Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Acerbic ❯ Joy May Kill ( Chapter 1 )

AU RikuSora What happens when you have the perfect life… and find yourself wanting nothing more than a certain beautiful flaw? No Fluff

 

 

A/N: I don't have the time or privacy necessary to finish the chapter of Alkalinity I'm working on at present - it's going to be a few days. So I thought I'd console myself with this. It started because as I've been working on Alkalinity, I realized I had no idea how to write Riku when he finally showed up. So I'm writing him here - likely OOC - to see what happens.

 

 

x(X)x

 

 

Sora woke up.

 

 

He showered, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and performed all other hygienic necessities.

 

 

He went to orientation. He paid attention and jotted the occasional note in the margins of the informational flyers that had been thrown at him from every direction.

 

 

He met Kairi for coffee, and they discussed the classes they planned on taking, the dorms they might be staying in, and the apparently thriving social hub of the campus.

 

 

They had sex at Kairi's house, because her parents were still on vacation in Maine. Before falling into a light doze, Kairi told Sora that she loved him, and he returned the gesture in kind. He meant it.

 

 

They went out with friends that night, and drew all the usual affectionate wisecracks, because they were the Perfect Couple.

 

 

Kairi was perfect, Sora thought. She was sweet, kind, intelligent, giving, and completely devoted.

 

 

Sora's life was perfect. At 19, he had found the kind of happiness so many people spent their lives seeking.

 

 

Sometimes, when he was staring at his ceiling and trying to fall asleep, he wondered what was wrong. Because no matter how many times he examined his life, from every possible angle, he could find no flaw.

 

 

He was about to attend an excellent college. He had the kind of family featured in commercials for soup and cookies. He had a brilliant, sexy girlfriend who loved him. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his life.

 

 

Sometimes, he wished there was.

 

 

x(X)x

 

 

Riku added a final decisive mark to the lesson plan and stopped to examine it as a whole. The original type had been swallowed by a barrage of red ink. He held it over his shoulder until Ansem tugged it free.

 

 

“Lazy ass,” he muttered.

 

 

The wizened but alert professor rapped him smartly upside the head before returning his attention to the revised lesson plan, occasional murmuring under his breath in response to a particular alteration.

 

 

“I apologize, Riku, but this point here - you know I can't bring it up. I'm not going to spend the rest of the year dealing with students who want to convince their professor that he is wrong and that William Shakespeare was not Edward de Vere. I don't have the time or the patience.

 

 

“You can't expect everyone to be ready to think on your level. One must always operate under the assumption that people are stupid. Particularly,” he added lightly, “freshmen who are taking my class because they think it looks easy.”

 

 

Riku rolled his eyes and reached across the desk that was somewhere under the sea of papers for his jacket. Once he had a cigarette lit and nicotine flowing into his system, he was able to respond with minimal acidity.

 

 

“I'm hardly preaching from on high. They've gotten this complacent because all their instructors have `operated under the assumption that people' - especially teenagers - `are stupid'. Their minds are rotting because they've used them for nothing but memorization. For fuck's sake, let them think!”

 

 

His tone had escalated more than he had intended, and he was rewarded with a raised brow and a smirk from Ansem.

 

 

“Ever the optimist, no matter how hard you try to play the cynic. I fear you're going to be in for crushing disappointment when you finally start teaching on your own. You trust them too much. You think that they're like you - that they learn because they want to, that they care about what happens beyond their cramped sphere of awareness. They don't want you to expand their souls, Riku - they just want to pass the class.

 

 

“Now, stop smoking in my office - if I have to tell you once more! - and come have a drink with me. We'll be disillusioned academics for an evening.

 

 

“In fact,” he added in mock wonder, “you might even find some young stud and decide to acknowledge the existence of human beings outside the classroom. Wouldn't that be marvelous?”

 

 

Riku snarled at him half-heartedly, but was out the door before the sound had faded.

 

 

They drank, as they did every Friday night when Riku was finished tearing Ansem's lesson plan to shreds. As always, Riku was met with all sorts of flattering attention from other patrons, while Ansem watched in affectionate amusement. As always, he politely ignored them all.

 

 

At least he didn't have to wonder why he was alone.

 

 

x(X)x

 

 

A/N: Sorry! I know it's short, but I just wanted those two snapshots to set the stage. Chapters will multiply in length. And I wanted to finish something tonight, to stave off the mental breakdown that has me coming apart at the seams. XD If only it was funny….

 

 

Leijhana tu'sai to all readers and reviewers!