Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Innovation ❯ Blank Canvas ( Chapter 1 )

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

as the chapters go along, they'll be much more sora and riku interaction. trust me. we're changing up loads of things from here on out. these two chapers were mostly the same except for the interaction between sora and riku. anyway, update sometime later this week. as for my other fanfictions, they'll be updated soon. so leave a review, love.

“You’ve never worked at an office before, Mr. Kayaki?”
The lithe brunette stood before the man, swaying restlessly on his feet. Hands laced together in front of him as he looked a bit wearily at the man. In all, the man appeared to be quite unusual. Pink hair fell down to his shoulders, decorated with a black tuxedo with an ever so shocking hot pink tie, equipped with the most unusually painted nails. Pink, of course. Squinting blue eyes at the pink man, he cleared his throat and gave an affirmative nod in response to the man’s inquiry.
“Have you had any job with finical matters previous to this?”
By now the brunette had felt the anxiety washing over his existence. Unlacing his fingers from one another, he gripped the side of the desk, exhaling deeply. Blue hues watched the pink haired adult, biting his bottom lip a bit subconsciously. Feet began to scuffle beneath him on the carpet from his nervous swaying. Glancing down at that the sound, Sora sheepishly straightened himself once more and gave a blank stare at the question.
“I did work as a waiter when I was seventeen...” Sora attempted, raising a hand to rub the side of his head, ever so meekly.
The man narrowed his eyes in silence, writing that down on the clipboard upon the desk. Leaning his elbows on the wood, the pink haired stranger turned to glance back at the obviously nervous Sora. The male then proceeded to extend a hand, as if to say 'Go-on'. Sora took the hint and cleared his throat once more.
“I.. do sell finished artwork from time to time,” he added in, still with the restless feeling.
He hadn’t noticed the gold-platted nameplate on the desk. Reading it in silence he repeated the man’s name over and over in his mind. Marluxia. Marluxia. That was an odd name. Silencing his thoughts, he gave a sheepish glance back to Marluxia who was bearing a wide smirk as he began to gracefully twirl locks of pink hair with his right hand.
“You’re an artist then?” Marluxia questioned, setting down the pen he had been holding in his left hand from moments before. Sora gave a rather distant nod as the smirk grew. “Isn’t that splendid.” He paused, as if contemplating something. “Tell me, Sora, where does an artist such as yourself get inspiration?”
A bit confused at the sudden interest Marluxia had begun to show, Sora rose his hand once more to stroke his chin slightly. He supported his form by leaning against the desk with his free, left hand. After a moment of silence, the brunette gave a gentle smile before daring to answer.
“You know, everything. The sky... the sea... people... anything.” And just for added props, he gave a wide grin.
“Is that so?” Marluxia answered, arching an eyebrow before picking the pen back up once more. “Would you be comfortable in the field of public interests?” further inquired Marluxia, ready to write down the response, and every um and stammer that came with it.
“Um... Public interests... sir?” The sir was added in as a second thought.
“You know, affairs of the city, question , concerns, suggestions," Marluxia explained rather vaguely, purple-toned eyes watching the brunette curiously. Sora paused, sucking his bottom lip ever so slightly in deep wonder. He wasn’t exactly sure if that was the entire job, but it sounded easy enough.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be to handle that,” Sora finally answered.
“Just a few more questions and I’ll make my decision,” Marluxia made known, writing something down busily. “Have you ever been in a divorce, Mr. Kayaki?”
“I-i’ve never been married.” The question came as a bit of a startlement to the spiky-brunette. He was only twenty and he was asking about divorce?! Sure, he had rather vague ideas of marrying someday, more than likely to Kairi, but divorce? He didn’t even like to brooch the subject. Why marry to divorce?
“Are you paying any child-support to anyone, Mr. Kayaki?” Tapping the pencil on the clipboard, Marluxia cast a curious glance back at the lithe form.
Still taken back, Sora cleared his throat. Did these kind of job interviews require such miscellaneous and private topics? Rather quickly, Sora shook his head in a frantic no. “If I’ve never been married then why would I have kids?” It came out more as a squeak than anything.
“One more question,” Marluxia answered, ignoring the last bit from the brunette. Sora frowned as he watched the pen flurry across the paper. What was he writing down anyhow? Curious blue eyes tried to peer onto the clipboard, but worked to no avail. “Would you be willing to work weekdays nine to six?”
“Of course,” Sora quickly answered, relieved to hear a rather normal question.
“Well, your background and experience seem to match those needed for this particular job. I’ll start you on minimum wage today, how does that sound? And as an extra bonus, from the rather magnificent me, I’ll let you get a handle on your office today without any paperwork. You can just answer the phones,” Marluxia explained, flipping the clipboard over and clasping his hands on top of it.
“That sounds great!” Sora exclaimed, bearing a sloppy grin.
“Marvelous. Welcome aboard Mr. Kayaki," Marluxia offered with a snicker before pressing a small blue button upon a device to his left. It appeared to be box-shaped with four colored buttons. Once pressed, a small buzzer rang through before another form walked into the room. Unamused eyes of Xigbar met with the rather cheerful ones of Sora. The brunette instantly frowned, unsure what was causing the look of discontent.
“Xigbar, be a dear and show Sora to his new workspace,” Marluxia directed, meeting the man’s scornful gaze. Sora blinked in confusion, wondering if something was there between the two men, a long quarrel perhaps, but said nothing as Xigbar ushered him out of the office and shut the door.
And so he stood there, beaming brightly at the man with the black and white toned hair pulled back into a pony-tail. A moment of silence rang through as Sora swayed back and forth on his feet. A welcoming hand then was slapped onto his shoulder, causing the boy to tense a bit.
“Ignore the prick, welcome aboard kiddo,” snickered Xigbar, suddenly turning incredibly jolly. Blinking in surprise, Sora gave a hurried nod before the man began to usher him once more down the rows of cubicles.
As curious as ever, the brunette peered into each one they passed. Some people were busy typing, others writing, otherss on the phone. A slight wave of excitement rang through Sora. That simple child-like vigor coursed through his veins, making him think an office job would be exciting. Even only if for this second.
After a few minutes of walking down what seemed like four rows, Xigbar stopped before extending a large arm outward to show Sora the entrance to a cubicle. Peering in slightly, a smile spread across the brunette’s pale lips. There was a computer, a phone, and a nicely fitted desk. Small but comfy. Like his apartment.
“It’s great,” Sora chimed before turning to face Xigbar.
“Kid, if I had half the passion you did, I’d be happy,” Xigbar chanted, laughing a bit before stalking off. Not understanding exactly what he had meant, Sora stumbled into the cubicle, plopping into the comfy chair he found. It seemed nice.
A few moments passed as the inquisitive young male began to go through the drawers of the desk. Sticky notes, stacks of white lined paper, a fax machine, and a filing system. Nice, declared Sora in his mind before turning to click the mouse of the computer. Once awakened from sleep mode, the computer made a slight beep as it displayed the main page for Erops corporation.
“Awesome...” Sora whispered, turning away from it to glance over at the silent phone. He had been assigned to phones, right? So why wasn’t it ringing? Staring at it for around ten minutes, Sora got tired of waiting before standing up to peer over the divider of the cubicles to the man beside him. “Um.. excuse me, I think my phone’s dead.. can you help me?” he inquired, stammering a bit.
The man was quite a sight. Long blonde hair fell down to his shoulders whilst narrow eyes peered back at the deep blue ones. Recoiling a bit, Sora tapped his fingers on the divider, awaiting a reply ever so patiently.
“I’m on the phone,” snapped the man, covering the receiver, narrowing already narrow eyes.
Sora blinked, turning a dark red from embarrassment before clearing his throat slightly and listening into the conversation.
“Yes, yes I am your physic friend Vexen.” Sora tilted his head in wonder. Physic... friend? By now the brunette was past curious as he leaned slightly further, to listen closer. “Your cat? I.. am getting a vibe that he’s under your bed? Along with a few... overnight necessities.” A moment of silence passed before Vexen smirked. “Yes, no need to thank me, for I am the Physic Vexen.” And with that he hung up and stared darkly at Sora. “Can I help you?”
“You’re a physic?” Sora beamed, never having a chance to actually meet someone with super-natural powers before. It was safe to say the boy was more child-like then most kids nowadays.
“No, but it helps business,” was all Vexen declared with a wide smirk before letting out a rather high-pitched, slightly womanly cackle and went back to writing something.
Sora wasn’t sure whether to be disturbed or amused. In the end, he found himself sitting firmly back at his seat, now beginning to doodle on the notepad before him. He was getting paid just to sit around? He should have done this years ago! Sora mused slightly at the aspect before sensitive ears twitched as he arose to his feet to look over the divider down to Marluxia’s office.
There stood a rather flustered man, clothed in a black suit. Silver-like hair fell down to his shoulders as angered aqumarine eyes stared at Marluxia, completely enraged. As prying as ever, Sora listened in to their conversation. The two seemed to be in an interesting conversation.
“You’re what?!” snapped Marluxia, pointing an angered finger at the man’s suited vest. Instantly, the finger was recoiled when the silver-haired man shrugged it off, scoffing a bit at the efforts.
“Are you deaf? I’m quitting,” he stated once more, folding his arms to his chest rather smugly.
“Are you too good for us or something?” snarled Marluxia, pushing strands of pink hair out of his eyes.
“I am,” informed the silver-haired male, smirking whilst turning his cheek.
“You really have too big of an ego,” Marluxia hissed, inching closer to the man.
“Why should a writer waste his time in this damn joint? This was just a part-time job in-between books," the silverhaired male stated nonchalantly. He then began laughing a bit at the irony of it all.
“You’re books are crap!” hollered Marluxia, making Sora shrink back a bit.
“You really piss me off, you know that?” scoffed the silver-haired stranger, rolling his eyes whilst keeping the same tone to his voice.
“Get out now,” Marluxia demanded, pointing a finger towards the door across the room. The silver-haired male blinked for a moment, causing an eerie silence to ring through the office. It seemed that everyone had paused from their work to watch this chain of events. “If you think you can get by living off the pocket change you make from writing those lies, then feel free.”
“Don’t act like you care about me quitting,” groaned the silver-haired author.
“You’re the one who started this! And you know I don’t like to lose a fight,” Marluxia stated, calming down a bit towards the end of his sentence.
“Well, consider this a fight lost,” The silver-haired male concluded. He then began to make his way down the rows, inching closer to the cubicle near Sora and Vexen. Marluxia snatched the male by his arm but only received a smug grin. “I’ll be sure to write from my high-rise,” was all he said before pushing the hand off of his arm and stalking towards the door, passing right past Sora as he did so.
Once the front door had slammed, silence prevailed as Vexen gave off another disturbing laugh causing Sora to fall back into his chair.
“Yo u got the job?!”
Hands were draped around Sora’s neck affectionately as she held him close in a tight embrace. The dark blush deepened from the brunette as he gently shrugged off the red-head before falling down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling in exhaustion. Kairi continued to stand beside the bed, peering curiously at her boyfriend.
“I’ve never seen you this exhausted,” joked the red-head before rubbing her chin before seating herself at the edge of the bed. “So, how was it?”
“I got paid for doing nothing!” Sora smirked, back laying flat on the bed.
“Paid for doing nothing? You should have been hired for that job years ago!” Kairi snickered, rolling her eyes.
“That’s what I thought!” Sora beamed, pushing locks of brown hair out of his eyes as he stared over at the setting sun with a stifled yawn. Doing nothing sure did make a guy tired. Blue hues wandered back over to Kairi as he sighed. “You’re going into work tonight, aren’t you?” he questioned, his tone suddenly falling to a whisper.
“You know I don’t have a choice,” she answered softly, kicking her heels together off the side of the bed in a bit of a distraction.
“We barely get to see each anymore,” Sora murmured, averting his eyes from Kairi’s.
“Because you’re sleeping most of the time, you lazy bum!” she answered quickly, reaching for a pillow and smacking him playfully with it. Pouting a bit, he pushed the pillow off his face and sighed, the pout turning into a slight smile at his girlfriend.
“We’ll make it big soon Kairi. And when we do we’ll never have to work. We’ll be together forever,” Sora informed Kairi, pushing his hands behind his head as he stared at the white ceiling with wonderment.
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” she joked before leaving the bedroom to her job. Silence once more was the winner as blue eyes watched her leave. It hadn’t been only two minutes before the brunette had fallen into a light slumber, snuggling the pillow he clutched ever so tightly.
It was around an hour later when Sora was heading off to have dinner down at the local café. Usually he ate alone, so he was accustomed to his nightly walk down this way. The brunette pulled his coat tightly to his lithe body as he walked. Blue eyes peered down the sidewalk ahead of him, sighing softly at how little people were actually using it. Most people had cars. He didn’t. Really didn’t find a need with cars in the city. Besides, walking kept the body fit... or something like that.
Sora turned his head slightly when he realized that his phone was ringing. Sheepishly, the brunette dug into his pockets, nearing a corner. He paused, raising the phone to his ear and listening intently to the voice.
“Sora? It’s Roxas.”
Hadn’t he called earlier? Sora sighed and fidgeted nervously on the corner, watching the light turn red.
“Hey Roxas… something wrong?” There had to be a reason he was calling him.
“Wanted to see if you wanted to meet me tomorrow for dinner?” the blonde questioned on the other line.
The chance to eat with someone caught Sora off-guard and he grinned. “Of course! What time? Where?” Sora began excitedly, figuring the light had already turned green so he stepped forward onto the street, intent on making his way across.
Without warning, an arm reached outward in aggravation to grip the brunette by his collar and pull the boy back onto the sidewalk before he could be run over by a speeding taxi. Aquamarine eyes narrowed at the brunette, spinning him around to glare at him. "What the hell were you thinking?" Riku breathed harshly, arching his eyebrow. Annoyance was drenched in them. It was obvious.
Sora's heart by this point had already stopped. He had almost /died/. He watched his cell phone fall from his grasps and be crushed by a taxi speeding by. He turned to the silver-haired man, "My phone!" he breathed in desperation but paused when he realized who it was. Oh great.
"Would you rather that be your phone or your life?" Riku inquired, loosening his grip on Sora's arm. Riku then pulled his arms back, only to cross them to his chest. And then a sigh followed. "You people never look where you're going," he scoffed, sea-green eyes barely noticing the intense color of the brunette's eyes.
"Maybe I liked my phone..." Sora refuted, frowning at the broken pieces on the road. People had already crossed by this point, leaving him and the author there, alone, bickering. Not how he wanted to spend his night. "I wouldn't have been hit," Sora noted, biting his bottom lip.
"Oh right, because you're invincible." Riku sneered, shaking his head in dismay. "Go home kid. The street is obviously too much for you to handle." The silver-haired male chortled slightly to himself after that.
"I bet you can't handle the streets either!" Sora was resorting to his childish instincts. His blue eyes filled with a desire to actually have a conversation with someone, even if that person was Riku Karada; a conceited author. "You're not much better than me," Sora added on, knowing that was incredibly inaccurate.
"Really?" A smirk folded onto Riku's lips as he extended a hand to shallowly place it on the shorter male's shoulder. "I've written an award winning book. I have fans. I have people who constantly ramble on about me and the book for hours; surely I can handle a measly street."
"I've never heard of your book." Sora knew he was being annoying and childish, but didn't care. He hated people who thought they were /so/ much better because they were rich, and thus snobby.
"Caller Number Nine," Riku replied chirpily, grinning in his own success before pushing past Sora. "I have places to be." The silver-haired male shrugged dismally, sea-green eyes meeting blue ones. "Don't get yourself killed." And with that tossed over his shoulder, Riku was gone.
Sora stared blankly, shoulders falling down into a shrug. The brunette had a sudden, violent urge to read that book now ... man was he gullible to fame.
Grunting something incoherent as he did so, Riku pushed open the doors of his apartment. Everything was like he had left it. A beautiful kitchen off to the left, a sofa and chair duo on the right equipped with a LCD TV, and then a door leading off to the bedroom and bathroom beyond that. A plain grey carpet lay beneath him as he reached his arm behind him to shut the door. Taking a long exhaled sigh, the silver-haired male passed through the room, making his way to the answering machine by the computer from the night before.
“Two new messages,” Riku scoffed in a low voice, instantly considering them to be from the eccentric ex. Regardless, he found himself placing pressure with his finger on the play button.
“Hey Riku, it’s me! Call me back so we can... talk about the plan!” The message ended with a deep as Riku sighed, rolling his eyes at the over-eager brother. Pushing his frame into the computer chair as the grandfather clocked chimed six times, he continued to listen, waiting for the second message to begin.
“Would you be interest in purchasing the new and hottest Male Beauty products? Everyone is trying them, and they can be yours for a low fee of five hundred dollars a month. Be successful whilst be-” He had heard enough as he flicked his wrist, ending the message mid-way with the delete button
“Stupid telemarketers,” he murmured, lacing his fingers together and then leaning his chin into them. A gentle yawn escaped his lips as he starred dully at the computer screen. It had been a long day between the book-signing, meeting Demyx for a short fiasco, and then having to deal with his now ex-boss. Cringing a bit at the slight ;memories’ that came along with Marluxia, he closed his emerald eyes, letting rest ripple over him.
That didn’t last long as the phone beside him began to ring. Cracking an eye open, a bit aggravated at the timing, Riku reached over, clicking the Talk button simultaneously.
“What?” he snarled drowsily, rubbing the temples of his forehead.
“You’re home! That’s great!” chimed the blonde-haired man’s response on the other end. Narrowing his eyes, Riku once more leaned into his desk, propping his elbows up to lean his chin into the palms of his hands lazily.
“Of course I am, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be answering the phone,” came the edgy reply from Riku, eyelids threatening to fall over his eyes.
“I know that, silly!” Riku cringed further from the response but disregarded it as a typical Demyx type of thing. “As for the job, I thought you’d like the details.” Continued Demyx, almost in a sing-song voice.
“Go ahead,” Riku answered shortly, reaching for a pencil from the collection in a mug whilst tearing off a sheet of paper from a nearby notepad. “I’m ready,” Riku added in, furrowing his eyebrows.
“The numbers 555-6983 and her name is Miss Utada. Tell her your name and all that fancy writing stuff, and make sure to include you’re Demmy’s brother. Once you go through that, well, you’re in!” Demyx explained from the other end of the phone.
Riku set down the pencil after writing what his brother had said. “Just like that?” hasked, a bit of dis-belief in his voice. He wasn’t buying this.
“Just like that!” Hummed Demyx as a response.
“How are you so certain I’m going to get this?” Riku scoffed into the phone, now letting the pencil twirl around on his paper with the use of his forefinger.
“Let’s just say me and the Misses go way back to high school," was all Demyx said before the phone-call abruptly ended, leaving a dial-tone ringing in Riku’s ear. Starring at the receiver, not holding much faith into the words, he sighed miserably before setting the phone back down and exiting the chair.
However, yet another ring broke his travel to the bedroom. Turning a round slightly, letting silver bangs fall in front of his eyes. Pacing back over to phone, he extended a hand to tediously pick the phone up, clicking Talk as he did so.
“Hello?” he questioned, licking his lips as he did so.
“Is this... Mr. Riku Karada?” the nervous female responsed.
“Yes,” he answered rather flatly, falling back into his chair boredly.
“Us down here at Frosty’s were wondering if you could make an appearance tomorrow down at our cafe on the corner of Main Street and Second street. We’re prepared to give you half of the day’s earnings if you can make it," drawled the voice, as if drowned in fear of rejection.
“Would it be a book signing?” he questioned, now biting his bottom lip, a bit unsure.
“Just an appearance and a chance to take to the fans, Mr. Karada," the voice responded, cheering up a bit. Great, talk to people… Grimaced Riku slightly before scratching the side of his head dully.
“And how much would this half of the earnings be?” he further inquired, letting his feet dangle off the sides of the chair.
“Perhaps two thousand?” replied the other. Pondering slightly, Riku came a slight nod before clearing his throat slightly.
“I’ll be there at noon," was all he said before hanging up the phone.
Snickering a bit at the phone, the silver-haired male passed across the room once more, to the bedroom. Once inside, he passed into the a joining bathroom, reaching for a lilac bathrobe to change into. Once done so, the man re-emerged from the bathroom, pacing to the bed and instantly collapsing onto. A few yawns were shared as he stared at the ceiling dully, rubbing his eyes as he did so. Thoughts flickered off to what grand annoyances may be awaiting for him tomorrow, and then back to the questionable job offering Demyx had explained. Something was going on, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Regardless, the writer fell into a light slumber, thoughts of literacy bombarding his head.