Fan Fiction ❯ Prep and Punk ❯ So It's How It Is, Eh? ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything in this fanfic expect for the plot and my own characters. Thanks!

Author’s Note: Hello everyone. Thanks for all the reviews! I’m so excited! Thank you all again and enjoy this chapter.

Warnings: Strong Language and sexual situations.

(Note: This has not be beta-ed. Please excuse my errors. Also, for all the answers to your questions will be on my profile page. If you are curious as to know the answer go look there! Thank you!)

Enjoy!

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So That’s How It Is, Eh?

Sunday passed like a short simple ripple of water in a tiny pond. It was just like any other ripple, nothing to distinguish it from the others. That’s why Sora was just a little confused when his alarm clock awoke him from his slumber. The annoying ‘beep’ was finally silenced with a tap of the snooze button and the boy rolled out of bed. Feeling like a ton of bricks had landed on his spiky-haired head; Sora groaned and clutched his head in pain.

I feel like I have some sort of hangover…god…all I did was finish my Science Project last night even though it‘s due tomorrow…what’s today? Monday? Tuesday? No…Monday…yeah…I hate being an overachiever…

He ventured over toward his light switch, flipping it on and closing his eyes so the light wouldn’t burn his hardly awake eyes to nasty eye-goo. He leaned his body against his bedroom wall, eyelids drooping as sleep tried to reign his brain.

So…sleepy…

His body slowly slid down the side of the wall, landing into a crumbled heap. The brunette’s head was rested against the wall, arms wrapped around his slender body to become comfortable and he was! With the soft-carpeted floor beneath him to cushion his body and relax his tired muscles, who wouldn‘t be comfortable?

Sleep…

A few short minutes went by after that. Sora was softly snoring in his balled-up state, bangs fluttering against his closed eyelids as his breathing caused them to drift up and slowly float back down. He seemed so angelic at the moment…

That is…until the door swung open…

Thwack!

“AHH!”

A soft gasp was emitted from the doorway as the intruder stepped into the room. Sora was grimacing in pain, still half-asleep and trying to register what had just happened to cause the pain to his bleeding nose. Cobalt sluggishly revealed themselves as Sora gazed upon the culprit.

Chelsea?

Ugh…maids and their clumsiness…

“Master Sora! I am so sorry!” Instead of rushing over to his aid like any normal person would do, the girl stood in her spot, head bowed being as respectful and sorrowful as she could possibly be. It would have helped though if she helped him get up! It was the least she could have done!

“Ugh…” The brunette groaned, hand covered in his own blood as he cringed in disgust. What the hell?

What happened again?

His eyes moved towards the opened door and then closed as another wave of pain pervaded through his nose and up into his head, letting those ton of bricks become two tons.

Why me…?

“Master Sora! I’ll go get you some ice!” And with that the girl zoomed out of his room. Sora sighed as he heard the quick pitter-patter of her feet down the stairs.

Damn…those stairs weren’t THAT close to his bedroom…she was making a lot of noise.

Ugh…

He slowly lifted himself up, tiny droplets of blood seeping into the carpet. Hand holding his nose, Sora shook his head and made his way towards the bathroom, hoping his nose wasn’t broken or anything to that extreme. He doubted it though…since she always was so quiet and timid she really didn’t smack him too hard.

Alright…that was an understatement…

He knew he had no time for a bloody nose since it was a Monday. Usually every Monday the gang met at their secret spot at school and told each other the plans of the week. Last time he was late, Sora unfortunately missed the information of sleeping over at Selphie’s house on a Saturday…

Though he wasn’t crying over it. Selphie probably latched on to Tidus the whole time and made everyone do the chicken dance. Since that was how she always acted.

Hmmm…

The thought of her touching Tidus upset him…

No…Sora was just being paranoid.

It’s the past…it doesn’t matter…

Entering the bathroom, Sora gazed into the mirror, meeting weary eyes. It seemed his whole body sagged with exhaustion. That Science Project really kept him up last night…

Especially since I don’t know Riku so well and did the whole project anyway…

And what the brunette got was a beautiful board with different facts about everyone’s favorite planet Uranus. Hopefully, they would get a decent grade on it.

But it wasn’t entirely fair…Sora did do all the work.

I’ll just have to see if Riku did anything…with his dumbass-ness he probably didn’t do squat and expected me to do it anyway so he could get an easy ‘A’. Though it IS due tomorrow…he probably would do something if I gave him a chance…nah…he‘s not like that…

Well…if that was what was going to happen…Riku would not get any credit, after all…that wouldn’t be fair.

Sticking a few tissues into his nose, Sora sat on the closed toilet seat, chin in the palm of his hand as his elbow rested on his thigh. Geez…he was thinking too much.

It’s like one of those days when people wake up and their brains are on full blast even though they are half-asleep.

Today was just like that for Sora…

He didn’t like these sort of days…it was hard to go back to sleep when your brain was going at a rate of a million miles per hour. Though his eyes didn’t have a problem drooping when he felt the fatigue coming on finally. Just when his eyes were about to close a pack of ice hit him in the face.

Making him cry out in pain…

“AHHH! WHAT THE-”

“Oh! I’m sorry Master Sora! Did that hurt? I bet it did! Let me go get you-”

“No!” Taking the ice pack in one hand, Sora twitched his lips into a fake smile. Hopefully it was convincing…

And it was…the girl before him didn’t even notice as she bowed her head and gave him her deepest apologizes. Sora sent her on her way, watching her round the corner with a blush spread on her pale face, clearly embarrassed about the current situation.

Sora on the other hand was down right furious…

You would be too if your nose was practically bleeding out all the blood in your body!

Okay…that was an exaggeration…but just by a little…

So standing up and heading towards the mirror, he quickly pulled the tissues out of his nose and opened the lid of the toilet, throwing them into it and flushing the small toilet after. He watched the blood mingle with the water and it quickly flushed out of Sora’s sight. When he looked back into the mirror his nose seemed to be just fine, though there was a slight tinge of purple on the side of his nose. Whether it was from the door smacking him or the ice pack, Sora wasn’t quite sure.

Well…at least it isn’t broken…

Even if it was broken…he wouldn’t have been THAT mad…it really wasn’t Chelsea’s fault, though it could have been prevented, obviously.

Anyway, that wasn’t important anymore. What was important was getting ready for school to go meet his friends.

Easier said than done…

He rushed out of the bathroom, only stopping his fast pace when he had to stop to open his bedroom door. Chelsea must have come back to give him the ice pack and closed the door when she didn’t find him. He just wasted another few seconds of his time opening the stupid door! What next? He wouldn’t find any clothes and would have to be stuck wearing something his grandmother knitted him?

…

How ironic…

The brunette boy sighed in frustration as he searched through his piles of clothes (smelling each one of them) and grimacing with disgust. Why the hell were all his clothes dirty and why the hell did they smell like boy sweat?

Another servant happened to walk by the opened door and Sora called out to her. The blond stopped in her tracks and turned to face the young boy asking what she could do to help him.

“Why aren’t my clothes washed?”

The servant hesitated, twiddling her fingers as she gulped. “I’m sorry Master Sora, but it was the mistress’ order to let the servants take the weekend off…”

“Yet the cooks and such worked?” Sora was furious. His eyes narrowed a tad when the woman nodded her pretty little head.

“In the mistress’ immense happiness she decided to give us the weekend off, but yes. She needed the cooks to make your dinners. Have you not noticed that she has been out with Master Ansem the past weekend?”

Yes…he did notice…

And he also was fuming both inside and out. The maids were to wash the cloths every weekend, but since they were off Sora’s clothes were currently nasty. Hearing this new information did NOT lighten up his mood at all. What was he to do now?

I guess I can wear something twice…I bet other people do…and my clothes really don‘t smell too bad. It could work…

Wait…

What if Tidus hugged him and was appalled by the smell?

Shit…

“Alright…” Sora turned his back to the woman (after dismissing her and hearing her walk away), he headed towards his closet, opening it to search for something to wear. At least, he had to have one thing to wear…

And ten minutes later, Sora found some old (yet stylish) jeans shorts and a plain black t-shirt. He quickly dressed himself, heading to the mirror (after he grabbed his comb) once he was done to brush his hair. He ran the comb a few times through his hair, making it somewhat decent (but when was it ever decent?), his hair gave him the cuteness trait. Though he kind of hated being cute all the time, Sora wasn’t going to cry over it. It was just a name.

With usually tussled hair, his adorable blue eyes and his slender almost feminine body, who wouldn’t call him cute?

He rolled his eyes and huffed. He had more than his cuteness going for him. How else did he get Tidus?

Hmmm…

What did Tidus see in him anyway? All the dirty blond ever said was ‘You’re so adorable’ or…

That was pretty much it…

Tidus hadn’t ever once said, ’You’re so smart’ or ‘God you’re so sexy’…

Alright the latter might not EVER happen since Sora was just too cute to be sexy.

Ugh…why am I thinking about this right now? I have to get to school.

So he tugged on his shoes, grabbed his Science Project and last, but not least his book bag and rushed out of his room, the project in his hand smacking the walls of the hallway as he went. He stopped suddenly as he was reminded of something.

He had to brush his teeth…

Sora dropped his stuff and ran back into the hallway, sliding to the bathroom only to find…

Oh hell no…

The White-Haired Bastard?

What was he doing here…and in his BATHROOM?

“Umm…”

Silence.

What the hell was Sora suppose to say? ‘Hey White-Haired Bastard, what’s up? Can I brush my teeth while you screw my mother senseless in the other room? Yeah? Oh good thanks!’

Come on…Sora wasn’t stupid. By now he got the idea that his mother and the bastard were doing something more than kissing and whispering in each other’s ears.

But Sora could deny it with all his heart…

“Hello Sora.” The deep, wide-awake voice of The White-Haired Bastard greeted Sora with a small smile. “Am I in the way?”

Yeah…that and you’re in my fucking life…

“Yeah…kind of…” The brunette looked over to the sink where his toothbrush was resting in a small blue cup. His gaze went back to the man leaning on the sink looking at the mirror. His white hair was slightly knotted as if someone grasped those white strands in their hands and tangled them between their fingers. He seemed tired, almost like he was drained from doing something Sora was trying so hard to deny. Those damn orange eyes pierced Sora’s heart with fury and…

Sora had to get out of there.

“I’ll use the other bathroom!” And with that, Sora reached for his toothbrush and ran out the room with it, leaving the bastard with a smirk on his tanned face.

This is so screwed up…

And it was true. Sora couldn’t help, but fume inside when he saw the man. Seriously, his mother needed a huge rude awakening. Because…

This couldn’t go on forever…

The White-Haired Bastard was NOT going to become Sora’s new father.

Sora wanted to prove his dream wrong…

Okay…go brush your teeth and get to school, you’ll be fine. Today will be better than the weekend.

The brunette held on to those words as he quickly brushed his teeth in another bathroom. He had too much to worry about other than the matter at hand. There was school, friends, a new boyfriend, Riku…

God…what was he going to do with Riku?

Where would they be during the ‘manners’ lesson, today? Would Sora chance it and let Riku come over to his house?

Hmmm…

It didn’t really matter about which house they would meet at. Sora had been in a punk’s house before and that was the King’s house. How much different was the Prince’s house from Leon’s house?

Punks probably aren’t even that different…they like the same stuff so wouldn’t their lives be the same? Right, anyway time for school.

So Sora rushed out of the bathroom, grabbing his things he left in the hallway. He ran down the stairs, unaware how the day would go.

Let’s just keep him unaware, shall we?

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“Riku-Riku? Are you wearing your new pair of underwear?”

Sigh.

“Yes mom…” Averting his gaze away from his sickeningly happy mother, Riku tried to get past her and out the door.

One: Because he would be late for school again.

And…

Two: He really wasn’t wearing his new underwear.

Anyway, why should he? It wasn’t like he wanted to walk around with Donald Duck on his ass all day. The reason why he wanted to get out so badly is because his mother would pull down his pants and check…

Because she was just crazy like that…

“Well…let me see them then.” She crossed her arms to her chest, tapping her foot on the carpeted floor, head tilted to the side giving him an ‘I-know-you-too-well’ look and to match it was a cocky smirk.

Damn…

He pulled out his cell phone to stall for time and flipped it open, staring at the little numbers.

7:10...he had ten minutes to get to school.

“Mom! I have no time for this! Don’t you have to go to work today?”

She shook her head as her smirk widened. “I took the day off.”

Shit…what am I gonna do now?

“I need to go mom! I have ten minutes to get to school!” With a grunt, Riku tried once again to get passed his mother, but her hand rested gracefully on his shoulder and she spun him around, one hand on the pocket of his pants to hold him in place.

“Riku-Riku! It’ll take two seconds! Just one quick down and up again! Please?” Riku could see those baby blue eyes becoming teary as he glared at his mother. He froze, fidgeting.

Well…why not? It’s not like anyone would see his underwear anyway…

So sighing, Riku dropped his book bag and raced up to his room, changing into his new underwear…

God what was he? A fucking mushy-ass?

Yep…that was definitely what he was…

So sad really…

And as Riku rounded the corner to his room, Gin grinned, clasping her hands together in pure joy.

The thing was…women always had men wrapped around their fingers…and Riku-Riku was no exception. It was just so funny to see her son look so sad that he lied to her! It was like Christmas that had come early!

Giggling, she smiled at her only son as he raced back down the stairs and grabbed his book bag, kissing his mother good bye and dashing off to school.

Hehehehe…how cute. I guess now I’ll go buy a pair of those Minnie Mouse underwear today! Won’t he be so surprised!

So with a new goal, Gin set out to go get that pair of underwear for her lovely son.

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BBBBRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN NNNNNNNGGGG!!!!

“AHHHH!” Pushing the music room’s door open, Riku literally fell flat on his face as he jumped into the room so he wouldn’t be late. His book bag flew to one side and he rolled onto his stomach, pants loosening around his waist and dropping down to his knees. Everyone in the class just stared, the only one laughing was Zell, who was punched by Seifer that was beside him. Riku rubbed the side of his face that he so gracefully fell on and chanced a glance up towards Ms.Weimar, who was glaring at the Prince with her arms crossed. She cleared her throat and pointed to an empty chair that was beside Leon. Riku placed his book bag away and shuffled over (pulling his pants up with a blush scribbled on his cheeks), plopping himself on the said chair.

Poke. Poke. Poke. Pokepokepokepokepokepoke.

If Riku’s brow twitched any harder he thought that it would twitch off his face and punch the owner’s finger for annoying him. The silver-haired boy growled, rotating sharply around to face the one he would attack. Zell instantly cowered back, eyes wide with fear.

“What do you want?!”

Zell chuckled nervously, holding his hands up in a defensive manner. “I was just about to say…nice underwear…”

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

Seifer grinned, snickering at the boy in front of him that was about to explode from both embarrassment and anger. The oldest blonde would have loved to see it happen since Music was just fucking boring. Ms.Weimar wanted them to play some shitty song and Seifer just wanted to go back to last week were they got to pick their own songs.

“Before you explode you dumbass, I have good news.”

The younger boy stopped, hands gripping the back of the chair in anger now releasing their hold to relax. Riku gave Seifer a questioning glance and Zell nodded, vigorously punching the air with excitement.

“Yeah! Quistis is gonna drive us to the Club Friday. So no need to tell the parents a thing!”

Riku smirked. Interesting…

“Hmmm…are we all going to ride in that little car of hers? It’s only supposed to fit three people…” Leon commented, crossing his arms as he joined the conversation.

“Err…yeah, but we can fit!”

“Yeah.” Seifer sniggered, gaze now focused on Zell. “You can sit on my lap.”

Crossing his arms and glaring at the blonde beside him, Zell rolled his eyes and flicked Seifer off, causing the older of the two to laugh aloud. This caused Ms. Weimar to notice the group talking amongst themselves. She raised her finger to yell at the group, but she watched the group laugh (minus Leon of course) as Zell pouted and punched Seifer in the arm. She sighed, placing a hand over her face. Even if she said something…it wasn’t like they would listen.

“Class, get your music out and practice…I’m going into my office.”

Everyone obeyed and a symphony of paper shuffling commenced. Everyone began to practice while the group continued to talk. The teacher walked out the room and into her office where she looked for some peace.

After everyone was set up in their own separate groups, the band continued to talk (besides Leon who was docile as usual) oblivious to their teacher leaving.

“Hey Zell. Do we have practice today?”

“Yeah, remember? Everyday besides tomorrow. I have a boxing match against some dumbass that can’t swing for shit! Easy win.” The drummer shrugged, showing little concern towards the matter. He gave Riku a confused look. “Why? Can’t make it?”

“Nah it’s not that…” How to tell them…

“I’m gonna have to bring someone with me, okay with you?”

Zell perked up, pushing himself to the edge of his stool. “Really? Who is it?”

Shit…

“It’s…err…a surprise!” Well…it seemed like a good comeback!

Leon’s eyes narrowed a tad as he strummed his bass guitar absentmindedly. Seifer on the other hand had enough information to tease the Prince insistently.

“Aww, is the Prince of Ducks scared of us not liking this person?” Seifer wiggled his eyebrows and placed a hand on Riku’s shoulders, which the said boy shrugged off harshly. “Come on! Is it a girl?”

The Prince rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “No.”

“Ah! Then our Prince is definitely gay!” Sniggering and a sly smirk from Seifer caused Riku to glare dangerously towards the eldest blonde.

“My dumbass uncle placed me in his care. Now, he’ll be coming with me. When he gets there do what you want with him, I honestly don’t give a fuck.” Shrugging his shoulders to emphasize his point, Riku turned his back on the smirking blonde, sighing as he strummed ‘Something’ silently. “I doubt you would like him…he’s a real brat.”

“What’s his name?” Zell asked, tapping one of his drums quietly, “He’s probably hot, right?”

Err…how to tell them this…

“No…he’s more…err…straying to the opposite side of hotness…”

“Aw! That sucks…he must be a ugly nerd then…”

The group let out a little chuckle. All expect Riku who veered his gaze away, biting his lower lip. When you see him you might think again Zell…he’s not ugly at all…nor is he a nerd…Leon won’t be happy at all when I bring Sora. He’ll be pissed beyond pissed. Shit…this won’t be a good practice.

“Why so quiet all of a sudden, Riku?” Zell poked Riku with one of his drumsticks and Riku smirked, playing off his quietness as if it was nothing. The Prince assured his friends that it was nothing and he opened his music folder on his stand. He flipped through the many pieces of sheet music from different songs. He sighed, glancing at the song they were to play, some song called ‘Simple and Clean’. Great…it sounded all mushy and crap.

“Do you guys really wanna play this song? It’s songs girly and shit.”

“Nah…not really. Wanna practice for Friday?” Seifer yawned, gloved hand covering his mouth as his obvious boredom radiated off of his entire being. Zell fidgeted, tapping a drumstick on his forehead, deep in thought.

“Well…what song should we play? We have a whole list to chose from.”

Riku blinked, looking through his folder again to look for the list of songs and their sheet music. Riku grinned as he found one, taking it out and staring at it. “How about this one?”

Zell took it from Riku’s hand and blushed, glancing away. “Nah Riku…we’re at school…Ms. Weimar will get pissed.”

“Screw Ms. Weimar!” Seifer said and took the song from Zell, earning a stern glare from the younger blonde. “Ahhh…this is the song I wrote. Hehehe…nice…I think we should, I bet Principal Seph would love to see his favorite nephew again, right?”

Riku shuddered and flicked Seifer off. “That bastard is sometimes so protective it’s creepy.”

Leon shook his head, seizing the song from Seifer. “This is a bit…provocative…”

“All the better!” Riku boasted, puffing his chest with a big grin spread across his face. “It’ll be better to practice something we’ll need for the future, right? I bet after the club we’ll be famous beyond any of those shit heads out there!”

The other three members of the band were suddenly reserved, which made Riku slump his shoulders, clearly discouraged from the silence. What were his friends’ problems anyway? Did he say something wrong?

“Well…let’s practice then.” Leon shrugged, handing Riku the lyrics and waiting for the sheet music. When everyone was handed their proper paper, they settled themselves and Riku cleared his throat, preparing himself to start the song off.

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“…and that is what an adjective is. Questions?”

The classroom was silent, all except the ticking of the clock. Sora sighed in boredom, having already known what an adjective was. This was like Preschool to him. He let his gaze sweep through the classroom. He smiled as people were either doodling on their paper, staring at the wall in sheer boredom, or Selphie who was giggling as she watched Tidus sleeping from the boring lecture.

The dirty blonde’s head was propped on the side of the wall, making some strands of hair shift to the side to cover his tan face. His mouth was slightly ajar and his chest rose and fell with each breath he took. Sora shook his head and tried once again to pay attention to the newest substitute, since once again his teacher was out taking care of her dying sister (which Sora thought was really sad).

Ten more minutes passed when the sub started talking about prepositions. Sora placed his chin in the palm of his hand. This was just ridiculous. They were all in English Three and all of the class was juniors, if they didn’t know what a preposition was then they needed to go back to elementary school. This substitute was just plain stupid…didn’t she follow the lesson plans at all?

His cobalt-eyed gaze drifted over towards the clock hanging on the wall to his left. It was about five minutes till the bell would ring. It was so close…

“…and that’s how you use a preposition in a sentence. Any questions?”

When the class didn’t answer again, the sub clasped her hands together with delight. “You guys are just so smart! Maybe it’s my teaching, I want to become a teacher so badly! Maybe English is my calling!”

Some of the class groaned and the rest were silent.

BANG.

“SHIT!”

Everyone turned towards the loud sound and the person who voiced the vulgar word. Sora frowned as Tidus rubbed his forehead and grinned sheepishly, chuckling rather nervously.

“Err…sorry about that.”

The substitute blinked and shrugged her shoulders, disregarding Tidus as if he wasn’t in the class all together. The bell finally rang and everyone quickly rushed out of the classroom.

Sora waited up for Tidus, who was packing up his stuff and shrugging his book bag over his shoulder. Sora chuckled as his boyfriend made his way over to him, his figure an untidy heap. Tidus’ hair was tousled, sticking out every which way and he had a slight tinge of red on his forehead. Sora smiled, looking up into his boyfriend’s eyes.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

Sora shook his head, reassuring Tidus there was nothing wrong at all. They began to walk towards second period, passing a hyperactive blonde known as Rikku to everyone at the school. She had to be the nicest, most optimistic person in the whole school. Sora talked to her sometimes, but it wasn’t very often, though Tidus talked to her a lot, asking questions about Yuna and when she would be having a concert here…

Hopefully, Tidus was over Yuna and moved on to Sora. Sora really wouldn’t want to hear about Yuna when they were making out or something…

Sora blushed, he needed to get his mind out of the gutter.

They entered Dr. Streator’s class just before the bell rang. The two took their seats and Dr. Streator began his lesson, picking up from where he left off on Friday.

The class passed by quickly. Sora and Tidus passed notes the whole time, planning the week out. Tidus had Blitz ball try-outs and since he was a co-captain (with Wakka as the other captain of course), the dirty blond was booked the whole week, scheduling practices and whatever else they had to do. Sora wasn’t the athletic type, he would leave that to Tidus.

It didn’t matter too much…Sora had to be with Riku the whole week anyway. The Prince and Tidus…wow…if Sora even told Tidus that he was even going to be near the Prince…let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty.

Obviously since those two can’t even be in the same room with each other. I’ll let Tidus know when these stupid ‘manners’ lessons are over. What’s the point in them anyway?

Sora was just over his head in this one. He could never teach Riku to have any kind of manners. It was impossible. The Prince of Punks was just too…himself. Sora was definitely screwed.

“Hey, are you even listening?”

The couple was standing outside of Sora’s third period (since Tidus kindly walked his boyfriend to class) and Tidus was waving his hand in front of Sora’s face to get his attention. Sora chuckled, scratching the back of his spiky head, sheepishly.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” Tidus smiled, reaching out for Sora’s hand and grasping it. He ran his thumb gingerly over the brunette’s tan hand and Sora couldn’t help but blush. He dropped his project onto the ground not even caring to give it a second glance. The brunette swept his gaze around the hallway, spotting people staring at the new couple with curiosity. Sora’s blush deepened and he focused back onto Tidus. They stared into each other’s eyes, both of them in a trance as Tidus slowly lowered his head to brush those delicate lips that belonged to his sweet brunette…

But…the moment was ruined by one simple problem.

The Prince.

“Hey get out the fucking way!”

Tidus froze, eyes narrowed as he turned his head to look at the one who interrupted one of his precious moments with his boyfriend. The dirty blond was ready to strike until Sora hastily pulled him to the side, letting Riku have the entrance he desired.

“Hey, maybe Rich Boy over there is good for something.” Riku snickered and a smirk began to play on his lips. “I just wish you had some common sense Sora. Picking dumbass over there wasn’t the greatest choice.”

Tidus stood fuming, only thing holding him back was Sora, who had two arms wound tightly around his boyfriend, keeping him away from the taunting Prince. Riku just laughed, before entering the classroom and disappearing from the other two’s sight.

“Bastard…” Tidus growled, unwrapping Sora from his body and turning to face the brunette. “If he does anything to you, let me know…I’ll-”

“I doubt it. Go to class and I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” Sora smiled and innocently looked up into Tidus’ eyes, Tidus averted his gaze away, clearly frustrated at the situation. When Sora knew he wasn’t cheering his boyfriend up, he put on his best grin. “David is bringing your favorite today…”

“Checkers?”

Sora nodded, seeing his boyfriend’s blue eyes grow calm. With a small goodbye, Sora left his boyfriend, picked up his project and went into the classroom, taking his seat.

Cid looked even grumpier today than he did on Friday and Sora instantaneously frowned. Cid was probably just going to assign them busy work, which Sora hated. Cid liked to give at least five pages with more than twenty questions on each for the whole period. Even if he worked on it without any interruptions, he would have at least two pages or more to finish at home. Sora hated homework…

Sora looked down to the project that leaned beside his desk and riveted his gaze over towards Riku, who was idly tapping his pencil on the desk, staring off into space. The brunette’s eyes narrowed. Why was Riku so…himself? It was so annoying! Sora crossed his arms and averted his gaze away…what was he going to do…

“Sora!”

The said boy snapped up, stiffening slightly. The gruff voice of his teacher pulled him out of his thoughts harshly. Cid needed to chill.

“Yes sir?”

Cid crossed his arms, foot tapping on the tiled floor impatiently. “I said to get in your group…it doesn’t look like lazy ass over here is getting up any time soon.” The older man pointed at the still dazed Riku, still off in ‘La-La Land’. Sora nodded numbly, picking up his project and heading over towards Riku who planted his attention on the approaching brunette.

“You finished the project already? I was thinking we would do it today…” The Prince looked just as tired as Sora and this made the cinnamon-haired boy become confused. It was Monday though…everyone was as equally tired. Whatever.

“Yeah, I like to finish things early…besides…” Sora paused. He didn’t want to be rude and tell Riku that he couldn’t trust him doing anything. “…it means I have more time to teach you manners.”

Riku huffed and shook his head, a small smirk adorning his lips. “I didn’t think you would actually take interest in what the principal said…”

“I’m doing it so we can get this over with.” It came out before Sora had a chance to think about it. Riku shrugged and turned away, though something flashed in his jade eyes for a spilt second. What was it? Sora couldn’t tell…

“Yeah, well it’s not like I want to hang around you anyway Rich Boy.” The silver-haired Prince snapped back and Sora bit his lip, remaining silent. Sora deserved that comment anyway for the rude remark he made towards Riku.

Sora watched with slight interest as Riku took out a sheet of paper, beginning to write something down. Sora’s eyes scanned the lyrics that he was writing and the brunette cocked his head to the side.

I’m tired and I’ve fallen

I can’t get off the ground…

Wow that’s not bad so far…

But the Prince finally noticed the other boy staring in his direction and he covered his paper with his hands, giving Sora a cruel glare. Sora blinked, wondering why Riku was so angry over something so stupid. Sora just looked at his paper…it wasn’t a big deal.

“You shouldn’t look at someone’s lyrics until they’re done, dumbass.” A fierce sneer followed as Sora shrugged it off as if it was nothing. At that precise moment, Riku rolled his eyes and continued to write, postponing the moment when they would have to discuss the topic of the ‘Manners Lessons’ again. Maybe if Riku scared Sora with his death glares than the brunette wouldn’t want anything to do with him, though disobeying Sephiroth was a heavy price to pay and Riku knew that all too well.

“Sorry…” Sora whispered and began to make the finishing touches on the project.

Some time passed after that and Riku almost finished his lyrics while Sora had long finished the project. There wasn’t much to do. The younger boy scoped his gaze around the room, groups were touching up their projects just like he had and they talked amicably, with big smiles. He then looked over towards Cid, where the grumpy teacher had his arms crossed in concentration. Sora felt bad for his teacher. Cid was a pretty cool teacher (despite his wandering language), but Sora loved this class and it was all because Cid made it come together. The brunette sighed and riveted his gaze back to Riku, who was so engrossed with writing his lyrics that Sora couldn’t contain his fascination with the fact that Riku was actually smiling…smiling.

Sora shook his head and ventured his gaze over towards the clock, sighing in boredom. Why was the time going so slowly? There was still forty-five minutes until the bell rang for lunch and mixed with boredom, it was hard for Sora to contain the screaming he wanted to do. It was so boring!

“Argh!” The brunette finally growled, clutching his spikes in exasperation.

Riku silently looked up from his lyrics and cocked a silver eyebrow at the boy across from him. Shaking his head, the Prince finally decided that it was time to talk about arrangements for today’s lessons.

“Hey, is it alright if you come over to my house today after school?” Not hinting anything about band practice, Riku continued. “My parents won’t be home and I doubt you want me in your house anyway.”

Sora flinched, he didn’t want to be rude, but Sora didn’t want Riku at his house. It just didn’t seem right. He didn’t want to overwhelm the Prince in the least with all his fanciness and bringing him to his house…it just would cause too many problems.

“I see…” Riku witnessed the brunette’s flinching and averted his gaze away, eyes locked onto his paper. They didn’t talk again for about twenty minutes. Feeling shamed and embarrassed, Sora couldn’t even look at Riku. How could Sora be so rude?

“Why so quiet Rich Boy? I can’t say your boyfriend caught your tongue.” Riku chuckled, but kept his eyes on his paper, scribbling something down. Sora blushed, but shook his head.

“At least I have someone to catch my tongue.” What the hell was Sora even saying?

“Ouch, that really hurt Rich Boy.” The silver-haired boy across from Sora grinned and sniggered. “I never thought I would hear that from someone like you.”

“You don’t know me that well then.” Was Sora wanting to start a fight with the Prince? It seemed that way, with all these comments, Sora wouldn’t be surprised if Riku sent his ‘posse’ on the innocent Prep. The brunette frowned and crossed his arms, remaining silent so as not to offend Riku anymore.

A few more stretched out minutes until Riku spoke again.

“You still didn’t answer my question…”

“Huh?”

“Is it cool with you to come over to my place?”

“Err…I guess so.”

“I’m just warning you now…” Riku paused and smirked. “It’s not what you’re used to. I don’t have any fancy things and what I do have is pretty old.” Riku’s lips drooped into a frown when something flashed into his eyes. “Seph might make an appearance.”

“Why would the principal show up at your house like that? Isn’t that like…stalking?”

The first thing Riku did was pause, his eyes widening in the process and then a smile stretched across his face. Finally (not being able to hold it in any longer) the prince began to laugh, slowly and deeply. Sora blinked, very confused about the whole thing. However, the laughing continued until it got into a fast-paced rhythm and the older boy couldn’t stop. Riku clutched his stomach and everyone in the class began to stare at the duo.

Riku waved the matter off and took in a deep breath, finally calming down.

“I never heard that one before.”

“Why were you laughing? Did I say something funny?”

When Riku glanced up, jade met cobalt and in those beautiful eyes Riku could see the confusion in those deep depths of blue. On the other hand, Sora saw amusement and he narrowed his eyes, trying to put the puzzle together.

“You really don’t know, do you? After three years of being in this high school…wow…Sora you really are a dumbass!”

“Hey!” Pouting, Sora looked away. “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about! Why do you have to keep making fun of me!”

“Aw, don’t take it personally Rich Boy.” Riku said, running a pale hand through his hair. “I make fun of everyone.”

I would have never guessed. “That doesn’t mean you can make fun of me!”

“What are you gonna do about it? Tell your little boyfriend and have him knock me out? You already tried that Sora and it didn’t go so well.” Not like it would have anyway.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen!” He should have said he tried to stop it, maybe even tried to reassure Riku that he didn’t hate the teen so severely.

Riku’s eyes, however, steadily became glacial.

“Whatever…it doesn’t matter.”

Sora stayed silent, afraid he might say something that could make the bitter Prince angrier. He studied Riku as the silver-haired boy pulled out another sheet of paper and began to write on it. Sora noticed Riku was very tense today, even though there were a few actions ( i.e. ‘Let’s-torture-Sora-and-his-boyfriend-from-outside-of-the-class room’)that made Sora think that the Prince was perfectly fine, but when he really looked, Sora knew there was something wrong.

There was a bruise on his right cheek…

That must have been where Tidus hit him…

And Sora assumed right, that was where Tidus did hit the Prince and the said Prince tried to cover it up with some make-up. It might go unnoticed by others, but Sora would feel guilty for the rest of the day.

I bet he feels like a pussy for not finishing Tidus…or even being so off guard that he didn’t notice until it was too late that Tidus was there to beat him up.

Sora shuddered. It was still all his fault. If Sora had not said anything…this would have never happened.

BRRRRIIINNNNGGGGG!!!

“Alright see you guys later…” Cid grumbled and Sora placed his project over on the far side of the wall, so he wouldn’t have to carry it around all day. When he turned to leave the classroom, Riku was waiting for him.

“Meet me after school by the student parking lot. I’ll take you to my house.”

“Sure.”

The Prince turned and left.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“Hey Sora! Why so quiet?” It was Wakka who voiced the question in his heavy accent and Sora shrugged continuing to eat his cheeseburger from Checkers. Tidus looked worried and a hand rested on Sora’s knee in response. Sora jumped, clearly startled by the small touch.

“He’s really jumpy too!” Selphie commented, eating her sandwich that she packed for lunch. “He’s never this quiet! Maybe he’s sick!”

Sora shook his head, a fake smile spread across his face. “Nah, I’m just tired.” Which wasn’t entirely false, in fact, Sora felt so tired that he just wanted to sleep and never wake up, but he was mostly quiet because he was thinking.

The Prince of Punks really had gotten to him. Made him think about other things, Sora wouldn’t normally think about. Tidus, for one, was on his mind right now. Sora was betraying his boyfriend’s trust by not telling him about these ‘manners lessons’ and when Tidus finds out (which Sora hoped he didn’t), there was a chance Tidus would be so mad that he would break up with Sora and never want to speak to him again.

Sora wouldn’t know what to do if that happened.

Then that lead to Sora’s private life. His mother wasn’t as bitter, but she was even more inattentive as ever with The White-Haired Bastard constantly around her. It practically suffocating him to see them together so much. It hurt his heart too when Yumi would desert Sora and spend all her time with the bastard, falling in love all over again like a little schoolgirl.

It scared Sora…

Though he would never voice his fears and thoughts, it was quite clear that Sora would soon be so wrapped up in everything that it would make him go insane, which he did not want in the slightest. There was so much going on…Sora just wished everything was back to normal.

Though for Sora…this was just the beginning…and he had no clue what was in store for him.

The hand on his knee retreated back to it’s owner (to Sora’s relief) and Tidus asked him if he was alright again. Sora nodded, reassuring his boyfriend everything was just peachy. Tidus just let it go, joining in a conversation that Wakka, Selphie and Kairi were engaged in. Though everyone was easily convinced that Sora would be okay (because when was Sora ever not okay?) there was still one person that saw through the façade.

Cloud.

The reserved King gazed upon Sora, making the brunette shudder mentally. Those blue eyes…they were slightly frightening and…were they glowing? Oh…seriously creepy.

Sora continued to eat his food, every now and then pausing for Tidus as he ate French fries out of the younger boy’s greasy Checker’s bag. His gaze roamed, trying to avoid the King’s glowing blue gaze. His cobalt eyes stopped at the Punk table where one of them ( a Senior with a tattoo on his cheek) was trying to catch grapes in his mouth. One of the only Punk girls, Yuddie (or something like that), was laughing and flicking raisins at the Prince himself. When he was about to look away, Riku suddenly caught Sora’s gaze on him.

Err…I should stop staring…he’s probably thinking I’m a freak for looking at him for like ten minutes…

But Sora couldn’t turn away. Something about the way Riku’s eyes gleamed made Sora squirm. He always had that ‘Come-Hither’ look about him, but his eyes…they were so inviting. The question was…why?

“Hey Sora? Whatcha starin’ at?”

It was Selphie who asked him the question and she was also the one that saved him from the powerful stare that was from the Prince of Punks. He mentally thanked her and smiled (though she was utterly oblivious). He told her that he had seen something that caught his eye. When she asked him what was so interesting to stare at for over ten minutes, Sora blushed.

“It’s nothing really.” Unless you call a full-blown staring contest with your ‘supposed’ enemy ‘nothing’.

She went back to her conversation and Sora was left to think. Was Riku really his enemy? Sure, Tidus and Riku fought, but did that make Sora hate him? Sora shook his head. In a way, it was both yes and no. Sora hated the fact that his boyfriend and the Prince fought, but on the other hand, Sora couldn’t say he hated him anymore. Well…unless he counted all those pranks and such, but he had gotten over those. They weren’t that bad anyway.

What was Sora saying?!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

“Riku! Riku! Riku!”

Twenty minutes after lunch, Riku was sitting in Saunders’ classroom and was being prodded by the hyperactive blonde that sat next to him. The pencil’s eraser continued to jab his skin. Riku’s eye twitched. This was the last straw.

“RIKKU!” Snatching the pencil from the girl’s hand, she giggled, but shortly stopped when a shadow loomed over the Prince’s figure.

“Mr. Riku.” The voice drawled out, causing Riku to narrow his eyes. “Didn’t I say to get to work?”

“I don’t know, did you?”

When Riku rotated toward his Trig teacher, the boy smirked. Saunders’ lip was twitching and Riku swore that if the teacher ever brought a gun to school…Riku would be the first to go.

“Get to work Riku!” The Jim Carry-wannabe was trying to control his anger and the Prince crossed his arms, shaking his head as if to say ‘tsk-tsk Saunders’. When the older male saw it he immediately turned away, shuffling over toward his computer.

There was a long silence until…

“Hehehehe! Nice job!” The blonde beside him continued to giggle even though at least ten minutes had passed since the incident.

“Rikku, you’re slow as hell.” Riku whispered, sighing as he tried to do the math work he had asked another student about. Since he couldn’t listen to Saunders’ lecture (though there really wasn’t ANY lecturing done), Riku gritted his teeth in frustration. Trig was so stupid! What was it going to do? Pay his bills?

The class passed even slower than Riku assumed. When twenty more minutes flew by, he decided to give up. What was the point anyway?

So he pulled out a sheet a paper and began organizing a plan for the Friday Night performance. Even though the boy couldn’t wait, there was much preparation to be done, so much in fact that when he talked to Quistis in AP Bio she was practically stressing out over the whole thing (which wasn’t her style at all). Riku decided that he would at least lend a hand to help the blonde. He would organize what songs they would do and in what order. If there was anything else that he wanted to be done than all he had to do was address Quistis and it would be done. Simple as that.

He scribbled a few ideas onto the paper, contemplating on how each song would sound after one another. Would he go from a slow song to a faster one? Or would he do fast songs and then at the end slow songs? Now he understood why Quistis was so worn out. Even picking songs was a challenge.

Another ten minutes went by when Riku decided on what songs they were to do. At least he had finished that. Another ten minutes and the order was decided with some doubt, Riku didn’t want to screw up their first job of the year or…well…pretty much ever. Birthday parties don’t really count. Especially when all they sang were baby songs ( I.e. ‘Mary had A Little Lamb). At least, Ellone was thrilled.

“Hey Riku, did you get number forty-three?”

The Prince chuckled and shook his head. “Do you honestly think I would do any of this crap?” For emphasis, Riku flashed a blank piece of paper into the blonde’s face and grinned.

Rikku shook her head in a ‘tsk-tsk’ manner and wagged her finger at the lazy Prince. Her voice became deeper, as if she was mocking a male, “Now Riku, that’s no way to go about you life. Remember, your decisions might affect you later on. They might even decide if you die or not and another thing-” She leaned in so closely to the boy’s face that he could smell her spearmint bubblegum breath. “I’m watching you!”

The boy shivered and shook his head. “Wow…you imitated my uncle perfectly.” When the girl beside him squealed a laugh, Riku rolled his eyes and flicked her arm, signaling for her to quiet herself. “Do you always have to be so loud?”

She nodded. “Hehehehe! When am I not loud?”

True…

“Hello Destiny High! It’s Tifa and Leblanc here to give you the day’s annocenments!” There was girly laughter for a moment until Leblanc cut in.

“Girls! Girls! Girls! Remember cheerleading tryouts this week! You have all week to prepare-” Riku had tuned the rest out until he had heard from Tifa:

“It’s almost the end of the month and next month is rolling around! Remember, sign up for the Talent show or buy your tickets this week in the Cafetria! Tickets will be sold during all lunches and now back to Leblanc!”

Again Riku tuned out the annoying blonde anchor that decided talking about the Mascarade Ball, he sighed and packed up his things. The annocentments seemed extra long today, as if everything was happening this week or next month (which was practically true). When would those stupid girls shut up?

“Now to a very special annocenment made by our very own Quistis Trepe!”

Riku perked up and when he looked over at Rikku, she did the same. Quistis never made annocenments in public, what was so important?

“Hello my fellow students. I would like to inform you of the concert that Club Oblivion is hosting. Our favorite band, ‘The Broken Hearts’ will be performing this Friday, so seeing you there would be a wonderful honor. Remember, this Friday at 8:00 p.m. Thank you.”

Everything suddenly became quiet. Riku’s heart had stopped beating. What was Quistis thinking? Did she want the whole school coming to the concert to give him a heart attack? Nerves suddenly struck him in his gut, causing him to grab his shirt and take a deep breath. Why was he feeling so nervous? It wasn’t like him at all.

“Hey Riku, are you okay?” The blonde besides the boy poked him to get his attention. When the silver-haired prince didn’t answer, Rikku frowned. “Err…Riku?”

“Well Riku…” Saunders stood from his chair and made his way towards the wide-eyed Prince. “Your ‘band’ is performing. I might just go to it.” The teacher laughed, triggering a glare from Riku. “I hope you’ll play something people want to hear. I--”

BRRRRIIINNNGGGG!!!

Salvation!

Riku rushed out of the math hellhole and proceeded towards his locker on the other side of school. He weaved his way through the crowd, bumping into a few people roughly. He didn’t care if anyone was in the way, he wanted out of the school. Now!

It took him a few more minutes to get to his locker, but he opened it with ease as he finished entering the combination. He dropped his book bag onto the floor and opened it, placing whatever books he didn’t need into his locker. He finished quickly and slammed it closed. When he turned to face the crowded hallway, Riku was confronted with stares all fixed on him. Some people were whispering to their peers, a group of girls were giggling and ogling him from the sidelines. Suddenly, Riku’s nervousness floated away and his cockiness replaced it.

“Hey Riku! This is so freakin’ awesome!”

Zell’s voice overpowered the large group of students and the hyperactive blonde made his way towards Riku, grinning and punching the air with pride. He backslapped Riku and pulled the prince towards his side, but in a friendly manner. A small group of students formed around the two boys and they all talked at once, asking questions that the Prince couldn’t possibly answer since they were all coming at him at once. Zell dragged him away from the horde of people and lead him out into the student parking lot, where he knew the others were waiting for them.

Riku remained silent, words couldn’t be spoken at the moment. He was still in shock. His ego just had a sudden boost and the Prince was enjoying it. He was REALLY enjoying, even though he seemed like he was a lifeless corpse being dragged by the hyper drummer that still bounced around enthusiastically, Riku was feeling awesome!

They arrived in the crowded parking lot where there was a jumble of cars trying to escape the school grounds in a hurry through a narrow exit. The symphony of honking horns and music from different cars created a diverse feeling in the busy place. He could clearly make out Leon on his motorcycle, Seifer on top of Quistis’ car, which the said girl was in the driver’s seat, and lastly Yuffie, who was on the trunk of the car, zealously talking to the two male seniors that seemed to have different expressions.

Leon’s was emotionless, his lips drawn in a thin line. While Seifer was laughing and grinning as he waved to people that called out his name. Riku assumed Seifer was happy about Quistis revealing the concert and he was definitely ecstatic from all the attention (as if he didn’t get enough already).

Zell ran ahead and met up with the gang, Riku smiled and shook his head. What a day…

“RIKU! WAIT RIKU!”

Just as Riku had gotten to the car, he had heard his name. He turned to face the breathless Sora dashing towards him. After almost getting hit by a car (which left the brunette to tremble like a little dog), Sora had finally made it towards the car. Riku could feel the group’s stare on him and Riku’s shoulders tensed, knowing exactly what they were thinking.

What.The.Hell.

“Sorry I’m late…” Sora paused to catch his breath before he continued. “I had to tell Tidus I wasn’t-”

“Riku…what the hell is he doing here?” It was Seifer’s deep voice that interrupted Sora so rudely (though Seifer didn’t care in the least). The blonde leaped off the top of the car and gracefully walked over to the Prince and the brunette. Sora cowered slightly under Seifer’s heated green gaze. The eldest blonde was studying the Prep with interest and he grinned maliciously. He reached a gloved hand towards the brunette and pulled him closer. Sora blushed and tried to get away, but Seifer’s unrelenting grip held Sora tight. Seifer bent low towards Sora’s ear and whispered softly, “Hey there…” To Sora, Seifer’s voice was carried into his ears like a gentle tempting breeze, nice when he listened, but dangerous if he stepped towards the vigorous winds that were hidden under the mask that was Seifer’s fake charm towards the Prep. Sora pushed him away and Riku laughed at Sora’s helplessness.

“Alright Seifer, leave him alone. He’s with me.”

Zell perked up at this and grinned. “Really now…?”

Riku noted the hinted tone in the drummer’s voice and rolled his eyes. “Bastard, shut the hell up.”

Zell just shrugged it off and bounced over towards Sora as if he were a new toy. “Hey I’m Zell.” The drummer held out his hand in salutations and Sora smiled, taking the blonde’s hand in his and giving it a small shake. Zell grinned and ruffled Sora’s messy locks. “You’re too cute. I don‘t know what Riku was thinking!” The oblivious drummer beamed and turned to Riku. “He isn’t ugly!”

A raging blush spread across Sora’s cheeks and Riku rolled his eyes once again. How annoying…

Leon spoke next. “Let’s go. I don’t want to stay at practice any longer than I have to.”

Yuffie shook her head and wagged her finger at the King. “Hey! That’s no way to go about it! You should be honored to be in a band!” But Yuffie’s ranting didn’t go the way she planned for Leon just gave her the cold shoulder and placed his helmet over his luscious chocolate locks. He was the first to leave, but Riku didn’t mind. Leon was such a bore.

“Alright, Leon’s right. Time for practice.” Quistis motioned for everyone to pack into the car meant only for about three people (though it would hold five if Riku counted Quistis. They packed into the car (all excpet Seifer and Quistis were squished) and drove off.

After about five minutes, Seifer interrupted the silence with an idea that finally struck him. “It’s my day for music kiddos.” Seifer pulled out a CD from the group’s CD holder and put it into play. After a few seconds of waiting, Seifer leaned back and smirked. “Hey Prep.” He rotated his face towards the back to get a good look at the brunette. “You’ve never listened to music until you listened to this song. Enjoy.” The blonde chuckled and went back to his comfortable position, ignoring the brunette the rest of the way.

Drowning deep in my sea of loathing
Broken your servant I kneel
(Will you give in to me?)

Sora blinked and listened to the lyrics silently. Riku began to sing the softer parts that the singer sang and Seifer sang the more deeper, gruffer parts. It was an odd contrast, but it worked well.

It seems what's left of my human side
Is slowly changing in me
(Will you give in to me?)

Riku, on the other hand, was enjoying himself. Seifer and himself were the fucking best! Yes!

Looking at my own reflection
When suddenly it changes
Violently it changes (oh no)
There is no turning back now
You've woken up the demon in me

Yuffie watched the two singing with pleasure and she smiled, enjoying her friend’s happiness. Zell was engrossed in watching Seifer (the boy was obsessed!) and Quistis just nodded her head to the beat, concertating on the road ahead. She looked over towards Sora and giggled. He looked so out of place from all of them. He was like the rabbit placed into a cage of wolves. It was interesting to see him with the group, but it wasn’t such a bad thing…

The two singers finally joined both of their voices together as the chorus commenced.

Get up, come on get down with the sickness

Get up, come on get down with the sickness

Get up, come on get down with the sickness

Open up your hate, and let it flow into me
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
You mother get up come on get down with the sickness
You fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
Madness is the gift, that has been given to me

Riku grinned as he looked over to Sora. This is going to be fun…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They arrived at Zell and Quistis’ house before Sora even knew they were gone. The song that Seifer was playing had taken up his attention as it slowly drew him in. Punks taste in music wasn’t so bad…not really.

The house was a little smaller than Leon’s, Sora noticed. It was an okay looking house, but Sora loved his mansion compared to this. Though when he thought about it…he really didn’t need all of the space. He could give all these people a better home just in one room of his mansion. Not that he was going to do it or anything…

All the punks (including Leon who had been waiting for them to show up) went into the garage to prepare for their band practice. Sora took a seat away from the band members and sat quietly as they strummed their instruments to tune them. Sora felt so odd being here. Was the ‘manners lessons’ always going to be this way? The brunette didn’t want to feel alone like this. Riku wasn’t even paying attention to him (not that Sora wanted Riku to give him any attention, but it was just rude!). Quistis was being nice enough and Yuffie (not Yuddie! How stupid he was…) was really sweet. She seemed so restless when she watched the band perform song after song, it was as if she wanted to join in. Maybe dance or something. Whatever…it wasn’t Sora’s business. Other than that everyone was too engrossed in whatever they were doing to take notice to him! Sora was surprised that Leon wouldn’t even give him one look. It was as if Sora was the plague and if anyone looked at him than they would die some horrible death or something! Geez…

Whatever…it wasn’t a big deal…on a lighter note…

Sora was really interested in ‘The Broken Hearts’. They were truly a wonderful, but sadly, undiscovered band. Just like so many others. The brunette loved the way Riku and Seifer (he had to be the background singer/ guitar player!) sounded. They were just beautiful together.

Leon and Seifer always battled with their guitars (not literally of course) and they sounded like two rivals going at it. At least, when the song called for it they would do that. Otherwise, Riku was always leading with his electric guitar that he kept calling ‘Something’. Kind of weird…

Once a half an hour went by Quistis brought some drinks out for everyone. Sora thanked her softly and sipped his lemonade. He conversed with Yuffie some more until the band took a break. Riku plopped down next to Sora, Seifer on the chair beside the couch, Zell beside Yuffie and Leon in a chair opposite all of them.

“Well…” Zell wiped off sweat from his brow and sighed. “I’m tired. What time is it?”

Sora took out his cell phone (trying to be the polite one) and told the blonde drummer the time. It was 7:25. They had been practicing for almost four hours. The lone Prep could feel the tiredness seeping off of the band members (not to mention, it smelt like boy sweat). Riku groaned as he stood. He began to stretch like a cat and he motioned for Sora to get up with a flick of his head. The brunette complied.

“We have to go. I still haven’t told mom about him.”

Sora frowned as Riku pointed to him with a pale finger. He had a name…

“Aww…alright. See ya Sora!” Zell hopped up and embraced the little brunette. Sora blushed and politely pulled away. Then Yuffie said goodbye until everyone had said their farewells (except Leon who just ignored Sora completely). Riku pushed him out the door of the garage and waved to his friends as he headed out.

The walk was silent. The only sounds were from passing cars and from the two boy’s footfalls. Sora felt akward with Riku and semi-nervous. Something in the back of his mind screamed at him for being so unfaithful to Tidus, but what could Sora do? It wasn’t like Sora and Riku were having rough, hot, sweaty sex without Tidus knowing…wait…why the hell did he just think that? He was starting to become-

“Soo…” The Prince started, glancing over towards Sora. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah…” How could I? I didn’t do anything but sit there…

“Well that’s good.” At least you were out of my hair for awhile…

The rest of the way was basked in silence once again. When they arrived at a pretty average house, Riku knocked on the door twice and the two waited to be let in. There was a scurrying sound on the other side of the door. Sora frowned timidly and looked over to Riku, where the boy rolled his eyes impatiently.

“Mom, it’s me!”

The door swung open to reveal one of the most beautiful women Sora had ever encountered in his life. Her sweeping blonde hair brushed past her shoulders and her baby blue eyes gleamed with glee. It shocked Sora that he felt his body become rigid, rooting itself into the porch not to be moved. Why was Riku’s mother…so…different from his own?

“Aww! Who are you cutie?” Gin approached the stone-still brunette and giggled. She turned back to her embarrassed son and smiled. “What’s his name?”

Riku gave Sora a weird look before answering his mother. “His name is-”

“Sora.” The brunette said, noting how Riku’s mother became ecstatic over the Prep speaking. Gin quickly faced the boy and motioned for him to enter the house. Riku had already left him behind and Sora could faintly hear the silver-haired boy stomping up the stairs. It’s probably going to be another repeat of Leon’s house.

When Sora didn’t move, Gin pulled him into her house and giggled, melodiously. Sora had to smile. This was just so odd for him.

“I didn’t think Riku would be home this early with that band practice and all.” She tilted her head and brushed her locks away from her eyes to show Sora their sparkling blue depths. “I’m so glad to meet you Sora. Are you one of Riku’s friends?”

“Umm…well…” He just couldn’t disappoint her. He didn’t want all of her radiating amiability to just suddenly disappear. He wanted it…

He needed it…

“Come on Sora.” Abruptly, Riku had appeared and leaned on the rail of the stairs, giving the boy a bored look. “I’ve been waiting…”

“Oh…sure!” With a small goodbye to Riku’s mother, Sora rushed up after Riku and followed him to his bedroom. He let out a sigh of relief. That was close…

“Sorry about my mom…she’s like a little kid.” Riku sounded annoyed when he said this, Sora thought. If it were Sora who had a mom like Riku…he would cherish it from the bottom of his heart. Riku didn’t even know how lucky he really was.

“Oh…she’s nice.”

Riku grunted in disagreement. Sora had no clue…

They had arrived at their destination. When Sora walked into the Prince’s room, he was utterly stunned.

Here was the room he remembered seeing in movies. It was nothing like Leon’s room. Instead of blank walls and pretty much nothingness, Sora’s eyes scanned all the different posters of bands he knew nothing of. The room was tidy (just like Leon’s), but there was just an air about this room that set it apart from the King’s. It was as if Leon wasn’t even a Punk. It was odd indeed.

“Hey! Stop ogling my room, you freak.”

The Prep shook his head, shaking himself out of his stupor. Why was he always in a trance lately? Stop thinking so much…

“Well…what do you wanna do?”

Sora gave Riku a confused look. “Do?”

“Ya know? Like…argh…why do I have to explain something to you…” The silver-haired boy shook his head and settled himself on top of his bed, laying on it. He observed Sora from a distance, wearily. Sora scratched the back of his head in contemplation and shrugged. He had no clue what he wanted to ‘do’. Wasn’t that for Riku to decide?

“Err…I really don’t know…”

“What a Rich Boy…”

He wanted to comment on that statement, but decided against. Sora couldn’t let Riku get to him. It wasn’t worth it.

Several more minutes passed (which felt like hours to Sora) and the two boys did nothing, spoke of nothing and pretty much they didn’t even look at each other. It was as if they weren’t even in the room. After another five minutes, Riku growled in frustration.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Sora’s shoulders tensed. He felt like a weak rabbit being chewed out by a big bad wolf. Blue eyes looked up to regard the Prince in silence. What happened to bubbly little Sora? Or even ‘get-out-of-my-face-you-don’t-scare-me’ Sora? When he was around Riku it was as if all of his emotions were stripped from his very soul and in replace was nothing. Stupid Punk…

“Well…maybe if you suggested something to do, nothing would be wrong.”

Sora had no clue where that had come from, but he wanted it to keep on coming. The Prince gave him a impatient look like the kind of looks people give to annoying little kids. Sora didn’t like it at all and to show how appreciative he was of the Prince, he casually flashed him the finger, causing Riku to glare at the younger boy.

“Watch yourself Prep…there’s no one here to save you.”

“I don’t need saving.” Sora said, heatedly. Riku chuckled at the childish boy and turned his back on the brunette, nuzzling the pillow beneath him. Sora let out an aggravated growl. The stupid Punk was playing with him and Sora didn’t like it one bit.

“Whatever Rich Boy.” Riku (just as Sora had done) showed the Prep his favorite finger and then laughed about it. Sora burst.

“You know what Riku…you really are a bastard!” To emphasize his point, Sora threw up his arms exasperatingly. “I given you chance after chance and you crush them! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Sora wasn’t expecting for Riku to suddenly jump up from his bed and stride over to the brunette, who was now backing away from him. What was going on today? Why was everything not going in his favor? Why did Riku have to have a malicious gleam in his jade eyes? It was scaring Sora to no end.

“I would run if I were y-”

A knock interjected Riku and the silver-haired boy growled, a few feet away from punching Sora out. “What the hell do you want?”

The door opened and the uninvited guest appeared from behind the doorway, poking their head in. Extensive strands of silver emerged and with it two glowing jade eyes. Sephiroth stepped into the room with an air of superiority and faced the two boys with a frown.

“I see the Manners Lessons aren’t helping you in the least.” He commented to Riku. The tresses of silver swayed as Sephiroth shook his head in disappointment.

“What do you want me to learn? ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’?!” Riku exclaimed, angrily. Sora had the same question on his mind. What was he supposed to teach Riku? The boy couldn’t even listen to his own uncle, why would he listen to him?

“Maybe Sora here could teach you how to hold your tongue.” The older male warned and Sora flinched, while Riku just leered at his uncle with disdain. The brunette watched the silent battle going on between uncle and nephew. Sora felt like he shouldn’t be witnessing whatever was going on between them. It really wasn’t his business.

So when Sora tried to sneak passed the two, he was surprised when Riku locked his gaze on the retreating brunette. Cobalt widened while Jade narrowed just a tad, letting Sora know Riku didn’t want him to go anywhere.

When the silence was almost unbearable, Sephiroth finally spoke. “Your mother wanted me to inform you that dinner is ready.”

Riku nodded in compliance and the two boys watched the older man spin around and take his leave. Sora let out a deep sigh and riveted his gaze over to Riku. The Prince was stock-still.

“Let’s go.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

How he hated his stupid uncle! The stupid asshole just couldn’t get it through his head that Riku wanted nothing to do with him. It was as if his uncle was a pestering fly that continued to land on his head. Every time Riku would swipe, Seph would come back fifty times more strongly! What would it take to finally get rid of Sephiroth for good?

“And then I told her-very politely I might add- that-”

They were sitting around the table. Everyone besides Riku was enjoying their meal, while the Prince fumed on the inside. How could Seph make Riku look like such a fool and in front of a Prep? This was not how he planned things to be.

He slowly looked around the table. His father was chuckling at whatever Sephiroth had just said and his mother was ogling him like a little fan girl (but when was she not?). And then there was Sora, the abnormally quiet Prep. He seemed to be enjoying himself as his mother chatted with him amiably, asking him questions that Sora only vaguely answered. It was as if he was too embarrassed to tell his mother some of things that went on in his life. Either that or…he didn’t want to disappoint her with the wrong answer.

How gracious he was being! It gave Riku an utterly sick feeling in his stomach. Sora’s life had to be so much better than his. At least, the Prep didn’t have a psycho uncle that continued to bother him. That was at least a plus on his side. Other than that, what did he want to hide? He had money, limousines around ever corner and his mother owned two of the largest companies on the Islands.

“So your mother created those cute designs on Riku’s underwear?!” Gin exclaimed, excitedly. All the males gave Riku a sympathetic look except Sora who was trying to contain his laughter.

“Which is his favorite design?” The brunette said, almost in a mocking tone. Riku glared at the smaller boy and pushed his barely eaten food away. He had just lost his appetite.

“I think Donald Duck is his favorite! He loves ducks!” She giggled and reached over Sora to pat her son on the head. Simultaneously (and purposely to avoid his mother‘s hand), Riku’s banged his head against tabletop. The Prince groaned. Why was everything happening to him?

Sora sniggered, blue eyes gleaming with amusement. “Aww does Riku like wittle duckies?” When Sora and Gin laughed concurrently, Riku scowled, but he stayed silent. Words he should have said were discarded. What was the point in embarrassing himself further?

“And I just bought him some Minnie Mouse ones! They are adorable! Tell your mother she is simply genius!”

Though Gin didn’t notice Sora’s sudden change of mood as she mentioned his mother, Riku had certainly did. The boy lost the beautiful happiness in those cobalt pools. Now those pools just stared blankly at the food presented to their owner. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to read the Prep. He was like an open book of emotions and feelings, though one had to look deep into the pages to understand the meaning.

Now why couldn’t Riku understand?

“Sure.” Sora grasped the fork he had left on his plate and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll tell her.”

The silver-haired boy blinked and narrowed his eyes in contemplation. What was Riku missing?

“So Riku.” Sephiroth began, taking a sip of his water with oh so much elegance. “What have you learned today?”

The rebellious boy sighed and crossed his arm, a smug smirk painted on his lips. “Nothing much sir.”

Gin grinned and clasped her hands together. “Aww! Riku-Riku! You’re being so polite! Sora must be teaching you so much! I’m so happy for my baby!”

“Mom!” Riku groaned and his eyes veered to Sora who smiled at the humiliated boy. Damn…this kid really is nice…way too nice for his own good…

“Actually sir, Riku has learned a lot. Right Riku?” Sora glanced over to Riku and his eyes signaled for him to play along. So Riku did. For now…

“Yeah.” Riku’s smirk did nothing to assuage Sora’s fear of him screwing up everything and causing Seph to make Sora spend more time with the rebel. Sora hoped Riku wouldn’t screw up on purpose. He owed Sora that much at least.

“Like what Riku?” The Prince’s uncle crossed his arms and a refined silver brow rose in question.

“Well sir. Sora over here-” Riku pointed to Sora before he continued. “-has taught me all about the finer points of…” He paused, glancing over to the brunette on the other side of his mother, a wicked grin twitched onto his face. This was his revenge on the brunette for their earlier conversation. Sora’s eyes widened in horror as Riku began to speak. “se-”

“I taught him about silverware!” When Sephiroth gave Sora an odd look, the brunette continued. “I mean, you can’t get enough of silverware, right?” To emphasize his point, Sora picked up his spoon and waved it around, grinning hesitantly.

The table was quiet. Blushing, Sora chuckled nervously. When he looked to Riku for help, the other boy just shook his head and pulled his food towards himself again, eating it in silence. Wow…he just totally made a fool of himself.

“Well, I think it was a wonderful idea teaching Riku about silverware.” Sephiroth commented and smirked, idea formulating in his head. “That means he’ll want to do the dishes more often because it’s just so exciting.” When Riku’s mouth opened to gape at Sephiroth, the eldest silver-haired male’s brow rose smugly. “Right Riku?”

“Oh that’s a wonderful idea!” Gin exclaimed and hugged Sora. “Thank you so much Sora!”

Sora grinned sheepishly as he felt Riku’s glare towards him. “Ummm…no problem!”

No problem?! Now Riku had to do the dishes because of the little brat! Oh would he get it.

“Well Riku, we’ll leave the dishes to you.” Hiroshi said, looking over to Sephiroth and his wife. “Why don’t we go watch some videos?”

When Sephiroth and Gin agreed, Hiroshi asked Sora if he wanted to join him. With Gin’s pleading, Sora told them that he would be there in a minute.

“Yes and we can also discuss Riku’s concert on Friday.” Sephiroth pointed out to his brother and sister-in-law. They curiously looked over to Riku, who bowed his head in defeat. They began to talk as they strolled out of the kitchen.

So with the adults gone, Riku stood and began to gather all of the plates to wash, ignoring the brunette completely. Sora felt really bad for accidentally giving Riku dish duty and when he tried to help the boy, Riku shook his head, declining Sora’s offer silently. The brunette blinked. This wasn’t like Riku at all.

“Hey…I’m really sorry.” Sora started, fidgeting when Riku didn’t respond. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Spare me.” The silver-haired one said, turning on the water and placing his hand under the hot water. Wordlessly, the Prince took the sponge and squirted some soap in the water, scrubbing the dishes furiously. Sora watched in fascination as Riku’s eye brows furrowed when he tried to remove a spot on the almost sparkling plate.

Riku concentrated on the task at hand, disregarding the Prep beside him. He was frustrated with the boy and he wanted Sora to leave him alone so he could deal with his problems. For some reason, the boy wouldn’t go away and this irritated Riku further to the point where he wanted to whack Sora with a plate. He smirked as a plan struck him.

“Hey Sora. Do you see that?”

“Huh?” Sora followed Riku’s gaze and squeaked as hot soapy water splashed him in the face. He wiped his face off quickly, frowning as Riku splashed him some more. “Hey! Stop it Riku! You’re going to burn my face off!”

“Isn’t that a good thing? I wouldn’t want to look at something as hideous as you!” Riku laughed as Sora puffed out his chest from the rude remark. The brunette dripped his hand in the warm water and splashed Riku back, earning a few vulgar words from the Prince. As the two boys continued their ‘water war’, in the hallway stood Gin who beamed watching her little Riku-Riku laugh.

It had been awhile, but…she was so glad to finally see him happy…

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Done! That was so long! Sorry for the wait…I bet I won’t get that many reviews since I’ve prolonged this update for so long…Hehehe…you guys love me right? So you’ll review? Good! X3

Also, any questions you asked me in your reviews will be answered in my profile so look for them there. I usually update my profile a lot and well…your answers should be there already! XD

Anyway, what’s happening with Sora and Riku? They hate each other and the next minute they are having a water war. Let me just say this now. No! There love will not start to blossom just because they are spending so much time together. You’ll see how in two more chapters! So close right? Yep! X3 At least…I think it’s two more chapters…maybe one more…

Anyway, please REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!