's Sora...of course he wouldn't. He's not that kind of person. But still... Damn it. I fucked things up real good.
He swam inside his mind, looking for purchase, something to fill the silence, to dissipate the nagging worries.
"We still haven't figured out a name," began Riku in an effort to distract himself.
"Hmm?" Aqua paused, looking up from mathematics with a puzzled expression. "What?"
"The team," clarified the silver-haired, glancing sidelong at her before quickly looking away again, lest she see what was really bothering him.
"Oh." The blue-haired chuckled. "You came all the way here looking gloomy and depressed just because your team doesn't have a name yet?"
"I was tired," replied Riku evasively, shrugging. "Practice was tiring."
"Uh-huh. You know, I never really thought you were that invested in blitzball."
"Yeah, well..."
"So, do you guys even have the correct number of people that's required to sign up to the league?"
"Yeah, once Zack Fair joined up, he roped in a whole bunch of other guys into the team."
Aqua laughed, rolling her blue eyes. "Why doesn't that surprise me."
A smile curved on Riku's lips. "Yeah, I don't know how he did it, but we got our team assembled."
"That's great. So, who's on it?"
"Tidus and Wakka, of course. Me, Zack, Cloud, Squall, and the twins from the grade below us: Roxas and Ventus."
"Nice. Well, I wish you guys the best."
"Thanks."
The blue-haired sighed. "You know, for a minute there when you came in you had me worried."
A slight frown furrowed Riku's pale brows and he couldn't help tensing up a bit. "About what?"
"Well, you've been very quiet for a while, even before you decided to play blitzball. But it looks like you've worked through what ever issue was bugging you and you're opening up again. I'm really glad."
He couldn't help releasing a chuckle, the wry grin fading into a grimace as he turned away from her gaze. Yeah, sure I did.
As his eyes landed on the window, he sat up abruptly in surprise. "What the hell?!"
On the other side of the glass, waving one hand vigourously was an energetic self-proclaimed ninja girl. "Hey, let me in!" she yelled, a big grin stretching her lips as she held onto the trellis that spanned the wall outside their rooms.
Aqua released a tired exhale as she rose, unlocking the window and sliding it open to let her friend through. "You know you could've just gone through the door like normal people."
"No way," responded Yuffie as she threw her backpack to the floor, then jumped from the ledge and dropped down on the bed beside Riku, draping her arms over his shoulders as she did so. "That's boring. Plus, I don't really feel like going through the triplet obstacle course downstairs."
"But at least that way you'll get to practice your mad ninja skills on them," teased the boy, playfully pulling at her dark bangs.
"Nah. This way of sneaking around is better. Besides, this way I get to witness forbidden love by catching you two in bed together. What will your neighbours think?"
"Don't really care. When you have Sephiroth for a dad, everything else becomes moot."
"You're so lucky." Yuffie perked up. "Speaking of, today's one of the days he washes his hair, right?"
"Huh?"
"I never catch him at it, and I've been wanting to see if he really does use up twenty bottles of shampoo and thirty bottles of conditioner in one go."
"That's crazy. Is that really what brought you here?"
"Yeah." Yuffie gave him a look as though there was nothing else in the world that could cause her to come to his house. And then she shrugged. "Well, that and I'm just trying to get away from Godo, like usual."
Aqua closed her window and made her way back to the bed, gathering her books and placing them on her desk, sitting down and continuing where she had left of as though she had never been interrupted. "Had another fight with your dad?" she asked.
"He was going on about sending me back to Wutai. What else is new?" retorted Yuffie as she flopped down on the mattress, tightening her hold on Riku and taking him down with her, stroking his hair afterwards.
As her slim fingers continuously wove through the silver strands, Riku felt comforted, his limbs lolling with every stroke. He couldn't help but feel grateful for this strange friendship he had with these two girls, wryly remembering all those times when they would draft him to join their keyblade-wielder and ninja dress-ups and tea parties, very different from the roughhousing that was the usual play with his brothers or Sora. At the very least, even for a moment, he managed to distract himself and forget his current predicament.
"Just so you know, I'm not a pet," he reminded her as he turned his head, green eyes closing at Yuffie's ongoing ministrations.
The dark-haired girl sighed dreamily. "Well, I have to content myself with you for now. Your hair may not be as long as your dad's, but it's still smooth and shiny."
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