Gah, this is going to sound all hokey, but I've been listening to Third Eye Blind entirely too much. They make images appear in my head. If you listen to the song, you will understand my reasoning for making the setting prom. It sounds like somebody on stage in a gym with a bad microphone during the verses, so that's what the song made me think of. The second thing I think of while listening to songs is who is singing to whom. In this case, Riku is singing to Sora. Exactly what he is singing about will become clear as the story goes on. There is hinted/implied shounen-ai, and an outright relationship between Sora and Kairi.
I love this song. Support 3eb. Buy 'Out of the Vein'.
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It was that time of the year at the small Destiny Islands High School. Summer was approaching, which meant finals, graduation, and prom; all of which make for very antsy students. As the end of term grew nearer, emotions ran high: tempers flared, loves were found and lost, and friends said good-bye.
The seniors were the most anxious of all. The vast majority of them would be staying on the islands, but a sprinkling of them would be going to the mainland for college or a job. Among these few was Riku, who was going to a very prestigious college in northern Florida, though no one could quite remember the name. His friends were happy for him, especially Sora, who knew he had had a life-long obsession with getting away from "these damned islands."
Wakka, the other senior in their group was going to stay on the islands for college, but hoped that one day a talent scout would find him and put him on a professional Blitzball team. Sora, Kairi, and Tidus were all juniors, and Selphie was a sophomore. They all had plans which would fall apart and meld back together again during their final years. Tidus would follow in the path of Wakka, and Selphie planned on becoming a romantic novelist, one of many career ambitions. As for Sora and Kairi: they planned on getting married once they graduated.
Prom night came quickly (much too quickly, in some people's opinions) to the small high school. The gym had been decorated in one of those cheesy "Under the Sea" themes, with blue and silver crepe paper hanging from the ceiling along with little paper fishes. Round tables ran around the edges of the room with a buffet table against the back wall. On the far wall was a temporary stage set up with drums, a keyboard, and two guitars. Silver balloons glinted in the dim light from the mirror ball hanging from the rafters, completing the "magical" effect. Then, alone, in couples, and in groups, the students began to arrive.
The gang arrived all together, though Sora and Kairi came as a couple too, getting an awkward picture snapped of them as they came in. They quickly found a table and claimed it with Kairi's and Selphie's purses and shoes. After sitting around anxiously for a few moments they started talking as the DJ turned on some popular pop song.
"So, you're playing tonight, right, Riku?" Sora asked casually, though he knew the answer already.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. But not until later. The DJ will be here for about an hour or so before we go on." Riku replied, glancing around the room for his fellow band mates.
"I still say you should have let me join." Sora smirked at him. "I play a pretty mean guitar." Wakka laughed at this.
"You play guitar, Sora? More like murdering a cat, ya?" He chuckled and the others joined in, making Sora frown. Riku smiled.
"Ah, you know why we wouldn't let you join. We already have a lead guitar, a bass, a keyboardist, and a drummer. Anything more would seem excessive."
"Yeah, well… You could've at least offered before you found everyone." Sora crossed his arms.
"Hey, me, Hideaki, Kei, and Arima had been talking about forming a band for two years before we finally got enough money for instruments. It was only fair." Riku leaned back, smiling serenely.
"Yeah, yeah…" Sora trailed before Kairi jumped out of her seat, grabbing him by the arm.
"C'mon, Sora! I love this song! We hafta dance!" And before he could comprehend what was going on, Sora was dragged onto the floor to dance to "Miss Independent".
After a few moments, Tidus was on his feet as well, after asking Selphie if she wanted to dance too.
Wakka smiled after them, then turned back to Riku. "Well, that just leaves us, ya?"
"I am not dancing with you, Wakka." Riku smiled lazily.
"No, no, I know. I didn't mean it like that." He laughed, slapping his friend on the shoulder. There were a few moments of companionable silence before Wakka spoke again. "So… you're really leavin' us?"
"Yeah…" Riku responded, leaning forward again. "I'll finally be able to get away from this place; escape my memories, my past…"
"And us?" Wakka asked quietly.
"What? No, I don't want to leave you guys. That's the one drawback, and what a drawback it is. I'll be able to explore new horizons, but I'll have to leave the people I love." He sighed, running a hand up through his hair. Wakka patted him gently on the back, making Riku look up, smiling softly.
"S'ok, brotha. We'll be here as long as ya need us. There's no rule that says ya can't come back, ya?" He beamed, and Riku laughed, sliding out of the bad mood he was about to enter.
"Thanks, Wakka." He smiled gently, then turned around when someone tapped his shoulder.
"Hey, stupid." The boy smiled, flashing straight white teeth. His blue eyes twinkled in the half-light as he pushed back some of his hair. His flaxen locks were long, but not as long as Riku's, which were shoulder-length. Riku matched his grin.
"Hey Hideaki. Where is everyone?" Riku asked, getting up.
"Well, Arima's off with his boyfriend somewhere (we need to find him), and Kei's out dancing with Nara. Hi, Wakka." He focused his attention on the redhead, who nodded in greeting. "I'm just gonna steal him for a little while, ok? Gotta find the guys."
"No problem, man. You can keep him." He joked, and Riku shook his head before wandering off with his blonde friend.
"So, Kei's on the floor, right? How long until we go on?" Riku asked absently, searching the crowd of people for his band mate.
"About fifteen minutes." Hideaki replied, also scanning the crowd. "We got time. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something…" He paused, now looking at his friend.
Riku stopped, turning around to face him. "What?" He asked somewhat nervously. Hideaki loved to spring bizarre questions on him at inopportune times.
"I just wanted to say… Well, before graduation comes up and we go our separate ways, I just wanted to tell you, you're my best friend, Riku." He said apprehensively, smiling slightly.
Riku wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but he kept holding his breath. "Thanks, but, uh… that wasn't a question, Hie."
"I-I know. My question was… D-do you think that… we could ever be, you know, more than friends?" He bit his lip, looking searchingly into the other's eyes. Riku closed them, sighing out of tension.
"Hideaki…" He started, looking sideways at the floor. "I… I don't think it would work out. I mean, graduation's a month away. I'll be gone after that. Maybe if you had said something sooner-"
"Oh, don't say that." He shook his head. "Don't say that it's too late. Long-distance relationships can work! Riku-"
"Not for me. I'm sorry, Hideaki, but I don't want to hurt you."
"You're hurting me now."
"No, I know, but I mean further down the road. I don't want to get deep into a relationship with you and then find someone else. Hideaki…" He sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder, "It wouldn't work out."
"But-"
"It wouldn't work out." He repeated, then smirked. "It's okay. You'll find someone else; I promise. Besides, you wouldn't want me anyway. I'm a flaming faggot." There was a short pause, and they both laughed.
"Whatever. I've seen you with those girls, behind the cafeteria. Don't reject me just because I'm slightly effeminate." He smiled.
"Slightly?" He cocked an eyebrow. "You should have come in a dress." He paused. "Y'know, you might look good in a dress."
"Ha, but I don't think the principle would care too much for that." He giggled. "Which reminds me. We have five minutes. Where are Arima and Kei?"
They resumed their search for the missing band members, pulling Kei away from a very angry Nara, and eventually finding Arima outside with Roh, his boyfriend of two years.
"It'll be good to see you perform again." Roh said, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes. "I haven't seen a formal gig in about six months."
"Well we won't disappoint you, then." Arima smiled, pecking Roh on the cheek.
"Will ya cut it out? All this lovey-dovey stuff sickens me." Kei sighed, closing his brown eyes.
"Ah, still haven't kissed Nara, have you?" Hideaki laughed, nudging Kei with his elbow.
"Shut up! I will! I'll do it tonight!" He retorted, shoving Hie roughly.
"Tonight, eh?" Arima smirked. "Well, you'd better hurry up. Graduation's pretty soon, and isn't she going away?"
"No." Kei answered tersely, combing his fingers through raven locks. "She's staying here."
"So you have plenty of time." Arima said slyly, green eyes flashing. "Bet he never does." He said discreetly to Roh.
"I will!" He nearly shouted, rounding on the group. "Tonight, after the show, I'll do it! I'll do it front of all of you!" He yelled, pointing at them.
"Geeze, touchy." Arima drawled. "I was just kidding around. Well, good for you, Kei. You need a woman badly." He smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.
"I could say the same for you." Kei muttered bitterly.
"Whatever." Arima only smiled as they walked back into the gaudy gym.
"And now for some live entertainment. Give it up for Destiny Island's own, Breaking Away!"
The DJ walked offstage to thunderous applause from the students who now gathered around to see the band. Kei was playing his drums with unusual force tonight, as Arima started out a beat on the bass. Hideaki strummed the lead guitar as Riku started the vocals for the loud, fast song.
"All the things you said to me didn't mean a thing 'til the end was near, did they?"
The crowd jumped around and danced to the beat, while a few people who knew the band sang along. Sora, Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka had moved toward the edge of the stage and were singing almost as loud as Riku was. "I never thought it would go this far, but it's gone too far, hasn't it?"
The song ended after a few minutes to cheers and applause. The band beamed. Kei seemed a bit more relaxed after pounding out some of his frustration, and Arima was winking at Roh in the crowd, while Hie's attention seemed focused on Riku as he stepped up to the mic.
"Thank you, Destiny Island High! We are Breaking Away, and that was 'Losing You', written by out very own Hideaki Oricho!" There was more applause, and a few girls screaming "we love you, Hideaki! Marry us!" Hideaki smiled charmingly, blowing kisses to them. Riku only shook his head, smirking. "This next song is called 'Paralyzed', which was written by myself. It's a slow song, so find yourself a partner."
Riku moved to the keyboard and struck up a solemn melody as Arima strummed out a slow beat. "I thought I lost you once, but you were never there. I thought I loved you but I didn't really care. I wanted to be with you but nothing's quite the same. Now I'm getting paralyzed just from hearing your name. Oh, I'm paralyzed, just from hearing your name."
The crowd divided into twos, all wrapping their arms around each other. Sora grabbed onto Kairi, while Tidus finally worked up the nerve to hold Selphie. Roh sat at a table with Wakka, until a pretty dark-haired girl asked the redhead to dance with her.
"Oh, I'm paralyzed, just from seeing your face…" Riku ended to an ovation. They continued on, doing six more original songs, and three covers of Foo Fighter's 'Low', 'Disenchanted Lullaby', and The Beatles's 'Mean Mister Mustard, Polythene Pam, and She came in through the Bathroom Window'.
The evening began to wind down, and prom king and queen were announced. Some popular couple that neither the band nor Riku's friends really spoke to. The band played an original song called 'Hold me' while they danced. Kairi looked jealous.
Soon, it was time for the last song of the night. Riku stepped up to the mic again. "For the last song of the evening, we're going to play Third Eye Blind's 'Farther'. I'd like to dedicate it to someone very important to me. They'll know who they are." He smiled as the band started up.
"Nothing much matters to me, so I don't see why I should hold so tightly to a memory that I can't speak of. I think about it nightly how you opened up your life for me. Why are you still lonely? Though I'm not the type who begs, I'm thinking how you'd open up your legs;" This received a few raised eyebrows and an angry look from an administrator, but they played on.
"And I'm farther from you every day. Alright, Yeah. Farther from you everyday. F-f- farther, alright."
"And a woman talking to herself gathers up the shit she couldn't sell. Chances don't bode well tomorrow and talking to myself pass by. I miss you, but not the face you make, like when you found me out for the fake. I am so easily you see through me. What do you do to me to make me treat you so bad? I keep hoping that you'll speak to me,"
"But I'm farther from you every day. Yeah, oh yeah. Farther from you every day."
"All I think about is waiting and all the people we are fading into. Farther from you every day."
Everyone couldn't help but wonder whom the song was dedicated to. Some of it seemed to fit well with graduation, and everyone knew that Riku was going away for college. But a memory he couldn't speak of? Some people thought they knew what he meant. Sora thought it was obvious that he meant what had happened when they were younger. But… he wouldn't be singing about Kairi, would he? It didn't fit. Unless he was singing about…
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, There was a sound, yeah yeah, but I don't know how it goes, yeah yeah yeah, there was something we went through, and it blew in from the coast, yeah yeah yeah. You said, "You are of the earth, I am of the sky." I don't even know," Riku smiled, "what the hell that means. Farther from you every day."
The earth and sky…? Sora meant sky, and Riku meant land… 'He… he doesn't mean me, does he? We have been drifting apart lately… ever since I started going out with Kairi.' He bit his lip and stood still for a moment, but put on a happy face when Kairi asked if he was all right. Riku just kept singing.
"All I think about is waiting and all the people we are fading into. Farther from you every day. And I think about you dying years from now never having known who you are. (This could be my big mistake) Farther from you everyday." The song faded and the gym was filled with clapping and cheers again. Riku smiled and said one last thing before wrapping it up.
"I'd just like to say to that person, if you figured out who you are, anyway, that I love you. I always have. I'm leaving, as everyone knows by now, so it's too late to start anything. We've drifted too far apart. I'm sorry." He smiled sadly. "If you don't want to talk, it's fine with me. Actually, ignoring it would probably be best. It's worked so far. Anyway, goodnight everyone. We're Breaking Away, and it's been great knowing you."
The crowd cheered one last time before they started to leave. Kei, not forgetting his declaration earlier that night, jumped off the stage and fought his way to Nara.
"Nara, I've been meaning to tell you this for a really long time: I love you." He said breathlessly.
"Finally." She beamed, pulling him into a kiss. The band could be heard cheering behind them. When they finally pulled away, she laughed. "I was wondering when you were going to get around to it." And she leaned in for another kiss.
Arima put his guitar in its case and slung it over his shoulder, waving good bye to Riku and Hie before meeting back up with Roh. Riku started to pack up his keyboard when Hideaki came over to him.
"So, who were you singing to, anyway?" He asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Riku turned around and smiled. "An old friend." And he picked up his case and walked away.
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Wow, that was actually… a lot of fun. ^^ Turned out better than I thought it would. I ended it there because it seemed like a good place to end it, and it gives me room to continue if I so desire. Anyway, here are the lyrics to 'Losing You' and 'Paralyzed. I made them up myself. ^__^
Losing You
All the things you said to me didn't mean a thing 'til the end was near, did they?
All the times something seemed so true it was burned 'til blue, just like you say
I never thought it would go this far, but it's gone too far, hasn't it?
And now I'm lost but I suppose you'll say I should deal with it.
I'm lost; I'm losing you
Nothing seemed so true
Now I'm losing you
Don't you go away
I'm scared, I'm scared of you
You just see right through
All the things I do
Then you run away
Everything used to seem so clear when you were near, but you've gone away
All the things that you used to say never struck a chord 'til your dying day
I hoped it'd never end, but has, my friend, now you're lying here
You don't mean much to me but I need to be the one you fear
I'm lost; I'm losing you
Nothing seemed so true
Now I'm losing you
Don't you go away
I'm scared, I'm scared of you
You just see right through
All the things I do
Then you run away
Please don't run away
Please don't run away
But you run away
Please don't run away
Paralyzed
I thought I lost you once, but you were never there
I thought I loved you but I didn't really care
I wanted to be with you but nothing's quite the same
Now I'm getting paralyzed just from hearing your name
Oh, I'm paralyzed, just from hearing your name
Things are so complicated; you turn away from me
I wanted to be close to you, your thought won't let me be
I thought that I should maybe wait another day
Now I'm getting paralyzed by all the things you say
Oh, I'm paralyzed by all the things you say
I never got too close to you, afraid of what you'd do
I never felt for you, cause you never had much happen to you
I thought all I had to do was get out of this place
But now I'm getting paralyzed just seeing your face
Oh, I'm paralyzed, just from seeing your face