Welcome to my little side project, also known as my Valentine's Day fic. *bows* This is one of the plot lines I came up with, and (using OftB reviewers' inputs) set up the Riku/Sora pairing they all selected! I was first intending to have the Valentine's fic be much shorter, only one chapter, but I liked this particular plot line so much, I just had to drag it out. So instead, it will be completed on Valentine's Day. One for the Band will continue sporadic updates until then, so don't worry! Instead, watch me try to assemble an R rated storyline... Meep.
Disclaimer/Warning...Stuff: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters = not mine. As fun as that would be. No, I just like to poke fun at the poor attempts Square did of trying to cover up the truuue relationship behind the game. Which is definitely Riku/Sora. Which also brings me to my next topic! Riku/Sora means yaoi, which means that some people may not approve. If you don't approve, well, I'm sorry about that, but oh well. My fic can continue anyway. XD The fic is rated R due to language and later sexual situations. Ahem.
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Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter One
'Meet my Demon'
The second week of Riku's life on Destiny Islands was much like the first. The third was much like the second, which was in turn much like the fourth, which was also in turn, much like the fifth, the sixth... and so on. To say the teenager hated life there would have to be the understatement of the century, and he didn't waste any time before he made it just quite obvious how much he hated it there. Having moved to the islands a month and a half before the schools there let out, there was no point in having Riku attend a school at all, having finished all his courses for the year back at the public schools on the mainland. This left him with no one to hang out with and no one who he knew. So, playing to morose teen, Riku did what many his age would have done in that situation.
He locked himself up in his new room, turned up the music, and refused to come out.
So it was that during the fifth week of Riku's new life, his parents were called off to the mainland for a weekend to finish tying up some loose ends on their old house. Riku sighed, just thinking about it. His old house. His real house. Where he had a city surrounding him, concrete everywhere, and a restaurant lining every block. Here, he'd have to learn how to cook his own food, and even how to drive, since the islands lacked numerous diners as well as a public transportation system. How completely and totally... prehistoric. That was really the only word for this whole place. And now his good ole parents just had to go back to the mainland and were forcing Riku to stay behind and take care of his good for nothing little sister. Well that was just swell.
Three days later, Riku sat at the kitchen table with a rather perplexed mother...
"I can't believe you could be so immature, Riku!"
The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow in response, though he inwardly cringed at the tone his mother was using. She never seemed to get this easily upset back at home. Where he should have been instead of that god-forsaken island. It hadn't even been his fault in the first place! Narrowing his green eyes at his younger sister, Riku made a mental note to hurt her later. Or maybe just decapitate a favorite stuffed animal. Either way, something would have to be done.
Ryo sniffed pathetically, drawing her small mouth out into a typical younger-sister pout. Riku smirked, knowing that same mouth would be screaming at the severed teddy bear head in her bead later that night. Ah, revenge was sweet. Riku was so busy plotting this revenge, he wasn't even listening to his mother's lecture.
"You never even come out of your room anymore, let alone take responsibility for a simple babysitting job! How can your father and I ever trust you again?! All you had to do was sacrifice just a little of your time and check on Ryo once in a while, but could you? Could you??! NO! I swear, Riku, it's almost like you're the one in need of a babysitter!--"
Hmm... Perhaps cutting off the bear's head would be being too gentle. Maybe if he sliced open the stuffed animal's stomach and littered Ryo's room with its stuffing...
"--the washing machine! The washing machine, Riku! Do you understand what could've happened?? DO YOU?! I didn't think so! You never understand that there are consequences for your--"
Or maybe he could just put the entire thing through the disposal in the sink. A rather grimy end for such a stupid grimy toy. It would be fitting, after all.
"Riku, are you even listening to a word I'm saying to you?!"
No, Riku definitely thought that plan A was the way to go. Nothing like making Ryo scream in terror to get back at her. What sort of idiot kid gets herself locked in the washing machine anyway? Come to think of it, what sort of idiot kid gets herself in a washing machine in the first place? Drawing a blank, Riku decided to sort through his thoughts later. The likelihood of the situation was simply that Ryo had decided to make her older brother's life even more of a hell then it already was, which meant victimizing herself and appealing to their parents and royally screwing him over in the process. Hardly a challenge for the seven year old girl.
"That's it, Riku! I've had it! Your father and I have very important business to take care of and, yes, we will be gone quite often! If you can't be bothered to take care of both yourself and Ryo, then I just need to find a babysitter for the both of you!"
That snapped Riku out of his revenge-daze, causing him to look at his mother, his head cocked to the side in puzzlement. "Why would you need to do that?"
His mother stood there, gaping at Riku as though he were speaking a foreign tongue. Finally she groaned, flinging her hands up in despair before storming out of the kitchen, hollering over her shoulder. "Tomorrow! Tomorrow I find a babysitter and your father and I can live in peace!"
~~~~~~~
Sora sighed, closing the door of his car behind him... Or, more specifically, his parents' car. The fact that they'd never officially declared the old rattletrap his didn't bother him quite as much as the fact that he'd experienced yet another summer day out doing nothing. It wasn't as though Sora hated doing nothing (actually, it was probably one of his favorite activities), but he hated doing nothing at a mall. With girls, which just happened to be the only close friends he'd been able to get in contact with. Quite possibly the worst decision the blue eyed teen had ever made in his life, really, but with Tidus and Wakka off at some blitzball conditioning camp... thing, that just left Sora with Kairi and Selphie. Oh yes, and Kairi's boyfriend. Letting out another deep sigh, seeming to give one for each of his troubles, Sora shoved the car keys in his pocket as he trudged up his front yard to his home, hoping his parents weren't home yet. Problems tended to layer themselves one on top of the other, much like a cake or a parfait. Even thinking about the delicious foods wasn't enough to get Sora's mind off the inevitable.
Kairi had gotten a boyfriend.
Sora knew he didn't like his best friend that way. They'd gone out for about two weeks in middle school, but there was absolutely no spark between them, and they'd decided to go back to being friends. Since then, neither had really chosen to date, though it also seemed that neither of them knew why. Sora didn't particularly have a problem with it, finding that not many girls at his school were all that interesting in a more-then-friendly way, telling himself that there were probably better girls in college. At least, that's what he'd told himself for a long, long time. But... what if there weren't? What if Sora was doomed to live life not knowing what it would be like to have a real girlfriend?
Pushing the thought aside as he opened the front door, Sora found himself already face to face with his mother. She grinned, opening the door for him with her foot and finishing the ponytail she'd been in the process of pulling her hair into.
"Hey, Honey! Umm, listen, I have something really important I need to discuss with you."
Uh oh, Bryna was using pet names for her son. This could get ugly.
"Uh, sure, Mom..." Sora mumbled as he was dragged off to the living room, sitting down numbly on the sofa.
"Sweetie, ah, your father and I won these tickets..."
Sora forced a grin onto his face, instantly knowing the exact tickets his mother was talking about. How could he not? After all, Bryna had only been babbling about some contest or another she'd won for the past two weeks, the prize being two airline tickets far up the coast of the mainland way into the north, where Sora had heard there was snow and... well, that's about where his knowledge ended. "Wow, great job, Mom! When do we go?"
Bryna's smile faltered, wringing her hands in circles as she spoke. "Well, that's just it... I, ah, didn't realize that..." She trailed off, suddenly seeming very interested in the floorboards of the ground beneath her.
"...Realize thaaat?"
"Well, ah... that... There's only... two... tickets..." Bryna finished lamely.
Sora gaped at her in response. No way. There was no way his own parents would abandon him now, too! Great, just great.
"I'm sorry, Baby! I really thought there were four tickets, but I guess I entered the wrong contest and got a romantic vacation instead of a family one and now I should probably go revoke my tickets because I know you don't want to be left here all alone and it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself, but think of everything that could go wrong if you're left in this house along and I'm so sorry, Sora, I never ever meant to leave you out, but at the same time your father says we should go and so I just want to--"
"Woah, Mom, breathe." Sora was determined to be as mature about this as possible... Well, as mature as Sora could be in any situation. "It's okay. I can take care of myself while you guys are gone, I really don't mind!"
"But... but... Well, that's the problem."
"What is? I can take care of myself, we've already got that figured."
"Well, your father and I think that maybe an entire month is... Well, pushing it a bit, don't you think? It's just, what if something happened? We know you can handle things, but... An entire month alone?" Bryna gnawed her bottom lip nervously, waiting in the silence before glancing down at her son who was still seated on the couch. She gave him a small smile, turning towards the coffee table and picking up a piece of paper Sora hadn't noticed when he'd first walked into the room. Actually, it looked more like a flyer. Bryna held the paper in her delicate hands, continuing with her train of thought.
"I saw this when I was shopping today and it seems like a good idea. I mean, if you're not alone, I don't think there's a problem, right? And you've babysat before, so it's not like this would be any different..."
"Mom, just let me see the flyer." Sora's mother had completely lost him. Reaching up, Sora took the paper his mother handed him, scanning over the text.
Babysitter Needed for June 12-July 12
~Please respond ASAP if you think you may be interested!~
~Food and room will all be provided as well as $50 dollars a day as pay~
Call 204-395-8375 or stop by 2048 Yinsaed Dr. to speak to us one on one!
Sora blinked up at Bryna. "Mom, if I apparently can't take care of myself for a month, what makes you think I can take care of some little kid too?" The entire thing was just more then a little aggravating.
"No, no, see, if you weren't alone I wouldn't be so worried. And I sort of already... called."
"Mom!"
"Sora, I know, I'm sorry, it's just... Your father and I have three days to get everything packed and it's short notice... I know..." The room fell into silence, Sora's anger quite obvious on his face. Bryna guessed that whatever bad day the boy had stormed inside with wasn't exactly being helped by all this being put on top of him right then... But what else could she do?
"I called and told her you'd drop by tomorrow afternoon to meet the kids."
"There's two?"
"Well, one's a boy a year older then you..."
Sora furrowed his eyebrows together in puzzlement. "Then why do they need a..."
"Apparently he's somewhat... moody... from what I heard. And he doesn't like to leave his room... So it'd really just be like there was only one kid there anyway!" Bryna said, grinning and trying to get her son to look on the bright side of things. Too bad Sora couldn't even find a bright side to the whole thing.
"Great, so I'm going to be babysitting some crazy little kid who's older brother is an angsty, male PMS-driven, irresponsible idiot?"
"Sora! You haven't even met him yet!"
"...Your point?"
"Sora, your father and I really want to go on this trip..." Sora's eyes widened, sensing what was coming next and not being able to do anything to stop it, much like a deer caught in headlights. Bryna was going to start putting Sora through a major guilt trip, knowing her son would undoubtedly cave in to his conscience, just as he did every single time.
"It's just that we've never really had a romantic vacation since our honeymoon... And that was a long time ago, Sweetie. But it's okay if you don't want to do this, I won't push you. It's just that you were saying earlier how you hated having to hang out with Kairi and her boyfriend so much and I figured that maybe this older boy only needs someone to depend on and you could befriend him with ease. You do make friends so easily, Sora. ...But if you don't want to, I'll just have to call back and apologize to their parents, it's okay..."
Sora groaned, leaning back into the pillows of the couch and looking up at the ceiling so Bryna wouldn't be able to see the pouty expression he now wore. "No, Mom, that's okay... I'll do it..."
"Oh, goodie!" The next thing Sora knew, he was being tackled in an enormous hug by Bryna, his mother kissing his cheek happily, almost motherly, despite her normal... un-motherly attitude. "Your father and I will find a way to pay you back, Sora, don't worry! We'll make it up to you! And fifty dollars a day? That's good money! You can probably buy your own care by the time a month's up!"
That thought definitely put Sora in a better mood. His own car? One that he wouldn't have to kick to get it started properly? One that actually had working windshield wipers? Well hot damn. Perhaps this whole baby-sitting thing wouldn't be as bad as he thought...
~~~~~~~
It's amazing how fast three days fly by.
"Hiya, Sora!" Ryo beamed as she opened the front door, peering up at Sora. Sora, in turn, peered down at the tiny girl and gave her a small wave, unable to keep from smiling at Ryo's broad grin stretched across her pale face. She was pretty adorable, he'd give her that. Kairi and Selphie would probably squeal and go on and on about how cute she was and how pretty she'd be when she grew up. With pale blonde hair pulled up into pigtails and dark green eyes, Sora figured that Ryo would be the star of her high school prom. Just like Kairi. Great, Sora would be babysitting a mini Kairi for the next month.
He'd stopped by the house two days earlier, having responded to the invitation to just go have a look around the house and meet Ryo... Though Sora hadn't seen any trace of another sibling. When he'd timidly asked about what his mother had said, Ryo's mother had just brushed the question off with a dismissive wave of her hand, saying that Ryo's older brother would probably lock himself up in his room all day anyway, so there would be no point in trying to look after him as well. Even then, she had then joked about the older boy probably needing a baby sitter for himself, he could be so immature sometimes. Ryo had whispered, "He doesn't like my stuffed aminals very much" in Sora's ear, pulling out a battered teddy bear head and showing it to him, causing the brunette to gulp and try and get his mind off of her older brother, whom he was then hoping he wouldn't meet.
Their house was just plain huge compared to Sora's own, and he cautiously stepped into the hallway, setting his duffel bag down on the floor with a quiet thump. Well, there was no going back now. Everyone's parents had taken off earlier that evening, Ryo's parents explaining that they had a business merging deal they had to set up... or something. Sora hadn't even understood half the words they'd said when speaking to him, but he didn't think he'd really care even if he did understand. The business world was a complete mystery to him, and Sora was perfectly happy with things being that way. Just as he thought he'd be perfectly happy avoiding Ryo's stuffed-animal-cereal-killer of a brother.
Ryo happily led Sora down into the basement, where Sora had earlier been shown the large guest room the family had down there, as well as where there was a second small kitchen and bathroom. Sora had been amazed, to say the least, at the sheer expanse of the house, as well as the expensive paintings hanging from the walls and the marble tiled counters and plush sofas. Not to mention the fact that he was horribly jealous of the big screen TV the family had sitting in their living room.
"You get to live down here! You're so lucky. Mommy says I'm not supposed to bother you if you tell me to leave you alone, so just tell me to leave you alone, and I'll leave you alone, okay?" Ryo grinned, perched on the arm of an overstuffed couch situated on the thick, warm carpet of the basement. Though he didn't really understand some of what she was babbling, due to her mile-a-minute speech, Sora smiled at the younger girl, setting his bag on the floor.
"Sure thing, Ryo..." She really wasn't that bad of a kid. Sora couldn't see why her older brother just wasn't willing to look out for her every once in a while.
"Ooooh, can we turn on the radio? I'll help you unpack your stuff! Then we can go see if Riku wants to play a board game, okay?" Ryo literally bounced off the arm of the sofa, latching onto Sora's arm instead and attempting to grab his duffel bag with her spare hand, only to flop over onto the ground. She tugged pitifully at the strap of the bag, barely moving it half an inch from its original position on the floor. Sora laughed, bending down at picking up the bag, slinging it over his shoulder again.
"Jeeze, whaddya have in there, rocks?" Ryo grabbed Sora's arm, leading him towards the open door of the basement's bedroom and hopping over to the radio as soon as they entered the room, obviously not as intent on hearing Sora's response as much as hearing what the radio had to offer. Sora meanwhile, zipped open his duffel bag, pulling out heaps of clothing and setting them out on the large queen size bed, hearing only a fuzzy crackling noise coming over from the stereo.
"Need a hand?" Sora cocked his head at the little girl who was scowling furiously at the speakers in front of her.
Whack!
Sora's eyes widened as music burst into the room, surprised that Ryo's swift kick had actually managed to get the device working.
"Eee! I love this song!" The hyperactive girl bounced up and down with excitement, leaping onto the bed, nearly flipping head over heels into Sora's duffel bag, but catching herself in time by grabbing onto the boy's shirt, sending both of them hurtling to the floor with a thud.
That old dog has
chained you up alright.
Give you everything you need
To live inside a
twisted cage,
Sleep beside an empty rage
I had a dream I was your hero
Damn! I wish I was your lover!
I'll rock you till the daylight comes,
Make sure you are smiling and warm
I am everything,
Tonight I'll be your mother
I will do such things
to ease your pain,
Free your mind and you won't feel ashamed
The collision with the floor didn't stop Ryo from playing her air guitar with glee, lip-syncing the words to the song as Sora doubled over in laughter. He'd definitely had his doubts about the entire thing, but Ryo was plenty outgoing and fun, making her the perfect kid to be stuck babysitting for a month. Granted, Sora would have felt better if there wasn't some strange and unknown teenager lurking upstairs, but--
Sora was snapped out of his thoughts by a small tug on his arm, steering him towards the door.
"Hey! Let's go see Riku!"
Uh oh.
"Uhh, Ryo? Don't you think maybe we should leave him alone? I mean, he sounds kinda... antisocial?"
"Naaah! Riku's a cool brother! You'll love 'im!"
Oh dear. Sora allowed himself to be dragged up two flights of stairs by Ryo, who was surprisingly strong for her tiny size. The spiral staircase which led up to the second story of the house was so finely polished, Sora could see his own puzzled expression blinking back at him as he tagged along behind Ryo on their random trip up to her brother's room. Another living room greeted them at the top of the stairs, black leather furniture artfully place around a large and intricately decorated rug, all of it set atop polished hardwood floors. Sora couldn't spend too much time drooling over the gorgeous house, though, since Ryo left him absolutely no time to do so, grabbing his hand and leading him off down one of several hallways branching off from the living room.
It was easy to identify which room was Riku's though only because of the music leaking through the doorway. Unlike Sora's own bedroom door, which was plastered with posters, notes, pictures, and everything imaginable, Riku's door was entirely blank, white paint glaring off its surface, only amplifying its emptiness. Sora actually found himself feeling sorry for the poor door, but then shook his sympathy from his mind. He just had to focus on not getting off on the wrong foot with Riku... Who might decide to decapitate his own head much like that of the teddy bear Ryo had shown him.
"Riiiiiiku! RikuRikuRikuRikuRikuRi--"
"WHAT." Sora noted that Riku's irritated response was not a question. It sounded more along the lines of a demand. Meep.
"This is So-ra, our babysitter! Dontcha wanna meet Sora, Riku?" Ryo looked pleadingly at the door, as though she were actually talking to her brother face to face. Then again, if Riku stayed in his room as much as his mother implied, perhaps Ryo had just come to know the door's surface as her brother. Which was really quite sad.
"No. Not really, no." Ouch.
"Aww! But why not?"
"Why would I want to meet some stupid girl?"
Ryo giggled as Sora couldn't help from bursting out, "Hey, I'm not a girl!" Well, so much for getting off on the right foot with Riku.
From behind the closed door, Riku's eyes widened. His little sister's babysitter was a boy?? What were his parents thinking?! They didn't even know this kid, and yet they trusted him with Ryo for an entire month? Though Riku would never admit it, the fact stung pretty badly that his parents trusted this total stranger more then their own son and he bit his bottom lip and scowled at the doorway before continuing.
"Then that's even more of a reason I don't want to meet him."
"But Riku, you like b--"
"Go away, Ryo."
Ryo's eyes began to tear up and Sora instantly felt a deep stab of sympathy for her. It was typical little-sister behavior to idolize her older brother. But had Sora just heard Ryo say that Riku liked boys? Sora pondered this for several seconds before choosing to shrug it off. Chances were that she just meant that Riku's friends were boys, which would only imply that Riku liked spending time around boys. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Instead, he needed to focus on keeping Ryo from bursting into tears, since he thought his heart might just snap if she did. She really was too much like a mini-Kairi.
"Ah, don't worry about him, Ryo! Hey, your mom said we could make some cookies, remember? Why don't we go listen to the radio some more and bake some?"
It worked like a charm. Almost instantaneously, all traces of tears were wiped from Ryo's small face, the little girl giving Sora a wide grin and nodding eagerly. "Yay! Cookies! We can make some and bring 'em up to Riku! He loves cookies! Maybe then he'll come out of his room!" She reached out a small hand to grab Sora, no doubt to lead him back down to the basement's kitchen where the radio was still on in the neighboring bedroom, but she merely ended up grasping empty air.
"Aiee!" With a yelp, Sora found himself jerked through Riku's bedroom door, which had snapped open and shut in the blink on an eye, Riku roughly grasping Sora's shoulders. "Hey, lemme go!" Sora protested, trying not to let his rising panic show through his voice. ...Trying, but not really succeeding.
Riku shoved the smaller boy up against the back of the door, glaring icily at him. This Sora really was just weak. He couldn't even put up a decent struggle against-- Riku's viscous mind screeched to a halt as he locked eyes with the younger boy, time careening to a stop as well. Wow. Riku had never seen eyes like that before. Half of him suddenly wanted to break all previous negative emotions he held towards Sora, but he struggled to keep that half on him in check. Instead, he snapped at Sora, though with nowhere near the amount of venom in his voice as he had originally intended to have.
"Listen, you little punk. I don't know who you are, or what on earth compelled you to look after a little girl for a month, but if you're some perverted little bastard and if you even think of touching Ryo, I swear I'll kill you." And Riku meant it, too. He was already jealous to the point of no return, but now he was no longer sure just who it was he was jealous of. Sora was spending all this time with Riku's little sister after all, when it was he who was her brother. But... Ryo got to spend time with that boy. Lucky, lucky Ryo.
Sora's brilliant blue eyes narrowed in response to Riku's verbal onslaught, though he was debated whether or not he wanted to stare at the boy pinning him against a closed door, or if he wanted to yell at him. He certainly hadn't been expecting Ryo's vicious older brother to be so damn gorgeous, though he probably should have. Hell, their entire family was model-worthy, why not their bastard of a son as well?
"Well sorry for raining on your already dismal parade, Riku, but I'm taking care of your kid sister because apparently you can't." Sora instantly regretted the words as soon as they'd left his mouth, part of him wondering if all Riku needed was some time to adjust to his new home. Maybe then he wouldn't be so... mean.
Riku's eyes narrowed as he shoved himself away from Sora, disturbed that he found himself wanted to go back to that situation. He must really have been locked up in his room for way too long if he was already lusting after some total stranger. Who was younger then him, on top of that. He crossed his arms and hissed back, "I was just giving you fair warning, Sora. And don't think I'm going to be crawling to you asking for your permission to do anything. This is my house and I'll do what I want, with or without your fucking consent."
Sora finally drew the line and figured that this had gone on long enough. There was no reason at all for them to hate each other already! If someone was going to put a stop to it, it looked like it would just have to be him. So Sora just nodded and turned to open the doorway, which Ryo had all the while been pounding on, demanding that Riku unhand her babysitter that very instant.
"Alright. I'm not exactly gonna demand you tell me where you're going or anything. That'd just be stupid." Sora pulled the door open, looking back over his shoulder at Riku, who looked incredibly taken aback. "Ryo and I'll be in the basement making cookies... If you wanna come downstairs later, I bet she'd be glad to see you." Sora inwardly wanted to continue with, "And I sure as hell would like to get to know you better, if you catch my drift," but was absolutely shocked with himself for thinking that in the first place. Yes, Riku was gorgeous, but the guy had just had Sora shoved up against the wall and had threatened to kill him if he molested his little sister. But Sora was already determined to put that awkward meeting behind them, not wanted the next month to be a living hell for both boys. With that, Sora closed Riku's bedroom door and made his way back downstairs to the basement, Ryo dragging him along.
"Riku's really not that bad all the time, Sora! I bet he just needs some cookies!"
It's amazing how unconditional some types of love are.
Riku stood gaping at his closed door several moments after Sora and Ryo had already left. Well that was interesting. Riku could still feel the blood rushing through his body as fast as it had been going when Sora had just looked at him over his shoulder. God, those eyes...
His attention slowly began to fade back to reality as his radio began to draw the song it was playing to a close.
Damn! I wish I was your lover!
How very, very true.
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Whew! Riku's kinda disturbing! XD But in a fun way. The song, which is also the fic's namesake, is 'I Wish I Was Your Lover,' by Sophie B. Hoffman, which I only came to know because she sang it in a duet with Melissa Etheridge. Ahem. Right then, music-geek time: over. Reviews are especially appreciated this early in the fic so you guys can tell me if you think I'm headed the right direction! I'd also like to point out that Ryo, sadly, is a randomly created character. I was considering using Selphie as Riku's little sister, but that would just be weird. o_O So all you need know is that Ryo if purely a plot device and will help Riku and Sora get together countless times throughout the fic. She's a slasher at heart, even at the tender age of seven! XD Enough babbling from me, time for.....
Preview for the next chapter: Cookies, cocoa, and Ryo's solution to a scary thunderstorm. It's group hug time in one big bed (yes, with Riku), with a power outage to add a little zing to the soup o' plot! Mmm, spicy!
~Ori