Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Dirge ❯ I Killed a Man ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

: Dirge

Pairing: CloudXRiku!

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I don’t own KH, Square Enix does.

Warnings: Yaoi , and violence, and bad language, lots of language.

Music: Gackt- Death Wish

Prompt: Sin


Riku was fidgety for the remainder of the day, and Cloud was no better. They didn’t talk anymore about random things, and they didn’t spend anymore time together. Cloud was busy getting ready for the raid, and Riku was forced to just wait and watch. Eventually the teen grew bored of just sitting and watching, so he got up to go visit Sora in his room.

Sora was propped up on the bed with a rolled up blanket. He was awake, just staring at the wall with a look that could kill.

“Hey,” Riku called as he entered the room, Sora didn’t look up, but his expression immediately changed to a pained smile.

“Hey.” Sora called back. “How are you? Feeling better?”

“Yeah, and you?”

“I’m ok, but my shoulder itches.”

“That must be a pain.”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“They’re planning the next raid aren’t they?”

Riku hesitated to answer. “Um…”

“Don’t try to hide it, I can tell by the way they’re moving around out there. Besides, it’s about time they got around to another chance. We must be running low on money…”

“If it makes you feel any better Cloud wanted to wait until you were healed.”

“…Yeah, that sounds like him. I bet Squall bullied him into moving.”

“Actually Squall bullied Vincent into bullying Cloud.”

“Heh, figures. Squall bullies everyone.”

“Yeah, and he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s that way to everyone.”

“Yeah right, he just shows more open hostility toward me.”

“It’s because you’re still new, give it some time and he’ll come around.”

“Okay…”

“Say Riku?”

“Yeah?”

“You and Cloud are close right?”

“Well, kind of. We talk…”

“Yeah, well, do you think you’d be able to get him to give you a gold piece? And do you think you could get it to Kairi?”

“…..Why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask him?”
“I don’t want to tell him why.”

“How come?”

“Because we aren’t supposed to get close to anyone out here. I don’t want him to find out I got involved with a girl.”

“I’m sure Cloud would understand.” Riku responded, thinking back to earlier.

Sora shook his head. “Cloud would get mad, I know he would…..Please Riku? Could you try to do it for me?”

“…..Yeah sure.”

“Thanks…”

Riku smiled at Sora, but thoughts kept mingling in his head. Cloud wouldn’t get mad at Sora, he knew he wouldn’t, but Sora seemed to think he would. But how on Earth was Riku supposed to get Cloud to give him a gold piece?

Sighing, Riku watched his friend’s face slowly slip back into that awful mix of pain and fear. Riku wanted to help Sora, he really did, but he wasn’t entirely sure how.
-------------------------------------------

The next day came way too fast. Riku awoke early as he heard Cloud and Squall get out of bed. Carefully, so as not to let them know he was awake, Riku rolled over in his bed and watched them from the corner of his eye. Cloud was acting nervous. He already had a cigarette in his mouth, it was unlit, but he seemed to find comfort out of chewing on the end of it.

“Ready?” Squall asked. He already had his weapon out. Cloud was still nervously wiping off the blade of his own sword.

“Right.” Cloud responded. He picked up his sword and secured it in place on the strap behind his back. “I’m ready.”

Both men walked out of the room. Riku waited a few moments, then got up and peeked around the edge of the door. Vincent, Cloud, and Squall were standing around in the main room, talking quietly. Vincent was the first to leave.

“Don’t screw this up.” Squall told Cloud.

“Don’t tell me anything about screwing up Squall. I’m ready for this alright?” Riku caught the glare that Cloud threw at Squall, but the other man didn’t seem to notice or care.

Squall was the second to leave, leaving Cloud alone in the room. Riku watched as the blonde took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then donned the stony, merciless look he had had when he had shown Riku how to use his sword. Then he too left, walking out the blanket-covered door into the pre-dawn.

Riku made sure the men were gone, then ran back into his room to grab his sword. He had made up his mind that he would fight with Cloud, or at least watch what was going on. Excitement took hold of the teen as he dashed out of building and silently tailed the three men.

--------------------------

All three men split up along the way, making it difficult for Riku to know who to follow. He had to make a split decision, because when they had broken up Vincent and Cloud had both started running. Squall was the only one who walked to where he was going.

Riku followed Cloud. It was the obvious decision, as the blonde would be the least upset if Riku should be discovered. But even so, keeping up was difficult for the young teen. Cloud was fast, and seemed to know exactly where he was going.

Finally they came to a stop on the edge of the town, back on that same grassy slope where Riku had first met Cloud. At the bottom of the incline was the waterway.

Cloud walked over to the edge of the slope. He was framed between two buildings, and the shadows they cast hid him perfectly from anyone below.

There was a boat on the waterway. It was moored to the small dock by one of the rest houses along the bank. From what could be seen, the boat was larger than Riku’s had been, and there were several guards walking around the perimeter.

“Damn…” Cloud spat out the chewed up cigarette in his mouth and ran a hand through his spiky hair. “Guards, I should have known. Especially after that boat of Riku’s. Looks like there will be fighting….”

Movement along the opposite side of the hill caught Cloud’s eye. It was Squall, he was waving at Cloud to get ready to descend.

“Shit.” Cloud growled. “Looks like I have no choice.” He waited a few moments, then quietly slipped down the side of the hill, using the shadows of the buildings and a few dead bushes to hide his presence.

Riku looked out across the hill. He could just barely make out Squall doing the same as Cloud, moving slowly along the hill, using the cover of the building and the night to shield him from the guard’s eyes.

Shouting from the guards made Riku’s attention shift back to the bottom of the hill. Vincent was already in among the guards. There was a body on the ground from where he had already struck and the guards were in a panic, each trying to hit Vincent while trying to not hit each other. It wasn’t working very well, and the group was stirred up into chaos.

Vincent got out of the group quickly, and several of the guards ran after him, but the others were smart and stayed where they were. They knew what was coming.

Cloud struck before Squall. He dashed out of the bushes, brandishing that huge sword of his. The guards spotted him and managed to get a few shots off in his direction before he was right in with them, slashing and dodging. Squall came soon after, doing his own damage to the guards.

The guards that had been chasing Vincent turned at the sound of gunfire and ran back toward their comrades. By the time they got there though, 3 of the other guards were dead and there were even more wounded.

It was hard to see much more than that from where he was sitting, so Riku crawled out from his hiding spot and made his way carefully down the hill. When he got to a better vantage point he peeked out of the bushes to see what was happening.

Cloud was wounded in his right leg, probably form a stray bullet. He was moving slower than he was earlier, and several of the guards were ganging up on him. Squall was similarly occupied, and Vincent was no where in sight. Riku was starting to worry that they might lose the fight.

But then Cloud whirled his sword around and slammed one of the guards in the back of the head. The man immediately fell to the ground, unconscious. Cloud was using the blunt end of his sword to knock the guards out, instead of killing them. Squall didn’t seem to have any such qualms, and was killing every person that came near him.

The battle moved closer to the edge of the hill, toward Riku’s hiding spot, making Riku suddenly wish he had stayed on top of the hill. Quickly the silver-haired teen tried to get up and run away, when he heard the familiar clink of a gun being cocked. A man, not too far away from Riku, had raised a gun and was taking careful aim at Cloud’s head. The blonde didn’t even notice as he swung his sword at yet another guard.

Riku raced forward, his blade drawn. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing, only that he wasn’t going to let this man shoot Cloud. He placed the sword in front of him, with one hand, as Cloud had taught him, and lunged for the man.

The gunman turned around a split second before Riku struck. The tip of the sword slammed right into the man stomach, and buried in up to the hilt. Riku froze, the man froze, neither of them moved until the man let out a strange half-groan and clutched at his stomach.

Riku released his sword and took a shaky step backwards. Blood from the man’s stomach was on his hands and shirt. It was hot, almost scalding hot. Riku frantically tried to wipe it off, but only succeeded in making it smear more. He looked up with wide eyes at the man who still had the sword sticking out of stomach. He was almost dead, and he was shaking as he tried to pull the blade out of his stomach.

Riku screamed, that was all he could think of to do. The sight of the man standing there, with a sword in his stomach, Riku’s sword, spilling blood, blood that was on Riku, was just too much for his brain to process. He screamed.

“Riku?? What the hell are you doing out here?” Cloud was somehow behind him, pulling him back from the body to the bushes. “Stay here.” Cloud commanded, but Riku didn’t even here him. He was staring at the man who was by now dead, lying n the dirt leaking blood and staring at Riku with cold, hard eyes. Riku couldn’t take his eyes from the scene.

‘I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man.I killed a man. OH SHIT I killed a man.’

“Cloud” Riku managed to mumble, then louder. “Cloud!”

But Cloud was busy fighting. All of the guards were either dead or knocked out now except for two, one of whom was running while the other was attacking Cloud. Cloud quickly knocked the guard out and motioned for Squall to talk. They exchanged words and Squall motioned for Cloud to go, then headed toward the boat.

Cloud stared at he ground a moment, then walked over to the man Riku had killed. He bent down and rolled the body over, so the hilt of the sword was facing up, then he placed a foot on the man’s chest and pulled the sword out, wiping it on the grass to get rid of most of the blood.

Riku just stared at him in horror. Cloud walked over to the younger boy and grabbed his arm, lifting him up so he could look Cloud in the eye. Riku just stared at him with a look of pure horror and fear on his face.

“Come on….” Cloud said. “We’re going home.” And with that, he pulled Riku along with him up the hill.
-------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: R&R?