Love Love Contest! Fight!
Disclaimer: Don't own KH characters or rights.
Warning: shonen-ai (boy x boy romance), crude humor, language, SoraRiku below.
Chapter eleven: Watch it go down the drain
Previously…
It was number 4, the girl from the science competition, lying on the ground.
In blood.
----
Amidst the blaring sirens a sniff could be heard. Kairi and Sora's mother stood outside the police station, worried. Sora's mother squeezed her hands anxiously, while Kairi wandered around the entrance, glancing inside from time to time.
It was a whole half an hour later that a policeman, holding Sora by the arm, approached the entrance. Kairi and Sora's mother rushed immediately to the boy, whose eyes were red and puffed.
"We will inform you if we need further cooperation in this investigation." The officer said. "For now, stay in town."
Sora staggered over to his mother. That horrid picture replayed itself relentlessly in his mind. He had a feeling that there was an underlying connection between it all: the contest, the contestants, and the murder. He wondered about Riku, where he is and what he is doing now. And above all else, whether he is safe or not.
----
Roxas closed the door behind him quietly, shaking his head to Axel. Immediately the redhead understood that Riku wasn't talking. Roxas took Axel's hand. Their school is closed down due to the murder, but Roxas was only happy that Axel was alive, standing before him. He reached for an embrace with his boyfriend, gladly inhaling Axel's smell.
Riku listened as footsteps diminished outside his room. His eyes slipped behind the lids, but all he could see was Sora. Sora's tears, Sora's pain, Sora's frown, Sora's smile, and his white skin. Then the horrified notion came in the back of his mind: what was Sora doing there when he discovered the girl? Why didn't Sora tell Riku that he knew Ansem? What was his purpose behind all this?
And suddenly the room became a whirlpool, almost swallowing Riku up. He felt dizzy. There were too many questions for him to handle at once. Now he wished he hadn't brought this upon himself.
----
It's been days.
Sora's been staying at home for days. The school had reopened but Sora didn't want to go to school. He was scared of it. There'd be too many things he would have to face if he went back there.
His mother knocked on his door, "Sora?"
He didn't budge.
"Sweetheart, you've got to stop this." She said behind the door. Her voice sounded muffled from Sora's side. "I'm coming in."
Her son laid on the bed, just staring into the ceiling. She sighed and sat beside him, "Sora."
"Mom," Sora said, "Why do these things happen?"
She found herself silent. The answer was indefinite.
"I don't know," that was all she could say, "They just do."
A wrenching feeling came up to Sora's nose and he saw blur. His mother patted his head gently. And then Sora was breathing again.
----
The next day Sora was finally at school. He didn't expect the stares, but they were there. And, he didn't know if this should be considered luck, he passed by the halls most of the day without ever bumping into or seeing Riku.
But even that was gone at the end of the day. They were walking in opposite directions from each end of the hall. Sora didn't dare to look up at Riku's eyes, so he focused on the ground as he tried to walk by.
"Thanks…" Riku's voice startled and stopped him. "For staying alive."
Sora turned back with wide eyes, but Riku continued down the corridor silently. It was then that Sora realized how one sentence could break him into tears.
----
Traces of summer were leaving and autumn settled in. It solemnized the already heavy mood befalling upon Sora. Kairi walked beside him with goose bumps starting to grow all over her skin.
"Okay, this is too awkward," she declared, stopping her pace. "What's the problem here?"
"What problem?" Sora asked.
"The problem between you and Riku." She said. "I swear, we can't just let it die like this. Not after all those times I've helped you in the contest."
Sora looked away, a little flushed. "The contest's over. They canceled it. They can't continue after what happened."
"They can cancel a contest," Kairi said, "But they can't cancel love."
Sora blushed harder. He laughed sheepishly, to dismiss what she said, and walked faster. She tugged at his arm and yanked him around. She knew him too well to ignore his hardheaded personality, and she feels too bad right now for dragging him into all this. Sora sniffed and wiped across his eyes.
And then they widened in shock.
"Kai-!"
----
Riku's ears indulged in the music pouring from his headphones as he flipped through the pages of his textbook. He missed the soft knock his mother placed on the door, but she came in anyway.
"Riku," She said with a phone in her hand, "it's for you."
The boy looked over and reached for the phone, thanking his mother.
"Hello?"
"Riku…" It was a girl's voice. It sounded familiar but Riku couldn't remember where he heard it. "How are you doing, Riku?"
"Uh… Who's this?"
"I'm number 8 from the competition." The girl said.
"Oh, hi." Riku said awkwardly. "Not that I mind you calling, but I want to make sure that you know the competition is canceled."
"I know." She said, "What happened was horrible. But I'm just wondering, what will you do now? Weren't you looking for a special someone? Did you just decide to drop all this?"
"Uh, well." Riku laughed sheepishly. "I guess I just have to go with the flow and look for other ways."
"Well… if you don't mind, will… will you go on a date with me?"
Riku hesitated. His eyes skimmed a picture of him and Sora dancing in the ball that night on the island, taken by a professional photographer hired to document the contest. The questions were still left unanswered.
"Uh… I'm sorry. I really am not in the mood for this at all." Riku sighed. "Terrible things have been happening, and I think we all just need to cool down until things get sort out by the police. I don't want you to get hurt, either."
"O-Oh, i-is that so?" The girl stuttered. "W-Well, that's alright. I… I'll wait for you."
----
Sora woke up from dizziness. He couldn't recognize where he was anymore. It certainly wasn't the roadway he and Kairi were walking home on.
Kairi!
He remember what he saw last before passing out. Yes, he saw a baseball bat swinging right onto the back of Kairi's head. Then it was that girl… from the contest. And she tried to hit him too, but his arms took the blow. And then he fell on the ground and a damp white towel was muffed over his face…
He could still feel the burning bruise on his arms where the bat had hit. He looked around and found Kairi lying on the ground next to him, unconscious. He would've moved to check her breathing if he wasn't chained. He stared hard, trying to remain still. It seemed that her chest was rising up and down extremely slowly. Good, she's still brea-
Ah!
Shearing pain ripped through Sora's torso as something sharp intruded. His gaze moved from Kairi to the girl before him, then down to the knife that penetrated the right hand side of his body a second ago. Fresh blood was trickling in tiny amounts from the wound.
"You evil witch…" She breathed. "Dispel the curse you placed on Riku, now!"
"W-What are you talking about…?" Sora heaved. Her hand grabbed his face.
"Riku won't go on a date with me. It's all because of you… You cast a spell on him, didn't you?!"
"What the hell…" Sora gulped for air. "I don't…"
"Don't play fool with me!" She screamed and threw his head back towards the fence he was chained to. "You think I'm stupid, huh? You think I'm dumb? Well I'm NOT! You are going to help me get Riku to agree to the date. How does it feel to have to give someone you greed for so much up to someone else, huh?"
Sora almost whimpered. What has this girl become?
----
Riku came home tired from sports practice. He threw his bag over at the table and sat down despite the sheen layer of sweat on his skin. His mother came from the kitchen and placed down a plate of sliced pears in front of him.
"Did you hear? Mrs. Hearts's son went missing." She said nonchalantly, part of her daily gossip routine. "it's just so horrible. Wasn't he your friend who came over last time with another girl? I heard that girl's missing, too."
She turned back and all she saw was Riku looking stupefied.
Suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello?" She went to get it. "Oh yes, he's right here. Let me put you through." She handed him the phone, "Honey, it's for you."
"Mom, were you talking about Sora?" He ignored the call.
"Who? Oh, I don't know, sweetheart. Was that his name? I'm so sorry." She placed a hand on his cheek. "It's a terrible thing, I know." And then she left.
Without knowing what to do, Riku could only put the phone on his ear.
"Hello?"
"Riku?"
"Sora?!" He yelled, "Where are you?! My mom said that you…"
"I-I-I'm fine." The boy said weakly. "I-I just wanted to call you, to say goodbye to you." The sound was raspy. "I've done a horrible thing. When I… ah… when I joined the competition, I really was trying to get back at Ansem. I hated him for what he did to me and I just didn't think about anything else. I never thought I would actually fall for you. But I did. You remember that time when I decided to stay in the competition, and you asked me why but I said I'll tell you why later? Well, I stayed because I love you. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you and I don't expect you'll ever forgive me. I'm not worth your time. You should go find someone else. Like that last girl in the contest… number 8. You deserve someone like her, who can devote all her life for you, ow… Bye, Riku."
"Sora?! Sora!"
----
She snapped the phone shut. She lips grew into a smirk, "See? I'm right. You're one wicked little slut. You don't deserve Riku. I do! Even you admit that now, ha! Riku only thought he likes you because of all your flirty and filthy tricks. You should've just fallen along with Ansem! You and him make such a great couple! The "disgusting couple", that is! Whores like you will only taint Riku's purity."
Beads of tears were falling down Sora's cheeks. To some extent, she was right.
But that doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. Sora was dying and everything would end. He was starting to see blur. He knew this was a sign of heavy blood loss.
----
Riku rang the doorbell furiously. Number 8 has got to be in there.
She opened the door and smiled warmly. "R-Riku… what…?"
"Hi…" He smiled. "You don't happen to know where Sora is, right?"
Her smiled disappeared. Her face twitched. "N-No, of course not. Why would I?"
"Right…" He didn't want to agitate her. "Can I come in?"
"Yes, of course."
He grabbed her hand gently, and pulled her close to him.
"I wanna date you." He said softly, his eyes smiling. She blushed.
"R-Really?"
"Yes. I've even prepared a dinner for us tonight." He was a good liar. "Why don't you go get changed?"
"Right now?"
"Yes, beautiful." He kissed the back of her hand, "Take all the time you need." She nodded and squealed, running to her bedroom.
Making sure she had locked her door, Riku sneaked around stealthily.
"Sora? Sora, where are you?" He knew it was a little pointless to whisper around, but he was hoping. He turned a corner and saw the storage door open.
He went inside. There was a trapdoor. It led down to the basement.
----
Kairi thanked goodness that she had paid attention in the first aid unit when she trained to be a lifeguard. Her hands were all covered with Sora's blood as they applied pressure on the torn pieces of clothes she placed around the knife wound. But she was scared. If Sora didn't get real medical help anytime soon he would really die.
"Kairi…" Sora moaned quietly. "Am I going to die…?"
"Don't you ever say that!" She sobbed. "You can't just leave me like this, you can't leave your mom like this!"
"If I do…" He groaned with pain. "Can you do one thing for me…?"
"Anything…" She cried. "And stop saying this! You sound like you really will die!"
"Tell Riku I'm sorry…"
Kairi couldn't say anything. Even near his death, Sora was only thinking of Riku. She can't imagine why Riku would ever be mad at Sora.
Suddenly there were footsteps from afar. Kairi whimpered with fright, and prayed that it's not the girl who kidnapped them.
Someone turned around the corner. He had silver hair.
"Riku!" Kairi cried.
"Shhh!" Riku shushed as he ran to Sora's side. "I'm going to get you out. But I need you to help me."
Kairi could only nod. She wondered if she was dreaming. Or worse, maybe she is dead and her soul is imagining all this.
"I've got that girl into her bedroom changing and preparing herself for a date. I don't think she'll be out anytime soon but be careful, and hold Sora." They hoisted the boy up together, and worked towards the stairs.
----
It's been 2 years since that happened. Kairi brought me out of the house and screamed for somebody to help. I was completely unconscious. The knife was still in me until the ambulance came. Riku cleaned up the blood because he wanted to pretend nothing happened, so that he could bring the girl to the police station without her suspicion. She climbed into his car happily, thinking of a night in a classy restaurant and romance. He told her to sleep, that he'd wake her up when they get there. And she woke up in front of the police station, hands cuffed.
I took a total of three months to recover. A total of forty-five stitches, in organ and outside. Kairi, Tidus and Mom were there for me all the time, but Riku only came to see me once.
One week after he turned the girl in, the school questioned him. He told them everything. From the bet he made with Ansem, to the beginning of the contest, to the end, everything. They expelled him for holding the contest, which triggered all these. They expelled him way before I was able to walk again.
The girl, number 8 in the contest, turns out to also be the one who killed number 4. She thought number 4 was bigger threat then, because of the ordeal during the science competition.
I'm in college now. A freshman juggling with six classes. My life is normal again, I guess. Ansem couldn't find me anymore once I graduated from high school and moved out. Kairi got into the same college, and Tidus is off to another. I've never seen Riku after that one time he came to visit me in the hospital. And back then I was too confused, my heart too complicated, to face him. I wish I had talked to him properly, or at least gotten some contact information, instead of turning my face away from him and asking him to leave.
BAM!
"Sora! Were you listening to me?!"
"Huh? Listen what?"
"Urgh!" Kairi rolled her eyes, sitting her bottom into the chair at the dining hall. "What is wrong with you? You're spacing out again!" She whined with a frown, "Are you thinking about… him again?"
I laughed bitterly. "Well, I can't help it. He was the only one I loved that much, after all."
"Really, so you'll never find someone else?"
I shrugged. "I don't know." Then I laughed, "Maybe we'll bump into each other one day again, who knows?"
She made an unsatisfied sound, but then she saw the clock on the wall. "Shit, I gotta go! See ya!"
"Bye." I said with a smile as I watched her run away.
"Mind if I join you?" Somebody from my right asked. I turned and said, "Of course-
not.
And then there was his finger, on my chin. And then there were his face, his aquamarine eyes, and his smirk, over my face. And then there were his lips, over mine.
A/N: This is the final chapter!! Thank you for all your reviews and support! They are what keeps me writing these stories and I hope you have gotten something out of this series. The next fanfic to be uploaded should be My Boyfriend is a Pop Star, but I am having issues with the comic part of it so you'll have to wait. I'm sorry!