A/N:
Blah. This fanfic appeared to me in a dream... sorta. Axel got shot
in the chest and was bleeding. I woke up and it worked the gears in
my head. Relevance? Close to none, dearies. xD
Anyway. Don't want to rant and put ya all to sleep. The deal is, if I don't get enough reviews, this fanfic goes in the trash. Got it? Good.
Yes, there's some hinted Sora/Kairi, but I assure you, this is Riku/Sora and Axel/Roxas. Oh snap, pull out some popcorn.
Disclaimer:
Okay, looky, I don't own it. The end. And stuff.
An
Unanticipated Storm
Chapter 1
"I hope that all of you are doing well. I've sent this to you (and I'm sure that you've received it) to inform you of the current situation that is the aftermath of Kingdom Hearts.
Although you have destroyed Xemnas (and his plans along with him) the darkness still resides among the worlds. Not to worry though, I'm sure that soon everything will become it's normal state.
There was a longer explanation, but eyes scanned over the page quickly.
By the way, Sora—Donald and Goofy send their regards, as I do mine.
King Mickey."
"And that's it," Riku said, folding up the letter with a smirk.
"That can't be it!" Sora exclaimed, snatching the parchment away before his older friend could react. His eyes quickly scanned the page, reading the letter.
"Face it, Sora, the worlds are finally at peace." Riku reached over Sora's shoulder and took the letter back.
"Except for the darkness that the king mentioned," chirped Kairi.
"Yeah, that. But you can relax." He smiled.
Sora sighed. "I suppose..." He peered over at the endless ocean. "But don't you feel like something's still wrong?"
Riku and Kairi both looked at each other, and shook their heads in unison. "No..."
"Maybe it's just me, then."
"Yup," they replied again.
"Well, gee, let's not get any more concerned..." Sora laughed. They were probably right. Just him...
-00—00-
That night, Sora was having more trouble falling asleep than the time he, Donald and Goofy were forced to sleep in the jungle.
First it began as a sudden twitchy feeling that he had. His fingers continued to flex slightly, and soon he couldn't help shifting his body's position every three seconds. He wondered why his body just wouldn't relax. When he finally got himself to settle and fall asleep, a dream disturbed him...
"Sora." He looked around for the voice. He knew it, but couldn't remember who it belonged to... "Sora..." it repeated tauntingly.
"Who... who are you?"
"You don't remember?" A vision of his blonde-haired doppleganger appeared. "How sad, that you've forgotten the dark side of your heart."
"R-Roxas?"
He smiled. "Can you feel it?"
"What?"
"Can you feel me?"
He opened his eyes to see the darkness. For a moment he panicked—until his eyes adjusted. He was sitting in his own room. It was just a dream—no, just a nightmare.
Or... was it?
He clutched his chest tight. Since when was Roxas so... sinister?
A distant memory of seeing him pass by with that smug look on his face flashed, but left as soon as it came. In the end, hadn't it been Roxas confronting Naminé kindly?
But Roxas was a Nobody. So how did that make sense?...
Deciding it was just a dream, he rolled over on his stomach and fell back to sleep, this time, without anything to haunt him.
-00—00-
"Sora, you're going to be late for school!"
Groan, flip. "Can I stay hoooome?" Another muffled groan.
"Get your butt down here before I make it come down!"
"Then can the rest of me sleep in?"
A huff came from the adult female as she entered the bedroom. "I'm not in the mood today. You're going to school, and that's final! Don't you want to see your friends?"
"Not really... I'd rather sleep in." He crawled under the sheets like a mouse under a rug.
"Sora!" Startled when he was dragged out of the bed by the ankle, he shuffled about floor, trying to grab the closest (and preferrably clean) uniform.
"I want you outside in five minutes! Riku's been down there for ten already."
"Riku's downstairs?" he scrambled faster as his mother left the room, a finger to her temple. White shirt, on. Navy pants, on. Tie strung around neck loosely. Brown shoes, on. Socks... meh, too late. Didn't need 'em anyway.
He rushed downstairs, grabbing the piece of toast his mother hung in his face on the way out. He nibbled on the toast as he greeted Riku, who was leaning on the side of the house, wearing the same uniform.
"Decided to go to school today?" he laughed, walking alongside Sora as both boys moved at a fast pace.
"My mom dragged me out of bed. She's not usually that grouchy..."
"You've gotten two tardies already, Sora, and we've only been back a week."
"I can't sleep." He gave a long yawn as he spoke.
"Still used to sleeping on the ground?" he chuckled.
"Well, I—" He was about to tell Riku about the dream last night, but he decided against it. It was probably the lack of sleep getting to him, anyway. He could just hear Riku laughing at him again. "Sure, why not."
"I'm quite used to sleeping on a mattress, and man does it feel good." They walked in silence for no longer than a minute when Riku observed, "Sora, your tie's completely crooked."
"Rushed," was his one word reply.
"Here, I'll fix it, if you stop moving a moment..."
"We don't have time! We have to get to school—"
"We have a moment, geez, calm down." He butted in front of Sora and put a hand to his chest, giving the younger no option but to stop. He readjusted the blue tie before they began their walk again. "I thought you didn't care about going to school?"
"Well, you're right... I have been late twice already." He wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was only 7:45, and already the sun was threatening to melt whatever resided under it's hot rays. "Besides, I was ready to think that my mom was going to... I dunno..."
"Castrate you?"
Sora's face flushed. "Err... no..."
"Oh, Sora, I see you're blushing..."Riku teased.
"N-no I'm not!" He covered his face with his hands.
"You wouldn't want to be castrated for Kai—"
"Riku!" Sora shouted again, his blush deepening.
-00—00-
"Sora... Sora... pssst..."
"Sora." The second, louder voice had managed to rouse the boy from his sleepy trance. "Can you tell me who first discovered Destiny Islands?"
Unfortunately, he couldn't. Sora was terrible with history. He began to babble incoherently, until the teacher shook his head. "I just told you two seconds ago. Yulan Aurion. Now, if you'll turn your textbooks to page one hundred twelve..."
Sora couldn't look more like an idiot if he had tried.Okay, that was a lie, there was the time that he accidently launched his pencil halfway across the room...
He turn to Kairi, who was giving him a sheepish look. "I tried to tell you..."
"It's all right," he whispered back, flipping pages.
Two seconds later, a piece of paper was slid by gentle fingers on his desk. He gently unfolded it and read the feminine-like handwriting:
"What's wrong?"
He scritched quickly on the paper before returning it to his owner.
"Just sleepy."
A few seconds, and it was back.
"You look dead."
"I feel dead."
"Miss lugging around a Keyblade all the time?"
"Course I do! But, I mean, I missed you the whole time..."
There was a smiley face drawn by the next response. "I know."
Sora was about to respond when he saw two brown eyes in his direction. He slipped the paper underneath the book and tried to read. "Yulan Aurion first discovered the island while scuba diving with crafty clowns. It was a long journey, but they finally made it back to the sandy shores of—"
His eyes began to close, and for a few seconds, he went to sleep. When he realized he was still in school, he awoke in shock, and began reading again. "Yulan Aurion first discovered the islands while riding on a raft, according to historians. It was a long journey, but when he finally landed on the sandy shores, he discovered the island people and began to industrialize..."
That's not what he read before, but it made more sense. Had he dreamt he was still reading the first time? He decided not to think about it and forced himself to continue. It was going to be a long day...
-00—00-
"Sora?"
"I think we've just lost him."
"Sora? Come in, Sooooorrrra!" He jerked up, Selphie's face deathly close to his own. "You've been out of it lately!"
"This isn't news, Selphie," Tidus said, continuing to eat his onigiri. (1)
"I should've went home and eaten instead..." Sora sighed. "I could have slept on the couch and went back to school."
"You can sleep here in the shade. It's kind of nice being out here alone, almost everybody else went home," Tidus said. "Even Kairi and Wakka did."
Sora was currently laid down, already finished with lunch. "We have another hour yet until classes begin again," he moaned. "I'm takin' a nap."
"Good, because you need one," Riku said, poking the brunette's cheek with an index finger. "If you start dreaming that you're reading about how scuba diving clowns discovered Destiny Islands, you're not getting enough sleep."
"I can't sleep..." he said, closing his eyes.
"It looks like you can now."
There was a silence among the four friends. "I just can't fall asleep at night."
"But you're so exhausted now that..."
"I'm... falling asleep..." and within seconds, Sora was out like a light. Riku gazed upon him for a few moments. After over a year's time, Sora's hormones had kicked in— he had grown taller, and his voice had finally began to deepen and his factual features became more mature. But he still had that boyish face of his...
Selphie broke the peaceful silence as she smirked at Riku and chirped, "You're admiring Sora, again..."
Riku looked at her and, which came on rare occasions, his face reddened. "What are you talking about?"
"Admit it, Riku! You like him!"
Silence. "He's my best friend, of course I like him."
"No, you like him. But, alas! Kairi and Sora have something going between them, and you're too heartbroken to admit that you want to become between them and—"
"Selphie, get out of your romantic fantasies," Tidus interposed. "and stop making run-on sentences."
"But Tidus..." she whined.
Riku turned away, watching the palm trees rustling in the wind. He tuned out his two friends, (who were now arguing about Riku's like for Sora) clearing his mind of everything. Though Sora seemed to readjust back into their island life again, he was suffering from some form of insomnia. It caused some concern in Riku.
That, and he had a bad feeling in his gut.
-00—00-
"Sora..."
"Roxas?" rang Sora's voice quietly.
"Hah. So you've decided to remember me now?"
"Roxas, what's going on? Why—why are you acting this way?"
"Do you not see it?"
"See what?" No response, aside from the silence. "Roxas?" He felt himself start to run in the darkness, but could not find the voice's owner anywhere...
"Sora! Sora, what's wrong?" He blinked his eyes open. For a few seconds, the new setting confused him... where was his room? The thought clicked as he realized he had fallen asleep on the schoolyard, underneath the big palm tree. Riku was kneeled by his side, hovering over him slightly. "You okay?"
"Uhh... yeah..." he rolled on his side. "Why?"
"You were groaning in your sleep—but you usually sleep so soundly." He shrugged. "Maybe it's from your sleep problems?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Class starts in ten minutes. Let's get you up and walking." He pushed off the ground with a hand and held his hand down towards the brunette, who gratefully took it and stood up. He became lightheaded within few seconds, stumbling into Riku, who almost didn't catch him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Uh huh..." he nodded into Riku's chest, beginning to compete with his closing eyes.
"If you say so. You've gotta stand up, you know." He used Sora's shoulders to stand the boy up properly. "I'm not carrying you around from class to class like some princess." The two blue eyes that usually shone at Riku brightly only stared back at Riku impassively.
Was Sora really that tired? When they were kids, even after a sleepless night, the boy could be bouncing off walls... just, not as much.
"Come on..." Riku tugged on his hand and led him towards the small school, which began filling with more students.
He hoped, for Sora's sake, he would be all right...
The bad feeling in his stomach seemed to worsen.
-00—00-
"Tonight it's going to be partly cloudy with a high of 50 and a low of 38. Tomorrow the clouds are going to clear up and it's going to be a sunny day! A high of 97 and a low of 91. Remember to use sunscreen and drink plenty of wa—"
"This time of year, we were just planning to get away on the raft," Kairi observed happily as she flicked off the radio. "Remember?"
"How could we forget?" Riku smiled. He stirred the remaining ice in his glass with the straw, watching Kairi stroll through the kitchen, picking up used dishes and setting them in the sink. "Although..." His eyebrows lowered in thought. "Does Sora seem to be acting strange to you?"
"He's been tired," she said, her good mood silently ebbing away at the thought. "Maybe he's just getting used to the islands."
"Maybe something's bothering him," Riku offered. "Remember what he said when we received the letter from the king?" He didn't want to be the hobgoblin of anymore worries for Kairi, so he spoke nothing of the bad feeling he had begun to get himself.
She didn't seem to feel it along with the two boys. "Could be. But that badly?"
"Who knows? Whatever it is, he's going to be stubborn and not say a word about it."
"That's Sora..." A ghost of a smile was on Kairi's lips as she turned away and stared out the window, watching the sunset. "It just seems surreal."
"What does?"
A pause before she replied, "Having you two back here on the islands."
The older boy stood from his chair. "Isn't it, though?" He laughed. "For a while, I thought I would never make it back." Kairi gave Riku a stunned look. "That I would be forever consumed by the darkness. And for a while, I didn't even want to come back. Isn't it shameful, falling prisoner to the darkness—"
"Riku!" The redhead's hand was inches away from Riku's face. "Sometimes you can be such an idiot!"
He was, for once, appalled with Kairi.
"We were just glad to find you! And you... you would have rather stayed behind in humility?" Before he could find the words to respond, she reached out and embraced him, holding him close. "It would have broken Sora's heart—no matter how strong it may be—if he never saw you again. I can't even imagine how hard he looked for us..."
Neither could Riku.
-00—00-
Sora laid in bed, unable to sleep. He was now getting frustrated. Of course he could easily fall asleep in the middle of the day, but in the dark...
He just couldn't find himself to relax.
But why not?
His body shuddered occasionally, making the mattress shake. He grasped the bedsheets to try to get himself to stop, but his fingers still twitched against the soft material. It was a half hour later when he finally settled, and fifteen when his brain told his body to shut down.
"Sora..."
"Roxas! Where are you?"
"Right here."
"Right, where?"
"I've been with you this whole time."
"But, I mean, why are you..."
"I know you sense it."
"Sense it?... What are you talking about?"
"Why do you think you can't sleep?"
"You—you know why?"
"Of course I do."
"Then, what is it—"
Sora's eyes snapped open. When he saw the clock, he cursed to himself. It was only three in the morning. Tossing and turning for another hour did nothing for him.
He decided he might as well get up and do something... at least it was Saturday, and there was no school.
Relieved at the flicker of his light, he walked towards the closet and shoveled through the mounds of stuff that was jammed in the small dimensional space. First thing flung on his bed was a thin, paperback book. And another one top of that. He slammed the closet door shut, hoping that no sorts of monsters (or at least, cockroaches,) were living in the place he stored bounds of random stuff.
Next, he shuffled through his desk. He knew he had them somewhere—and with a proclamation of "Aha!" he set the giant box of crayons on his bed, where he settled onto and opened one of the books.
They were used coloring books— filled random pages rich with colored scribbles. When was the last time Sora had opened, or even looked at them?
He flipped through until a page caught his attention, and immediately he opened the box of crayons.
Three friends, two boys and a girl, were fishing by a river. A girl had a giant fish caught on her line, as it jumped in air and produced exaggerated drops of water spraying out. The one boy was sitting by her side, watching with a look of awe on his face, while the third was by their side, but looked as if he were paying more attention to the frog than the other two.
He hummed to himself quietly as he imbued the page with bright colors. It took him approximately a half an hour until the page was complete. Leaving it open at that page, he opened the next book, flipping through until he found a picture with two lions, a bird, and a turtle. He wore a melancholic smile, remembering when Donald, Goofy and he went to the Pridelands, fighting against the hyenas, helping Simba save the kingdom as the three continued their journey to save the Kingdom Hearts...
Crayons shaded the memories that stained his face with tears.
-00—00-
He had collasped against the books as he struggled to finish.
When he came to, his eyes blinked open slowly. The rush feeling of cold hit him, his body instinctively reacting and beginning to shiver. He pushed the books gently off his bed and crawled into the sheets, searching for warmth. It helped some—but he still shook gently.
The next thought that came to him was... what time was it? He rolled over to check, and almost rolled right out of bed when he saw the time.
Three o' clock! "Holy..."
He sat up, and immediately went back down. He was too tired even then to get up...
"Sora, sweetie?" His mother walked in, a wet cloth in her hand. "I heard you getting you up and—"
"Why didn't you wake me up before?"
"I heard you up pretty early this morning," she replied, "and I thought you could use whatever rest came to you."
"Until three?"
"Well, I didn't think you were that tired, but I decided to let you sleep in as repayment for yesterday morning." She chuckled. "I was up working on papers all night, that's why I was such a grouch. Forgive me?"
Sora smiled. "Of course. I would have been late, anyway."
"You troublemaker," she teased, walking to him and pulling a cheek. Her hand was cold—unnaturately cold to the touch and he pulled his face away. She had a look of surprise on her face. "Sora, are you still waking up?"
"Yeah..." he grumbled. He hadn't meant to upset his mom at the pull-away, really, but he was cold enough...
"Listen, your father and I are going out soon, and we'll be gone for the rest of the night. You'll be all right on your own, right?"
"Yup."
"I'll call to check up on you later in the evening. Wake up, get a shower..."
"I know, I know," he said, sitting up, shivering slightly again. "I can feed myself too."
"Can you now?" she joked. There was a pause, and the smile on her face dropped. "Sora, are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're shivering."
"I'm cold."
"How are you cold? It's ninety-five degrees out!"
"It is?" He held the comforter closer to his body. "It feels like... I dunno, cold!"
She rose an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay?" Holding a hand to his forehead, she clicked her tongue, tsk-tsk-tsk. "Low fever. You'll be all right?"
"If I'm not, I could always call you or someone else," he said. "Mom, I can take care of myself, sick or not. I'm fine." He felt fine too—well, discluding the cold part.
She hummed quickly as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We'll be leaving in a half hour, okay?" Without another word, she left the room, leaving Sora to fend for himself.
He laid in bed for five minutes before getting up and sauntering towards the
bathroom, a bundle of clothes in his arms. They were tossed on the floor, along with a towel stacked on top, and he stripped and showered, trying to soak in thoughts along with the water.
By the time he was done and redressed, his parents were gone, and he was alone by himself. It didn't really matter, though—he was more tired than the previous night. Maybe he was sicker than he had originally thought...
Ducking under his blankets on his bed, he snuggled in their warmth. But cold overtook his body, and he shuddered every few minutes. Soon it was becoming steady tremble, and as much as he forced himself to relax, he couldn't stop. He exhausted himself into sleep, shivering even then.
He did not hear the distant thunder of a very unexpected storm.
-00—00-
The phone chimed throughout the house, but it silenced within seconds. "Riku, it's for you!" The mentioned boy grumbled, rising from his chair and taking the phone in the kitchen from the woman. "Thanks, Mom." He held the earpiece to his phone. "Hello?"
"Riku, this is Mrs. Hikari."
"Oh, hi Mrs. Hikari... what can I do for you?"
"Well, I hear that a thunderstorm's coming, so I tried to call Sora at home, but there was no response. I've been trying for the last half an hour actually, and I was wondering—"
"Sure, I can check up on him for you."
"Oh, you're a lifesaver. Thanks so much, give him a nice hit on the head for me, would you?"
"Can do, Mrs. Hikari. Have a good night."
"You too." The phone made a click-ing noise from the other side, signaling that it was dead. He hung the phone onto the receiver. "Mom, I'm going to Sora's!" he announced, slipping his feet into his sneakers. "I'll be back in a bit..."
"Okay! Don't be back too late! Give me a call if you decide to sleep over like last time!"
"Got it!" He closed the door behind him as he left for the house. As he was turning to walk towards Sora's house, his eyes wandered to the closest shore, where black clouds began gathering in the distance. Mrs. Hikari had been right, it was starting to storm... but the weather had said it was supposed to be a clear day.
Although, the weather did tend to be wrong from time to time...
S/N: 1) Onigiri rice balls. Rice balls sounded stupid.
A/N: In case you don't understand the lunch system, they get a long period of time for lunch and then go back for classes. I think an island would be more laid back, instead of the American "rush-n-go" kind of lunch, where you shove food down your gullet. Oi...
I know, no Riku/Sora-ness yet. But, meh, we're getting there, LEAVE ME ALONE. (hisses) Axel/Roxas is coming too. Patience is a vulture. You've got vultures, don't you?
For those of you who have been waiting for my Cinderfella update—I'm so sorry! I'm suffering from writer's block right now. Dx But I'm brainstorming! o.o
Review or I'll totally drop this fic... and this time I mean it. Don't you love threats?