Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ By Chance ❯ first meeting ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

thought it was bad enough that Cloud was dumping him off for a month at his best friend’s house, but what’s worse is that Sora somehow got his diary mixed up with someone’s romance-filled notebook… [riku x sora]



“You’re doing what?!”

Sora instantaneously dropped his bowl of fruit after hearing what his older brother had to say. Did Sora’s ears betray him? Was he suddenly unable to process what Cloud was telling correctly? Sapphire hues (the most extravagant blue eyes ever to be seen) widened shortly after his out-burst. The bowl lay shattered on the ground, at the brunette’s feet. Shards of blue-painted glass lay haphazardly on the kitchen floor, making the room look more like a war-zone than a ’family-kitchen’.

“Sora,” said the rational voice. “It’ll only be for a month.”

“You’re going to leave me with someone I don’t know for a month?!” Sora hollered, his voice strained.

A groan passed the other form’s lips. A tanned hand rose up and began massaging temples, as if to ward away the frustration. Paler blue eyes opened once again as they settled upon the brunette across the room. “Sora, you know how much this vacation means to me. It’ll only be for a month.”

“Why can’t I just stay here?” Sora demanded, eyes still as wide as they had initially been.

A sigh now elicited from the blonde’s lips. “Because I don’t want you here alone. It’s not because I don’t trust you. I do trust you, Sora. It’s just the burglars and kidnappers I don’t trust. They’re on my ‘Avoid-At-All-Costs’ list,” Cloud explained insistently, eyes settling upon his younger brother.

“I’ll lock the doors!” Sora suggested, flailing his arms in the air dramatically. “I’ll lock the doors and stay in here the whole entire time! No one will hurt me and I won’t have to go live with your friend!”

“I’d feel better if he was looking after you,” Cloud persistently replied, his blue eyes narrowing.

“Cloud! This isn’t fair!” Sora whined loudly, raising his hands to pull at his brown locks of spiky hair. “I don’t even know your friend! He could … rape me for all I know!”

“He’s not going to rape you, Sora. He’s been my best friend since I was eight,” Cloud reasoned, shaking his head in dismay at his brother’s immaturity. “He’ll take good care of you.”

“I’m seventeen,” Sora pointed out bluntly, his voice unwavering. He would not be swayed by Cloud‘s stubbornness.

“And I’m twenty-four, get over it,” Cloud grumbled. “Listen, he’s nineteen and by far the most responsible person I’ve ever met. Safety means a lot to him, so you’ll be safer with him than at Fort Knox’s.”

Sora frowned at the trite comparison. “He’s barely a year older than me, Cloud!”

“But he has his license, a job, and his own place,” Cloud retorted.

“…So?” was Sora’s brilliant answer.
“Sora,” Cloud stated firmly, walking over to his younger brother. The blonde made sure not to step on any shards of glass. Doing such would be an unwise idea. “It’s only a month. I haven’t been able to spend quality time with Leon for five months now. I… miss him,” Cloud admitted, as if embarrassed by the prospect.

Sora took a moment to ponder this. “I still don’t see why I just can’t stay here…”

“We live in New York, Sora. The crime rate here isn’t the best, you know that,” Cloud explained, looking Sora sternly in the eye. “Can you please do this for me, Sora? You’re my reasonability and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you while I’m gone.”

“…You really miss him that much, huh?” Sora asked, his tone turning softer. Blue eyes suddenly sympathized with the older. After a long moment of deliberation, Sora mumbled out a, “Fine…”

“Thank you, Sora,” Cloud breathed in relief, pulling his younger brother close for a hug.

“Whatever, Cloud,” Sora sighed into the embrace. “Can I at least know my warden’s name?”

“His name’s Riku,” Cloud said as he pulled out of Sora’s arms. Carefully, the blonde made his way around the kitchen, tip-toeing as an extra precaution. “I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon. I went ahead and bought you a ticket for the subway. It’ll take you right to his block,” Cloud explained.

“I have to take the subway?” Sora groaned, staring in astonishment at Cloud. And disbelief, if you wanted to be precise.

“Cheaper than a taxi,” Cloud explained. The blonde brother snagged a broom from the far corner of the kitchen. He then promptly began sweeping the shards of glass into a pile so that neither of them would have their feet punctured by the sharp edges. “Thank you again, Sora.”

“Yeah…” Sora sighed, nodding dismally at Cloud. “Where are you and Leon going anyhow?”

“Bermuda,” Cloud automatically answered, swaying his hips back and forth as he swept, as if in time with some inaudible beat. “I’ve never been before, but Leon says it’s great this time of year.”

“I’ve seen pictures,” Sora confirmed with a faint smile. “You sound really excited.”

“I am,” Cloud concurred.

“Just don’t come back home eloped,” Sora hummed, forcing himself to sound chipper and up-beat. Just for Cloud’s sake.

Cloud proceeded to shoot an annoyed glare at Sora. “We’ve been dating for two years. Marriage isn’t something we’re planning on. Wouldn’t be an easy thing to do, even if it was,” Cloud mumbled, making his way over to the faucet to draw himself a glass of water.

“You could always go to Las Vegas,” Sora pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders.

“We c-,” Cloud began and then narrowed his eyes at Sora. “I am not going to discuss my personal life with my brother, thank you.” With that, Cloud rose his hand to ‘shoo’ Sora out of the kitchen. “Start packing, would ya?”

“Fine,” Sora groaned, leaving the room to head to his bedroom.

Perhaps for the last time for quite some time.

Sora curled up on his bed as a displeased sound fell from his lips. Blue eyes narrowed at the wall facing him from across the room. It was a light tan color with a few pictures of him and Cloud on it. No pictures of his parents, though. Cloud never really discussed their parents … Sora didn’t question it, at first. Cloud always changed the topic and refused to supply his younger brother with information about the dead spouses. Maybe Cloud just didn’t want to bring up painful memories?“Oh well,” Sora mumbled as he reached under his bed for a book.In his hands now rested a dark-maroon notebook. The metal binding was slightly bent out of shape and tarnished. However, the maroon-colored cover was clean and new-looking. Sora kept his things in good condition. The little he had he cherished and protected. Besides, the red notebook was practically his life.

Inside the massive notebook continued a small excerpt for everyday, starting a few years ago. Each day he’d write a small recap of the day. Or just its highlights. The entries were rarely a page, usually a half of one. Sometimes less, depending on what happened that day.

“Let’s see…” Sora grabbed for his pen and opened to a new page.

“June twenty-second,” Sora mumbled as he wrote the date in oddly neat handwriting across the top of the page. “…This one’s going to be long I guess,” he murmured as he laid down, on his stomach, on the bed and began to write.

Sora had a tendency of talking aloud (or muttering) when he wrote. It kept his thoughts in check. “Cloud informed me today that I’m going to have to spend a whole month with someone I don’t know. I mean, he’s Cloud’s best friend and I’ve yet to ever see him. Cloud never invites people over… I think he’s a bit embarrassed by me. I’ve only ever seen Leon when he offered to bring us to dinner. Leon’s a nice guy I suppose. I mean, he’s bringing Cloud to Bermuda for a month… so I guess he really loves him… I’m just happy that my brother’s happy now.”

Sora scrunched his nose up and twirled his pen around on the paper, thinking. “I haven’t talked to Tidus for a few days now,” Sora wrote with a frown appearing on his face. “He said he’d call… but I assume that he’s too busy with his friends down in Florida…” Sora trailed off, writing the word “Florida” with envy pouring from his fingertips.

Sora carefully placed his pen on the notebook before sitting back. Blue eyes danced around his bedroom in silence before he whispered, “Leon’s going to Bermuda, Tidus is in Florida… and I’m going to some guy’s house… Some way to start summer vacation.”

Sora reached for his pen and brought the notebook up and into his lap, figuring it was easier to write that way.

“I’ve really only agreed to this for a few reasons. The main being that I’ve never seen Cloud this happy. I want him to enjoy himself and spend time with Leon… I suppose that I owe him this. I mean, he’s been taking care of me for a little less than eight years now. Least I can do is accommodate him, right?”

Sora frowned at his notebook and shook his head before setting down the pen for a second time. “Who am I kidding?… I want to do this for Cloud, not because I owe him. I just wish he would trust me more…”

An idea struck. Sora grinned and grabbed the pen rapidly again, as if it hadn’t departed his grasp in the first place.

“Cloud tells me that I’ll really like the other part of town… The one where the subway is bringing me and whatnot. Cloud told me that the guy I’m staying with will probably bring me shopping and sight-seeing. I’m… not sure if that’s true or not. I’ve never met the guy in my life. For all I know, he’ll hate me… I mean, I don’t really get along with anyone outside of Tidus and Cloud…”

The frown grew. “Maybe I’m just destined to live with Cloud and Leon my whole life. Someday they’ll marry and I’ll be forced to move and get my own place. I haven’t even started to think about college yet… I thought graduating high school would be exciting, but it’s horribly boring.”

The frown just kept frowning. “I know that we don’t have enough to pay for my college. I wanted to do something cool. Not sure what, really. Unlike most people, I never had any certain job call to me. Nothing really appeals to me…” Sora pressed the tip of the pen after his sentence into the paper, thinking of what to write next.“I’m just hoping that things will work out,” Sora concluded and scribbled his signature below the few paragraphs.

With a defeated sigh, Sora closed his notebook and began packing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Now Sora,” Cloud said, messing with Sora’s jacket so that it didn’t hang off of the brunette’s right shoulder.

“When you get to Riku’s, make sure to call me. I’ll have my cell phone on. I’ll probably be on my way to the airport to meet up with Leon. If for some weird reason I don’t pick up, leave a message and let me know you’re safe.” Cloud ran his fingers playfully through his younger brother’s hair as a fond smile appeared on his lips.

Sora’s grasp tightened on the handle of his suitcase. If it hadn’t been for the wheels beneath it Sora probably wouldn’t be able to lug the heavy thing around. “All right, Cloud,” Sora answered taciturnly.

Cloud frowned when he noticed his brother’s sudden sobriety. The blonde figured that Sora really wasn’t keen on the whole idea. “Take the 180 to Fifth Street. Get off at the Fifth Street stop. After you leave the subway, take a left, follow Fifth street until you get to the corner. You’ll see a street sign that says Destiny Avenue. Go on that and his apartment is the second building on the left. His number is 33. Got it, Sora?”

“Yeah,” Sora said with an uncertain nod. The brunette quickly committed the directions to memory.

“I’ll be back July 24th to pick you up, all right?” Cloud informed Sora, his hand resting on his brother’s shoulder.

“All right,” Sora answered with a swift nod.

“Don’t give Riku a hard time, please. He’s a hard working man and he’s doing this out of the kindness of his heart,” Cloud said, optimism in his voice. The blonde hoped that perhaps Sora would take his advice. Hoped, at least.

“Okay,” Sora replied curtly, keeping his responses terse.

Cloud sighed and let go of his younger brother. “If you need anything, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call, all right?” Cloud reached over and tucked a hundred dollar bill into Sora’s jacket pocket. “Use that on what ever you want.”

Sora blinked in surprise. “Thanks, Cloud.”

“Promise you’ll behave?” Cloud requested as a few people passed by the pair at the entrance of the subway’s stairs.

“I’ll do my best,” Sora replied vaguely, fingers flexing against the cold handle of his suitcase. “Make sure you and Leon have fun, okay?”

“Of course,” Cloud said with a affirmative nod and then glanced wearily over his shoulder to the awaiting taxi. “I better be going.” Hesitation was apparent in the brother’s eyes. It was obvious that Cloud hadn’t left his brother for more than a day alone. A month was a huge step. A month with his best friend.

“I’ll be fine,” Sora said quickly, noticing the reluctance to go in Cloud’s eyes.

“You better,” Cloud murmured a bit soberly before leaning in to quickly hug his little brother. “I love you. Tell Riku I say hi, okay?”

“Love ya too,” Sora grumbled and then added, “I will,” in a mutter.“Remember, call!” Cloud called back to Sora as he made his way from the brunette and to his awaiting yellow taxi. Sora nodded briefly before turning his back on his brother. Well… it was now or never, right?

…Sora had never been on the subway before so he figured this was going to be an exciting entry in his notebook… if he survived the trip.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After thirty-minutes of aimlessly walking around in a pathetic attempt to find the right subway, Sora finally asked a security guard for help and directions. The guard happily pointed Sora in the left direction and informed the brunette that it was down that way. Surprisingly, Sora found the correct connector. Quickly, he entered the dimly-lit subway, dragging his wheely-suitcase behind him.

Without a word to anyone, Sora took a seat next to a man who was quite absorbed in a conversation with a blonde-haired female. Sora paid them no heed as he reached for his suitcase. Dexterously, Sora removed his notebook and pen.

The best thing to do was to keep to himself, right?

Sora opened the notebook and began writing. He was meticulous, constantly scribbling things out only to rewrite them with slightly different wording. Sapphire hues remained glued to the entry, never straying away, not even for a second. The brunette whispered the words as he wrote under his breath, making sure not to disrupt anyone who was around him.

When he had reached the sentence And that’s the plan… the subway had stopped at his stop. Sora quickly snapped his pen shut and placed his notebook on his right. Sora then turned away from it and began fussing with zipping his suitcase up. Ironically, the zipper was stuck so it took the brunette a few moments to wiggle it free.

With a relieved sigh, Sora quickly grabbed the dejected notebook from the seat, not noticing that it was slightly different than it was before.

Sora paid no heed and left the subway quickly, following Cloud’s directions faithfully.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sora had never been to this part of the city before. They hadn’t even drove through it before. Beautiful apartment buildings lined the streets as fancy cars drove by the sidewalk. Sora looked around sheepishly as he exited the stairs from his earlier location. This place was magnificent and grand compared to his and Cloud’s small place in the other part of the city. A frown appeared at once on Sora’s features. If they couldn’t afford a place like this … there was no way they could afford college for him.

People eagerly pushed past Sora, keen on getting to their own destinations.

Sora snapped back into reality when he realized he had been standing there in awe for over five minutes. A light blush slipped onto his cheeks as he turned to the left, as instructed by his older brother.

“This place even smells better,” Sora remarked to himself.

He walked slowly, not eager whatsoever to meet his new warden. Thoughts of Tidus and Cloud danced around in his head as he walked. Thoughts of his computer back home… thoughts of emails … thoughts of instant messages … and finally thoughts of his last entry. Sora shook off the weary thought as he turned left at the corner.

“Let’s see… Cloud said the second one on the left,” Sora whispered.
The brunette froze when he saw how extravagant the apartment complex was. It looked more like a loft or a pent-house or… something. Something out of the Victorian ages, somewhat. Sora’s eyes widened and he timorously made his way up the stairs. “Who names their street Destiny Avenue,” Sora muttered under his breath before entering the building.

Afraid that he’d just feel worse, Sora kept his eyes on the floor as he made his way towards the elevator. Next to the button, that was garnished with an arrow pointing up, was a small list. On it read the apartment numbers and what floors they could be found at. One through ten was the first. Eleven to twenty were the second. Twenty-one to Thirty were the third… and Thirty-one to Thirty-five was the fourth and final flour. The lack of rooms on that floor startled Sora. Were they… bigger than the others?

“Here goes nothing,” Sora whimpered as he entered the elevator.

Inside, a man attired in a green suit smiled at him. Sora blinked and then looked down at his feet as he quickly jabbed the number four. A moment of silence passed the two males before the stranger decided to speak.

“The fourth floor, lucky. What number?”

Sora didn’t like talking with strangers. “Thirty-three,” Sora grumbled, a bit rudely at that.
“…” The man said nothing at first. Sora wondered if he said something wrong… not like he cared. “Are you his brother, perhaps?”

“No…” Sora mumbled. He was Cloud’s brother. And only Cloud’s brother. Sora felt proud that he was related to Cloud. Cloud was a good person and honest and just everything that Sora liked in a person. Sora was glad he was Cloud’s brother.

“Then what business do you have with him?” asked the man.

“…Why do you care?” Sora groaned, shakily glancing over his shoulder at the man.

“He usually never has visitors,” replied the frigid male.

“That’s great,” Sora grumbled, turning his attention back to the closed doors.

“You’re staying with him?”

“That’s what the suitcase is for,” Sora mumbled, rolling his eyes as his right hand held the notebook limply. “Is this going to take a while?”

“Just another few seconds,” the male replied with a dissatisfied groan.

Sora sighed and flipped open the notebook, as it to refresh his memory of what he had wrote earlier. Terror filled Sora when he realized the hand-writing wasn’t his own… It was … cursive and beautiful and… Blue eyes glued themselves to the words as he rapidly read over the page he had opened to.

His kisses were addictive like an illegal drug. The way his nails dug into his other’s back not only pleased the black-haired male, but it further aroused him. Everything in Scott turned to fire when he felt the thrus-

Sora dropped the book in sheer terror. “P-p…”

“Excuse me?” the man asked as the doors opened.

“P-por…” Sora tried again.

“No, it’s not pouring outside. The air conditioner is just always loud,” the man explained, thinking that Sora’s outburst had been because of the rattling that sounded similar to raindrops.

Sora took a deep breath, grabbed the book (out of innocent curiosity) and tugged his suitcase out of the elevator. The door shut with no good-byes from either men.

Sora collapsed against the wall next to the elevator. Trembling fingers reopened the notebook, flipping through it. All of it was explicit scenes of…gay sex. Sora’s left eye twitched as he snapped it shut, a dark red appearing on his cheeks. The realization that this wasn’t his and that his diary was gone suddenly hit Sora. “No!” the brunette screamed, falling to his knees in grief.

“I…I couldn’t have lost it…” Sora whimpered, wanting to bang his head against the hallway’s wall.

“I lost my diary…” he whispered dejectedly, hot tears appearing in his eyes. The one thing other than his best friend and his brother that he was attached to was gone. If he hadn’t agreed to come here to stay for a month he wouldn’t have lost it!

“I lost it…” Sora repeated, fingers digging at the tile beneath him.

Fueled by sudden anger, Sora shoved the explicit notebook into his suitcase and hurried down the hallway to number thirty-three. The brunette figured that he’d go in, find his room, and then cry for a bit. And then beat on a pillow. Then he’d be over it… Right?

Sora sighed as he rose a hand to knock on the door. Today couldn’t possibly get any worse. It just couldn’t.

Sora’s mouth fell open as blue hues widened.

Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful man Sora had ever seen. His body was that of a male model’s… correction, it was better. He looked angelic. A shiver slipped down Sora’s spine as he cautiously rose his gaze to meet aquamarine eyes that were staring uncertainly at him. “You must be Cloud’s brother.”

Suddenly the explicit notebook didn’t seem as much as a temptation as the man before him.

Sora wasn’t sure whether to damn Cloud … or to thank him. Either way, his jaw remained hanging for quite some time.